China Hand by Scott Spacek

Author:Scott Spacek [Spacek, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781637583876
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Published: 2022-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

Rick pushed the audio-visual cart into the classroom, sending a sour look my way—disdain which I welcomed for its normalcy after hearing the gritty details of the impending mission. I guessed his scorn was rooted in what I planned to show his fellow students.

“Have any of you ever seen American television commercials?” I asked them.

No hands went up, though I realized that anyone who had seen American TV might not want to admit it publicly.

I’d brought tapes of commercials I’d recorded in the US as potential teaching aids because, in their own lowbrow manner, they spoke to the “distorted values of American society.” That’s how I pitched it to Dean Chen, in any case, which secured his quick approval.

After setting up the video player and screen, Rick handed me the remote. “Do you think you can operate this? Or do you need me to press ‘play’ for you, too?”

A couple students laughed, but a larger number frowned at Rick’s sarcasm. Did that mean my efforts were generating at least some goodwill? I hoped so, but I also knew that whatever bonds I’d formed would be destroyed when I vanished with Lily, their assistant dean.

“The first commercial is for a breath mint.”

“A breath mint?” Qianyi asked, her face wrinkling in disbelief.

“I know that sounds strange, but let’s watch and then we can talk about it afterward.”

Rick flicked off the light switch. I pressed the play button, hoping to God the tape would play because I didn’t want to give him another shot at trying to humiliate me.

The screen came to life with blond female twins staring at each other. The one on the left said that Certs was a “candy.” Her sister replied that it was a “breath mint.” Then a booming male voice announced that they were both right and, over footage of a stream burbling past a snowbank, extolled Certs’s ability to stop bad breath “in seconds” while also being the most delicious mint of all. The commercial ended with the young twins stepping into the arms of two handsome men who kissed them.

“That’s stupid,” said Rick without raising his hand. “Suck on candy and get a boyfriend.”

“They do say ‘sex sells,’” I added.

The others laughed.

“You’re right, Rick, it is stupid, but apparently it works, because Certs sells millions of those mints.”

He shook his head once more.

“Let’s focus on the language used by the actors. Did you notice how the two women spoke to each other? Each made a distinct claim, arguing in black-and-white terms. That’s the nature of commercials and dramas on American television. Good guys, bad guys, no in-between guys. Cowboys and Indians. Cops and robbers.”

Even as I offered this mild critique of America, I thought about how Chinese history is taught and the government’s blatant propaganda. The good-bad dichotomy was even more extreme there.

“American people believe that if they eat this candy, they’ll have sex?” asked Dolly.

I was grateful she’d changed the subject. “Let me put it this way: they think they’ll be sexier if their breath smells good.

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