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Perhaps the TV show Expats did not portray Hong Kong as it likes. So what?
- Whatever the reasons the Amazon Prime Video series, which includes scenes of the 2014 protests, is not available for viewing in Hong Kong, officials should take the opportunity to reflect on the role they play in any misperceptions of the city
It gave preferential treatment for a foreign production that portrayed Hong Kong in a not-so-flattering light. Whatever point Wang meant to make by including images of the protests doesn’t matter, though. Any mention of black-clad protesters and yellow umbrellas would usually elicit a rash response from the government and its supporters, but the reaction to Wang’s latest work is actually rather tempered.
The government really cannot be so naive as to think that the creators were going to film propaganda for Hong Kong, but for the series to be viewable everywhere except here makes it seem as though it has been censored.
The government has not given any indication it had a role in the miniseries not being available to watch in Hong Kong. Amazon has yet to give any explanation for its business decision, but it does give the government something to think about. The next time it bends over backwards like it did for Kidman, it should think again.
![Author, writer and producer Janice Y.K. Lee (left), director Lulu Wang (centre) and actress Nicole Kidman arrive for the premiere of Expats at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City on January 21. Photo: AFP](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/02/04/df2b6a81-1e36-4fad-b3cb-dcc330f4f11a_82263143.jpg)
It’s a fascinating topic, and the hierarchical words this global city uses and the social status it awards its people deserves further examining. Ever since Hong Kong outgrew its humble fishing village origins, it has been a city populated by people who came from somewhere else.
Our experiences and those of our families shape our perspectives, and so we can see Wang’s interpretation of the social unrest in Expats. Are they tainted? Perhaps, but if the government truly wants to tell good Hong Kong stories, it needs to recognise how these depictions are formed.
What is ‘soft resistance’? In Hong Kong, it depends on whom you ask
Lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun was told to mind his language when he questioned the city’s law enforcement approach and suggested that the government prioritised the views on Xiaohongshu – mainland China’s Instagram-like social media platform – over those of Hong Kong taxpayers. Lee said Tse’s words reminded him of the language used by “reactionary forces” during the 2019 unrest.
Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA
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