Board 8 > Shen Yun and my niece

(+) Yeah! (+)

Shen Yun will perform in Cleveland this weekend. My six year old niece saw the commercials and said she'd like to go. Tickets aren't cheap.

My brother (who lives with me) gave his ex $60 to go towards taking her. She discovered that tickets are far more expensive than that, so she spent the money on clothes for my niece. My niece has no idea this happened.

In the meantime, I've got some money from my tax refund. I could buy seats, thus exposing my niece to a performance of cultural appreciation. The tickets wouldn't be great (the only seating with adjacent chairs is pretty far back from the stage). If she doesn't go, she'll be sitting around my apartment all weekend watching YouTube Kids and slowly dying without any real benefit. On the other hand, I don't often have extra money and it could be used elsewhere.

What would you do?

Uglyface2 posted...

I don't often have extra money and it could be used elsewhere.

What would you use it on if not the tickets?

He gave his daughters mom money to go, which makes it sound like he didnt want to go.

Buy tickets for just her and you imo.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

What would you use it on if not the tickets?

I'm saving money to get the AC fixed in my car. It's not much use now, but I've been through more than one day last summer where it would have helped.

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

He gave his daughters mom money to go, which makes it sound like he didnt want to go.

Buy tickets for just her and you imo.

He's not a rich man, which is why he can't afford tickets. $60 was a large amount of money for him. The only tickets left where she could sit with someone cost $100 each.

I would very strongly encourage you to read about what Shen Yun is, who it is operated by, and for what reasons, before making a decision about whether to go.

the Shen Yun show is straight up religious and right-wing political propaganda. Think along the lines of the American evangelical movement.

You'd be spending a lot of money on something that's mostly a grift overall and not really aimed at 6 year old children either. Your niece heard about the show on a commercial, she'll probably forget all about it in a week or two.

Use your money to take her to a fun kids movie, a day at the mall (maybe a toy store!), or an amusement park or something else more appropriate for children and please don't support Shen Yun.

I would also encourage finding an alternative to this show, for the record.

Yeah Shen Yun is is basically a way for a cult to spread propaganda and make money. Do not spend money on it.

"Falun Gong melds traditional Taoist principles with occasionally bizarre pronouncements from its Chinese-born founder and leader, Li Hongzhi. Among other pronouncements, Li has claimed that aliens started invading human minds in the beginning of the 20th century, leading to mass corruption and the invention of computers. He has also denounced feminism and homosexuality and claimed he can walk through walls and levitate. But the central tenet of the group's wide-ranging belief system is its fierce opposition to communism"

Well ok then. I am glad I never went to one of these. I live in a heavy Hmong/Chinese populated area (Twin Cities), so I saw these advertised quite often. But uh...yeah not going.

As someone who went to Shen Yun because a well intentioned sweet Chinese old coworker of mine wanted to go and didn't want to go alone and I had very limited knowledge beforehand, do not go. The ending of the show especially is extremely creepy.

Strife2 posted...

"Falun Gong melds traditional Taoist principles with occasionally bizarre pronouncements from its Chinese-born founder and leader, Li Hongzhi. Among other pronouncements, Li has claimed that aliens started invading human minds in the beginning of the 20th century, leading to mass corruption and the invention of computers. He has also denounced feminism and homosexuality and claimed he can walk through walls and levitate. But the central tenet of the group's wide-ranging belief system is its fierce opposition to communism"

Well ok then. I am glad I never went to one of these. I live in a heavy Hmong/Chinese populated area (Twin Cities), so I saw these advertised quite often. But uh...yeah not going.

He also thinks race mixing is an alien conspiracy

It's bad.

I wouldn't know any of that - I've never been because of the staggering prices whenever they come here (which feels like every year or two). From the advertisements I've seen, it looked like a lively, bright, cultural performance, but...

I am suddenly glad I didn't go. That founder sounds like a nutcase. So yeah, don't go.

HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

He also thinks race mixing is an alien conspiracy

It's bad.

And from what I've heard, the show DOES include this type of propaganda

Years ago, I bought Shen Yun tickets for my parents and grandma (mainly because my grandma had been reminiscing about the "Chinese circus" that visited her home city when she was young). The commercials seemed innocent enough, but apparently the show goes heavy with some weird religious, anti-Chinese government propaganda. My parents tried to be kind when telling me about their experience (since they knew tickets weren't cheap), but I could tell they didn't enjoy it. I researched a bit more and learned that a ton of people are duped by the advertising and disappointed with the production.

I didn't know exactly what was up with it, but you can definitely tell from the ads that something is off about the show. My favorite thing about the ads though is when they get blurbs from people about the show and it says stuff like "Some pharmacist somewhere" and " Woman who was an extra in a pizza hut commercial" like they are famous.

This is concerning. I'll talk to my brother, he feels bad about her not taking her. This should help those feelings subside.

They started running these "China before communism" ads that made their goals very apparent. I never gave them much thought til that blurb seemed particularly out of place.

This is insane to hear about. I was among those who always thought it was just a Chinese dance spectacular and thought that I'd maybe like to see it someday.

Falun Gong is a crazed cult. I wouldn't support them at alll.

Underleveled posted...

This is insane to hear about. I was among those who always thought it was just a Chinese dance spectacular and thought that I'd maybe like to see it someday.

This is an impression of them that they are VERY intent on preserving with their flurry of advertisements, it's honestly pretty shocking that it's mostly going unchecked but they bring in $$$ so people are looking the other way

you're dumb af man

go see it

I was once in Hawaii when a Falun Gong cultist tried to recruit me with a brochure about all of their crazy beliefs. I sincerely regret throwing it away.

Underleveled posted...

This is insane to hear about. I was among those who always thought it was just a Chinese dance spectacular and thought that I'd maybe like to see it someday.

Same.

BlueCrystalTear posted...

I wouldn't know any of that - I've never been because of the staggering prices whenever they come here (which feels like every year or two). From the advertisements I've seen, it looked like a lively, bright, cultural performance, but...

Basically this. I've seen the commercials for years and thought, "Y'know, maybe that's a thing I should check out. I don't attend a lot of cultural events now that my parents aren't around to drag me out to stuff." I saw it as somewhere between Cirque d'Soleil and Chinese performing arts. Then I looked at the ticket prices and thought, ehh, that's a tough pill to swallow.

Paratroopa1 posted...

I would very strongly encourage you to read about what Shen Yun is, who it is operated by, and for what reasons, before making a decision about whether to go.

shen yun is not cultural appreciation. thank you and others for speaking up about it. absolutely vile shit that preys on the average american's orientalist ideas of chinese culture.