Wherein We Learn that Both Money and Karaoke are the Real Roots of All Evil
Lixin Fan, director of the Chinese migrant worker doc, Last Train Home, similarly explores the paradoxical nature of the social climate in modern China with his latest, I Am Here. Though less successful than its predecessor in drawing a political parallel to its central subject, it does shed some light on the hypocritical nature of an affluent Communist country that’s home to Superboy, a facile, sensationalized teen “emotional karaoke” competition that’s not entirely dissimilar to American Idol.
The chief distinctions being that Superboy has a Big Brother spin, wherein the top ten contestants are put in a house surrounded by cameras where their fans can watch the rigidly enforced regimen they need to adhere to in order to satisfy the needs of the show’s producers. In addition to having an intense training schedule, the boys are punished with physical labour for any perceived shortcomings and are given strict guidelines about image presentation and marketing tie-ins. They’re also made highly aware of the bigger commercial agenda of the competition when their emotions are manipulated and exploited for ratings potential.
Fan, having limited experience directing feature length docs, takes a very traditional, linear approach to structuring I Am Here. While he could have divided everything up into topics or focused more on the distinct personalities within the competition, he instead uses time to propel the narrative forward, reminding us intermittently of how many days are left until the winner of the competition is crowned. As such, there’s a lack of thematic focus and an abundance of disorganization as we jump between different contestants in unpredictable states of mind that is rarely given any sort of context.
What is clear amidst the inconsistent, often grainy, footage and unnecessary artistic inserts the boys frolicking in wide open expanses—a visual metaphor to represent their feelings of claustrophobia in relation to instant fame—is the sense of social critique.
Knowing of the civil unrest occurring in Hong Kong right now with the proposed plebiscite and the oppressive, tyrannical tactics of the Chinese Communist Party to quash any potential political disruption through media manipulation and military engagement, gives this mediocre doc some added ire. Superboy, for all intents and purposes, despite being a “reality” show, is a contrived, highly manipulative, consumer narrative. The show, which gives mediocre, undiscerning worker bee adolescents the false pretence of uniqueness and specialness, is a cash cow and a medium for social control. It preaches the idea that hard work and big dreams eventually will pay off, which is an ethos that’s eerily similar to the dominant cultural mantra of the west.
Though the pointed focus on contestants ranting about the ubiquity of commercial branding in their house is transparent, what’s really interesting about I Am Here is the sense of camaraderie these boys develop amidst the flurry of celebrity and tabloid gossip. While everyone surrounding them is preaching the merits of cutthroat competition and the importance of winning (“If you don’t work hard, someone else will come along and replace you”), they often sacrifice themselves and give up, being inherently disenfranchised by the insincerity and soulless nature of it all.
Had Fan stepped back to create more of a functioning story with his footage, the human element could have aligned well with the sketchy political dialogue. As it stands, this intriguing, albeit sloppy, film doesn’t have enough focus to succeed entirely in its aims. We can barely tell the contestants apart and we never really understand their motivations unless they state them verbatim to the camera. Similarly, the authoritative, invasive nature of their surrounding influence is more implied than it is shown, with the boys complaining about media scrutiny even though we never see any examples of just what it is they’re actually scrutinizing.
Still, it is fun to watch a film that points out how quickly other nations jump on the capitalist bandwagon when a bit of money is involved.
Reviewed on September 8th at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival – TIFF Docs Programme. 88 Minutes
★★½/☆☆☆☆☆
