Why do countries want to show other countries in bad light? I remember as kid I watched so many Hollywood movies showing Russia in bad light. Problem is: kids who grow watching these movies get their brains wired to think that way, often for life.
It's beyond the point. The point is that we can show another country in any light we want. That's what freedom is. It means you are free to criticize, analyze or make fun of others if that's what you want to do. And the audience is free to decide if they agree or disagree with your message.
If you are politically banned from talking negatively about China, people don't ever get to see anything bad about China, and they don't get a balanced view of the country. People should be free to decide if they believe what they see or if they don't. But if they never get to see anything bad, they have nothing to decide about.
Are you saying movies and documentaries must be very objective? Who are you kidding? As you said, movies and documentaries can shape public opinion and educate people about the world, that is exactly why movies and documentaries aren’t objective in the first place. Different side will use movies and documentaries to fit their own narrative. There are many historical examples where movie, comics and documentaries being used for different political purposes.
Different movie producer, different director, different screen play writer will unavoidably adding his/her won view of the world. Each documentaries writers will add its own interpretation of some event (You will find documents about Nanking Massacre from China and Japan are drastic different).
So tell me, who to determine which is right and which is wrong?
Yes, a producer, director, etc... will make subjective movies and documentaries. But that's their choice, and each and every one of them will present a different point of view.
That is different from censorship. If you watch 10 different subjective documentaries on China, you might get a valid objective picture of the subject. It's what cross referencing is all about. This is only possible with free speech, and if every point of view gets a chance. Let the viewer decide what they want to believe, and don't pre-filter information for them. Treat people like they're intelligent and can decide things for themselves.
But if you ban all documentaries that present China in a bad light, then you will never see a documentary that speaks about Chinese concentration camps or forced organ harvesting or the negative aspects of the social credit system. Or Winnie the Pooh. The decision about what kinds of media we watch is none of China's business, they should have no say in that. Let the film makers decide what they want to say, and don't censure them.
What we're seeing here is censorship. It's the method that all dictatorships use to control and brainwash their population. And we'd like to think that we live in free countries in Europe and in the US, and that censorship is limited to places like North Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Russia, etc. Yet right now, thanks to Apple, China has a say in what content we can create and watch. Want to make a documentary about the concentration camps in China? Too bad, you can't, because China doesn't want anyone to know about that. That is the definition of censorship, and it's happening in what we thought were "free" countries. I don't think we should be defending this, in any way.
I think that with the China problem, Apple is turning into a typical evil corporation that sides with dictators and repressors just to make more money. They have no problem standing up for homosexuality or against racism, because those values appeal to young people, their main target audience, and it makes them money. The US isn't going to ban Apple if they support gay rights, so it's all good. But if China wants them to ban an app that helps Hong Kong protesters, or if they want Apple to prevent any movies or documentaries to be made that say something bad about China, Apple bows down. I think that's disgusting, because it shows that Apple don't actually care about human rights or the fair treatment of people. It means they don't even care about the rights of homosexuals, that's just a marketing campaign. So suddenly we're left with a company that only, only, and only cares about money.
