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Once again this President becomes the fool to the world. Did the White house not check the music list?

yea...what a buffoon...how could he not know that piece from an obscure 1950s Korean propaganda film?!

I like how @bobknight33 tries to pass this off as common knowledge.

Does Obama become the "fool to the world" whenever he's not engaging in psycho-patriotic nation masturbation?

"Did the White house not check the music list?" Then the Tea Baggers would have been crying censorship.

Guilty by association?

I'm not American and I'm not against China, but Lang Lang, not for this particular event, is a serious twat. My gripe is with his facial expression when he's playing. Freaking phony.

Isn't this a perfect example of the difference between China and America? You're allowed your own opinions in America, and your right to express them is protected in law. Isn't this a massive win for Obama? He stood true to the principals of free speech. That's not a fail in my book.

We are so used to mocking those in power here in the west, it's hard to imagine a place where this isn't allowed. Where saying the wrong thing about someone in power could get you in very serious trouble, even if you're just stating the obvious truth. The fact that this guy can come over to America and say what he likes is a good thing, not a bad one.

The pianist was interviewed afterward. It was an accident and a coincidence, in his own words. I guess it would be too much for you to ask to do a little research before you muckrake?

How is this any different than playing our national anthem in front of the British?

Calm down everyone. You're all missing the point of this video: his name is Lang Lang.

>> ^robbersdog49:

Isn't this a perfect example of the difference between China and America? You're allowed your own opinions in America, and your right to express them is protected in law. Isn't this a massive win for Obama? He stood true to the principals of free speech. That's not a fail in my book.
We are so used to mocking those in power here in the west, it's hard to imagine a place where this isn't allowed. Where saying the wrong thing about someone in power could get you in very serious trouble, even if you're just stating the obvious truth. The fact that this guy can come over to America and say what he likes is a good thing, not a bad one.


>> ^Hive13:

How is this any different than play our national anthem in front of the British?


Q. F. -Fucking- T.

excerpts from the NPR radio interview linked above (I left in all the annoying "you knows"):

Mr. LANG LANG (Pianist): The truth is, I only know this piece because it's a beautiful melody. And, actually, I played many times as encore before because it's, artistically, it's a beautiful piece. I never thought about, you know, and I never knew about anything about, you know, the background.

BLOCK: Well, some people, as you know, on blogs in China, are seizing on this, saying that it was a moment for a world famous pianist to sort of drop a note of nationalism, of Chinese nationalism into the States here.

Mr. LANG LANG: You know, that's the last thing I want to do because, first of all, you know, I grew up as a teenager in America. I mean, I studied at Curtis. And I feel both China and America is my home. And, you know, I have a really wonderful emotions towards American people. And I have a lot of my great friends, my teachers, are all from here.

So for me, you know, to be invited to play at White House is a great honor....

BLOCK: The song that you played, in the movie, in the "Battle on Shangganling Mountain," which came out in 1956, it is a very nationalistic song and it...

Mr. LANG LANG: You know, I never know about that movie. I just learned it afterward. It's like, 1956. This is when my mother was two years old. I mean, this is 55 years ago. And when I grew up, I only hear this as a beautiful melody. That's it. And this piece is very popular as a traditional Chinese song.

BLOCK: I've been told that this song is a favorite at karaoke bars.

Mr. LANG LANG: Yeah. I mean, it's just, you know, it's a song that, like, everyone in the Chinese world knows about the melody. You know, I mean, that's the truth. I mean, I choose it because its beautiful melody....

BLOCK: Well, Lang Lang, what were your - how did you react when you heard that in China, on the Web, people were adding meaning to this choice...

Mr. LANG LANG: I feel very sad. You know, I very sad. And, you know, and I must say, disappointing.... And once, you know, people use it as a political issue, that makes me really sad because I am a musician. I'm not a politician.

Free expression > patriotism.

Is the American ego so fragile that it is shattered by a mere song? Why all the fuss, take it standing up, not whining like babies. It's a damn song, get over your pompous selves.

If tea partiers and such are offended by everything, and nothing seems to make them happy then why can't America just ignore them?

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"When friends are here, there is fine wine, but if the jackal comes, what greets it is the hunting rifle."

I don't care what the context is, that is an AWESOME line.