For sheer timeliness and searing revelations of the essence of human nature, it would be hard to beat Weijun Chen's Please Vote for Me. First, one must slide past the film's (slightly yawn-inducing) wonky-but-worthy context as part of Why Democracy?, a documentary project using film to start a global conversation about democracy. The premise of Chen's film is: Let's see how the Chinese might handle the democracy they've never had by staging an election for class monitor in a third-grade class in Wuhan, China. Sounds interesting – if you're in the mood for an old-fashioned, this-will-be-good-for-you doc. But let me just say that what follows could drive Mao from the grave to dictate a new book of sayings, confirming his original instincts about the hazards of putting any decision – even class monitor pick – in the hands of the booboisie. The film will not be shown officially in China, due to its controversial subject matter; given the way democracy comes off here, though, you have to wonder why it wouldn't be used for party propaganda.
As for us, in the thick of election 2008 and Sarah Palin, watching how three 8-year-old Chinese candidates (and their way over-involved and –invested parents) snarkily attempt to demolish their opponents and manipulate the electorate – well, it makes you wonder what Karl Rove's been up to since he left the White House.
Chen's experiment in electoral politics takes place in his hometown of Wuhan, a city in Central China about the size of London. The third-graders at Evergreen Primary School, a surprisingly opulent, state-of-the-art facility, are middle class, look to live a decidedly Westernized lifestyle, and are as entitled as we'd expect the products of China's one-child policy to be. (The Chinese middle class represents 15% of its 1.3 billion population.) The campaign is structured as a trifecta of presentations: First there's the talent show, where each contender gets up in front of the class and plays an instrument or sings a song. Next is the debate, a hilarious, bare-knuckled mano a mano, in which each candidate immodestly trumpets his or her own qualifications while unabashedly attempting to take out his or her opponents through sheer character assassination, a strategy which will be freely utilized through whisper campaigns in the lunchroom. And finally, each candidate delivers a speech, yet another opportunity to sling the ad hominem.
So, we laugh – when one of the candidates makes a direct appeal to his classmates to support him, and if they don't, to vote for him anyway – out of pity. And we wince when the one female candidate is booed by the class during the talent show and, taunted by her opponents, dissolves in tears. Later, her crying will be used against her as a sign of weakness and her unsuitability for the demands of the job. Behind the scenes are the ruthless, ambitious parents, pushing and coaching their kids on the fine and not-so-fine points of winning at politics, even going so far as to write their campaign speeches. One family brazenly throws in a class trip as a vote-getting maneuver for their son.
In the end, we're left wondering whether the Chinese – or anyone, for that matter – can finesse the democratic process respectfully.
The AFS Documentary Tour presents Please Vote for Me on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 7pm at the Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz. Tickets are $4 for AFS members and $6 for the general public. For more information, visit www.austinfilm.org.
