Here is where my mind went (every viewer has her/his own train of thought) Nun-conservative-candidate-abortion rights-assassination-"pro-life" radicals. Wow what message is this commercial actually sending?
But this commercials audience is not American it is Taiwanese folks. And in Taiwan it is illegal to own any sort of firearm, and there are no visible pro-choice/life movements.
As for abortion legalities I am not clear, nor it seems do a lot of Taiwanese women. However, you can still get one at a clinic of sorts. As to whether it is safe I do not know. But the point is not abortion rights here. The point is: what the fuck is going on here.
Now I don't watch TV when I live in the states, and am WAY out of the loop on most things involving popular culture, but my feelings here is that this commercial would not be ok with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and would cause a lot of upset among all kinds of viewers, from all over the political spectrum. What do you think US readers?
The reason that this is so shocking is that this commercial started airing during Taiwan's election season. And the political figure being shot at is not (contrary to what it might look to the American eye) supposed to be the president of Taiwan, but rather a political candidate campaigning for office.
That is how they campaign in Taiwan, parade after loud-ass parade. I am talking parades in both business and residential areas, fireworks (being shot off a truck into the air) people marching, loud speakers blaring "please vote for me. 拜託拜託，多謝多謝", drums. Its really loud. Really. It sounds like a war zone to me. Makes me slightly nervous, and that is coming from someone who like politics!
So yeah, this commercial aired during commercial breaks while you were watching news about the election. (Or while I was watching my beloved Korean Soap operas.) And my reaction was just like: Ick. No bueno! A lot of images came up for me of liberal political assassinations like, President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Tiller, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, Harvey Milk, and many many more. Because in the lovely USA this assassination thing doesn't just happen in commercials.
The content of the add seems to be the nun saying some typical religious banter, perhaps a payer, (it is hard for me to hear over the music+ I cant see the subtitles clearly.) But it is not until the very end that you know it is a commercial for some game because it says,『不爽，就來玩』"bad mood, just come and play (our game.)" Because if you are a nun in a bad mood some political leaders are gonna die....right. And if you are wondering SF stands for 特種部隊 "special forces." Special forces presumably lead by the catholic church.
Also, what is up with over-sexualized nuns here? Not creative and not very classy. And it is a sexist representation (but that is another post altogether.)
As far as the comments posted on YouTube there is some protest to this advertisement but not a lot on the political implications or representations. One person said "it is a bit disrespectful to nuns" and one person said it was "random" one person did bring up politics saying "they should have has Ma Ying Jiu 馬英九 Taiwan's president act as the candidate."
I am not arguing for FCC style censorship, nor am I arguing that images of violence cause real violence but I am arguing this: Lets be responsible for the images we produce, people! Lots of people argue that it is creative(its not!), shocking, new, but I think it might be good to stop and ponder where we are at as cultures (Taiwan or anywhere else) that we have to go THIS far to be shocking and therefore get attention to buy a product. Especially when this product is a video game in a culture full of 宅男/女 Otaku .
We could talk about how this commercial trivializes (or makes a mockery of) politically motivated violence, how it normalizes or even romanticizes violence, how it is a sloppy, vulgar attempt at being "edgy." And these things should be discussed.
I will just say this: Repackaging shit you saw on some foreign mobster move and repeatedly airing this representation of the assassination of a candidate during an election season is irresponsible, low, and lacking creative energy. It is straight up media pollution. I am chocking here on the dominate culture's propaganda pollution.*hack hack*
Go read a book. Yes, read a book.
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