Should note that the video posted above is a massive spoiler for episode 5 of
3 Body Problem.
Of course there is the panda in the room, with very few characters in the show being chinese, when next to all of them were in the book - and this not being at all from the chinese perspective.
That's not really bothering me, for 3 reasons:
First, I think the Chinese series adaptation of the book is available to almost anyone who wants it. Nothing's been taken away from audiences who want that version.
Second, the Netflix series does have characters & actors who are Chinese and from the diaspora. If the criticism is that the cast isn't
entirely Chinese, I guess I'm just not that bothered. I don't know if Cixin Liu thought he was telling a uniquely-Chinese story (although, see below), but the fact that a story was written by a person from a population group doesn't have to mean that story is specifically
about that group.
Third, it seems like I've only heard non-Chinese folks talking about whether the series has been appropriated in some way. In matters like this, I prefer to let the people with a stake in it tell me whether it bothers them. If it's a conversation they're still having among themselves, then I don't mind waiting. When I saw
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017) for the first time, the character of Mantis had me sinking down in my seat and watching through my fingers, at first. But then, I didn't hear or read a single criticism of the character from the East Asian diaspora. Alright then, I guess we're good, I was worried over nothing.
When I Googled it just now, it seems like the Chinese themselves are more bothered by how the Cultural Revolution is depicted. I don't know whether those scenes are fully, historically accurate - until I hear otherwise, I always just assume that a movie or show takes liberties for the sake of their story - but I do know that the Chinese government suppresses just about everything that makes them look bad (Tibet; the Tiananmen Square protests; the treatment of the Uyghur people). It's possible the Chinese today see their Cultural Revolution the same way some Americans see our Confederacy of 1862-65. A wee bit skewed, let's say.
Cixin Liu, quoted (in translation) by
The Guardian:
The Guardian said:
“Frankly speaking, I don’t know even know the reasons for the success of The Three-Body Problem trilogy. I don’t find the reasons given by some researchers, such as the novels have helped the west to understand China and so on, to be convincing. I don’t think that the success of The Three-Body Problem in the west is due to the fact that the novels are Chinese science fiction novels, but rather the fact that they are science fiction novels that treat human beings as a whole.”
[...] when
Netflix came calling, Liu was delighted about the chance to reach the streaming service’s huge global audience – and particularly by the news that David Benioff and DB Weiss were to be at the helm, as Game of Thrones was “one of the best film and TV adaptations” the author had ever seen.
He doesn't address the casting or the UK setting of the Netflix series directly, but from this, I infer that he's fine with it.
