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tional level.
resentment (part B)
Being a foreign resident in China is not easy, and Dashan gets
all the breaks.
This is true too. From my perspective, I wouldn't say that
I’ve gotten all the breaks and everything has been easy for
me, but I understand the perception. Chinese tend to think
that foreigners get such preferential treatment in China,
what could they possibly complain about? But it is true: it
is difficult day-in, day-out to be a long-term foreign resident
of China. It is also exceedingly difficult to make a living as a
foreigner in the Chinese media, as an actor, television host, or
whatever. I’ve done pretty well on balance.
Part of this resentment also comes from the perception
that Dashan has raised the Chinese language bar too high.
no matter how hard you work over how many years, you just
never get to the top. Believe me, I understand this completely
because I’ve raised the bar too far for myself. That being said,
I think I will use the rest of my career to see if I can push it
a bit higher.
political/cultural
People wish Dashan had more of an edge. This one is more
complicated. In general, Westerners (and particularly Americans)
tend to prefer celebrities (and especially comedians)
who have an edge. Admittedly, there are no sharp edges to the
Dashan character.
Part of this delves into the political realm, where resentment
stems from the wish that Dashan used his public person
to be more politically active.
Let me deal with both aspects.
Culturally, the Dashan character does tend to be quite Canadian.
We’re just not as aggressive in general as Americans.
The adjective most used to describe Canadians is “nice.” How
dull and boring can you get?
Although Canada and America are very close culturally,
there are some fundamental differences. Primarily, Canadians
never consider themselves to be number one in anything
apart from hockey. And although we are both relatively young
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