Sebastian Pufpaff’s gag with a controversial children’s song as a criticism of the Olympic Games in China was not well received by viewers. In any case, there was a lot of criticism on Twitter.
The Winter Olympics in Beijing were also a topic on “TV Total” on Wednesday evening. Right at the beginning, “TV Total” host Sebastian Pufpaff said about the large Chinese flag at the opening ceremonies: “I only know such a huge flag from the band”.
At the latest when members of the “TV Total” band “Heavytones” had to line up behind Pufpaff like the extras during the opening ceremony, it became clear that this was a dig at the Chinese government. “Now stand up straight and smile,” the moderator asked the musicians, because “the Chinese do that too, because they know: either smile for three hours or three years in a labor camp”.
In the next scene, however, the moderator was surrounded by four Chinese people in black suits. Pufpaff then had to be intimidated and pay homage to the “great leader Xi Jinping”, the Chinese President. This was probably intended to refer to the scandal surrounding a TV presenter who was recently harassed by Chinese security guards in a live broadcast and prevented from reporting.
Then he asked the audience to sing the “Chinese anthem”. This meant the children’s song “Three Chinese with the double bass”.
Justified criticism or racism?
The last scene caused a lot of conversation on social media. “First thought it was critical to the system, but then it became racist,” said one user. “I find it more than unnecessary to start singing this ‘Three Chinese with the double bass’ now. It’s a racist song,” adds another. Many people on Twitter agreed. Another user writes that it is a pity when justified criticism of an inhumane regime drifts into racist stupidity.
Whether the scandal was calculated or not can probably not be completely ruled out. But the “TV Total” editorial team should also be familiar with the controversy surrounding the song, which has recently been accused of having a racist connotation. The police intervention without reason is reminiscent of police arbitrariness and radial profiling, which the song plays down.
Originally, the song was also about “Japanese” and was renamed “Chinese” in the course of the alliance of the Nazis with Japan, which at least suggests a devaluation. As early as May 2016, the planned appearance of a children’s choir with the song on ORF was canceled because of this.