Transformers and China

Personal Admission: I have an 11 year old son who is trasnfixed by Transformers. He's been this way for over three years. His personal domain--most of my house--is littered with transformers of various vintages. He collected his allowance since Christmas to purchase the Transfomer Movie toys. He even has rare metal transformers that I've picked up from a vintage transformer store on Akihabara while on business in Tokyo. He's been talking about Speilberg and Director Michael Bay as though they are the creative center of the universe. He's obsessed and I'm his enabler.

Early this morning I was IM-ing with my "chinese daughter" Yunsi, a Chinese University student who I called "my family minder" while we lived in China in 2005. A very bright English major at the China University of Law & Politics, she lived with my family and made sure everything ran smoothly while I was galavanting around the world running my business from Beijing. Then the lines of thought converged...China & Transformers.

The last time a Transformer movie came out in 1989, many opinion leaders in China became stressed over the effect this techno-fantasy cartoon would have on China's youth. In a People's Daily article of the day: "The Transformers cartoon, whose TV broadcasts are popular with young people, was criticized today by Hu Dehua and nineteen other National People's Congress Standing Committee members. These committee members made a statement at the sixth session of the 7th National People's Congress, saying that 'the Transformers was absurd, that it promoted violence, and that it would contaminate the younger generation.'

Reportedly, the American cartoon (personal note: it's origins are Japanese not American) Transformers has recently been airing on several TV stations. A publisher has brought out a Transformers picture book. At the same time, "Transformers" toys rejected from the American market have been sold to the Chinese market in large quantities; one set of "Transfomers" toys can cost more than 1000 yuan; a single toy costs between 10 and 100 yuan, putting a large financial burden on many households. Hence, Hu Dehua and the other committee members have recommended that TV stations and publishers stop broadcasting and publishing Transformers, and that the import of "Transformers" toys be strictly halted and the importers be dealt with.

From March 1st People's Daily: ...this reporter interviewed Comrade Hu Dehua. She took out a Transformers picture book, and said, "Once, my little grandson wanted me to tell him Transformer stories. I hadn't seen the TV show, but when I looked at the book, the pictures and text were ugly, the content was absurd, and it promoted fighting. And it didn't even make any sense, so there was no way to tell the story. Then there was the price: for a picture book of less than twenty pages, some places it was 0.8 or 0.9 yuan, others it was more than 1 yuan. 60,000 or 70,000 copies printed, or even 250,000. I brought this issue up before the NPC Standing Committee team, and lo and behold the old men and women in the team were sympathetic. They talked of how the TV broadcast times affected kids' eating habits, and then moved on to how the high price of toys exceeded what the average Chinese family could bear. So I made a few suggestions to various government agencies."

Contrasting with the doom and gloom paranoia, Xinmin Evening News issued a signed editorial that said that the Transformers TV show was brimming with the wisdom, enthusiasm, imagination, and strength of industrial society. Optimus Prime  and Megatron represent righteousness and hegemony, goodness and bellicosity; right and wrong are clearly demarcated. Adults have no way to understand the pleasure and edification that this brings to children. (personal note: He's right. Plus the movie was great. Toys and eye candy for all generations were on the screen)

Some comments were more mercantile oriented foucsing on how the popularity of Transformers toys could spur China's own toy manufacturing: "Transformers Fever" is a wake-up call to our own toy industry. Don't blame everyone else for taking away your rice-bowl. This is a time for reflection and forging ahead. The attraction of the Transformers is in their transformation. Why can't we make an issue out of transformation, design and produce toys that are loved by today's childred? Why don't we have marketing and sales strategy like they do? Some may ask, aren't our rag dolls and duck pull-toys good enough? Here, let me emphatically state: relying on those things to "defeat" the Transformers would be very difficult. The positive side of "Transformers Fever" lies in the fact that it tells us that closed, outmoded toy design and production cannot compete with the open, swiftly updated western toy industry. Our toy industry, in both manufacturing technology and business strategy, needs a "transformation."

A generation later? All the concern concern was unfounded. And the commercial vision was spot on. All of my son's complexly cantilevered and engineered Optimus Prime, Megatron, Blackout, and Ratchet were made in China. 

Which side are you on: Autobot or Decepticon? Protect or destroy?