Shen Yun marketers came by the coffee shop chain I work at. They were VERY insistent about putting up their brochures and posters in our store, even as the manager was growing increasingly uncomfortable by the level of "this is fine. this is a good show. you wouldn't want to suppress the arts, would you?" that they were forcing on her. It was only after they left that I popped my head around the corner and went "they're basically a cult, you know that right?" They came back a week later and were very distressed that the posters and brochures that they'd "given" to us were nowhere to be seen.
@@dj_ath lol “good”. It’s propaganda. You’re lapping it up thinking they have a line between promoting propaganda and honest and accurate stories. Their stories are the propaganda, and propaganda’s nature is to make itself look like it isn’t promoting a political agenda
I'm sure the "handpicking" of young women/girls in a devout "religious community" as dancers in a remote estate is entirely unproblematic, and nothing shady whatsoever is going on!
Australian Broadcasting Company did an interview with a former member who tried out as a dancer as a child. The instructor grabbed a handful of fat at her stomach and told the whole class "This is not what a woman is supposed to look like."
Yup. Young petite, extremely fit and flexible women with an aptitude for grace have always been completely safe in the hands of old spiritual advisors who hold positions of unchecked power.
Being a native New Yorker, I see Shen Yun advertising EVERYWHERE. I always thought it was a cultural display like an opera showing how beautiful ancient Chinese culture is. I actually really wanted to go. Luckily this video was recommended lol.
Thankfully someone else thought for you. You seriously have only seen this channel’s one sided representation of it. The channel is obviously a CCP shill. Think for yourself.
Cant see it anywhere here, tho its a really large city lol. Maybe due to noone rich warning to come here and noone being able to afford it.. or dancing not being a thint
We had quite a few field trips canceled in high school, but this was the only one that was canceled because one of the teachers went to see it first and reported back with "this is a propaganda show, do not send the kids to this." And I don't remember that being elaborated on much at the moment but uhh......this video has certainly cleared that up, yikes.
And the same teachers allowed half naked men dressed as drag queens to sell sex change operations and puberty blockers to the students. No wonder they barely get paid higher than minimum wage. Its because minimum wage is more than their worth. If they were worth more, they would have quit their jobs. I think they didn't want the kids to watch the show because it could cut into their process of brainwashing and indoctrinating kids to believe they will die because the air is 1 degree warmer in 1000 years from now or there are more than one gender even though their genes determine the gender. Don't believe in science, believe the lies from minimum wage workers. Watching Chinese dancers are more dangerous than puberty blockers of course.
When I first saw advertisements for this play, I thought it was Chinese government propaganda. How ironic then that I was right about it being propaganda, but I couldn’t have been more wrong about the involvement of the Chinese government.
@@EpicgamerwinXD6669 This is one of the groups of right-wing extremists the US govt backs in hopes of destroying Chinese society, along with the Al-Qaeda-affiliated East Turkestan Islamic Movement that wants western China to become part of a new Caliphate, and the pro-theocracy Tibetan separatists who want to re-establish serfdom in their country. So, Falun Gong IS "centrist".
always see their posters around asian markets and asian cultural spaces, and i find it particularly nefarious as a chinese-american. they advertise themselves in spaces that asian-americans feel safe and included in. They’ll put their posters up with posters for locally owned asian businesses that people trust. It’s predatory and gross.
Good to hear that. Before I knew much about them, I thought loads of people would stand with them, cause they're persecuted... But luckily loads of Chinese are critical of the CCP and still level headed enough to reject this bs. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying people are dumb... all I'm saying is that I'm glad people don't just see them as a persecuted group, but an evil cult that they are.
Isnt China on Geopolitics enough for that? Our leaders dont like Russa who dont like China. But we dont like China as well. Now throw in East/West Europe, India, Pakistan, Brazil, etc. and you got a real cluster?uck.
@@Padgriffin It's honestly not that rare for there to be a case where it's impossible to root for anyone involved... Authoritarian governments and religious nutjobs get into squabbles with other authoritarian governments and religions cults quite often.
It's important to remember that just because a group is persecuted and oppressed-which is always wrong-it doesn't automatically make that group the good guys.
The Hong Kong protesters are the most recent example. They wanted freedom from the CCP, but stepped over themselves by waving US flags and worshipped far-right extremists like Trump. Not to mention they had racist attitudes towards mainland Chinese and other people of color (i.e. LeBron James). It backfired on them, and played into Beijing's hands.
@@wilsonli5642 Until today I was unaware of Deerpark NY and Deer Park NY. (I'm on the west coast, where we have Eureka CA and Yreka CA.) I'm sure this never causes New Yorkers any confusion whatsoever.
An added wrinkle: if you are ethinically/visibly Chinese, you should be extremely cautious about going to one of these shows. My best friend is Chinese American and was invited to one of these shows by a non-Chinese friend--at the time, neither of them knew about Shen Yun's background. At the show, a group of 'plainclothes' Falun Gong/Shen Yun people cozied up to the pair and pretended to be fellow enthusiastic audience members. Then, they basically separated the non-Chinese woman from my friend and started doing a really hard sell on Falun Gong and extreme anti-CCP stuff, which is slightly hilarious because my friend is definitely not a fan of the CCP but is also not at all interested in Falun Gong (in no little part because she's mixed-race, even if she doesn't look it). It was actually pretty frightening at the time for both women--my friend's friend watched as our friend was virtually kidnapped so carefully and politely during the intermission right in front of her, and my normally streetwise friend discovered she'd been lured into a room with strangers who wanted her to sign up to a cult because she looked "sufficiently Chinese". Long story, short: everyone should avoid Shen Yun, but especially if you have Chinese ancestry because you will likely be targeted for recruitment at the show. Stay safe, y'all.
@@superslash7254 Sorry, I'm a little confused. Is your comment just a general wish/statement, like "I want to see the end of CCP," or is it directed at me? Because if you think I am somehow associated with or a fan of CCP, it's amazing how much you don't know me, friend.
Thank you! I am mixed race Chinese I have been wary of them too. I don't look too Chinese but this must have been a very strange thing... I hope this doesn't happen to me...
Watch out for this cult. I met a kind person at my work and he was there because his son at the time was in critical condition eventually passing away. When I seen him again the next day he told me how his son didnt make it and I gave him my condolences. A few minute later he went from talking about his son to trying to recruit me to Fa Lun Gong but I already knew about their cult history. It blows my mind how someone that lost a child would still try to recruit members at that very moment.
@@JesusLopezPrado9601 a cult incentive is violence, supreme punishment, suicide, murder, rape, sexualisation of minors, etc. the worst I have found falun gong doing is protest. They believe in a higher being and do not inflict violence or any of the sort to their own people
The best part of this show is watching all the people who brought their kids to the ballet without knowing what Shen Yun is about. My favorite was when a mother of 3 chose to awkwardly shuffle her three tots out of the theatre after the main character had her eyes gouged out by the CCP police. "Time to go kids"
@@dustinbrueggemann1875 after not so recent reforms, police cannot send you to reeducation facilities at will and a court order is needed to do anything actually bad to you. Not that I condone resisting lawful orders of police, but if you are going to do it, it is better for you to do it in China.
Chinese police and government is extremely tough on political dissident, but not petty crime. You won’t see the arbitrary brutality of American cops over things like stops, but you better not insult Xi.
It comes around in January here and in 2021 we had a joke that if the people who put up Shen Yun posters across our entire metropolitan area overnight had rolled out the vaccines we would've been done so quick lol
You do know the latest medical data shows the vax, mask and quarantines were bs,right? There is a reason why fauci is desperately trying to defend himself
My husband got tickets for us for this before we knew what it was (and WHOO BOY DID I GOOGLE DURING INTERMISSION), but even my intermission research could not have prepared me for the show finale, which featured a literal tidal wave (on the not-great CGI projected backdrop) looming over Beijing, and then the tidal wave had KARL MARX'S FACE ON IT WITH A GIANT RED HAMMER AND SICKLE ON HIS FOREHEAD AND RED EYES, and then he was defeated by the cult founder (again, bad CGI projection!) and then clip art of various chinese deities flew around the screen orbiting him. I about died laughing and I will be talking about the LOOMING FACE OF KARL MARX in my eventual nursing home, I am sure. Anyway shit is WILD, I don't recommend seeing it but it is a weird mix of "mostly normal ish chinese dancing and silent plays" followed by "absolutely wild propaganda" at the end of each act.
@TigOlBiddies as someone who recently watched shen yun, it really is a strange mix of genuine cultural performances, religious preaching, and political messages. But the advertising very carefully hides the show's political and religious themes. If you can get past that, it's otherwise a pretty spectacular show.
I was almost recruited in elementary school. We went on a field trip to the Fei Tian academy in SF to learn about their school (Note that we are a class of all Chinese students from a Chinese school). We toured the place and had us to some stretching exercises, which I’m pretty sure was their way of seeing if we are flexible enough to join. They picked me and a friend for recruitment and gave us a sheet of paper with contact info and about their program for if we wanted to join. Their program for students was majority of the day is dancing, and about 4 hours worth of general ed classes afterwards. I’m so glad I was too lazy to want to dance.
Do you know if they get paid for this? Their compound looks like it's run like one of those North Korea worker's outposts in Russia or Poland - all money being sent back home while you slave away and get food and shelter in return.
@@patientallison surprisingly, Windows 97 almost existed Microsoft planned for 3 releases in 1995, 1996 and 1997 under the codenames Chicago, Nashville and Memphis Chicago became Windows 95 Nashville was cancelled Memphis was delayed to 1998 and became Windows 98
China is not subtle and it is everywhere. I suspect Falun Gong is doing what it can to mirror its oppressor. It's like how abused children grow up to be abusive parents and perpetuate the cycle.
Well, yeah. Generally once you're questioning whether you sound to outsiders like you're in a cult, you're getting close to questioning whether you are in fact in a cult. Can't maintain the "right" mentality if you've got self awareness.
@@vaderbuckeye36 If by "Christian Science" you mean young-earth creationism then I can see where you're coming from, but what from I understand scientology is much more based on mysticism and subjective personal practices whereas young-earth creationism is based almost entirely on scripture. Creationists also follow scientific processes in their research much more than evolutionists seem to think, but that's a talk for another day.
I grew up in mainland China but went abroad in my high school years. When I went out with friends and saw these propaganda, we would joke about how we should work for them since they pay a lot. My family did one time approach a person from Falungong in Taiwan, they they said they are paid around 100 bucks a day to advocate for this Falun organization, and this was back in 2015. We had hidden rules about not siding with everything between Chinese communities, because deep down inside we know that there are some disturbing shit going on in it. This is an organized group of people connected not by any religious beliefs, but money.
I wouldn't say that's necessarily true. In any organization of this scale you'll always find some true believers as well as some who are truly just in it for the exercise (Yoga class with your friends?). The majority of the people at the top may be in it for the money but they make their money by getting the masses to believe whatever they're peddling. Then you make money either directly from the flock or by getting paid by outside groups to promote certain things to them.
I even saw these falungong people spreading leaflets in Malaysia, mostly old chinese ladies who can't speak a word of english, not local Malaysian chinese but from somewhere else (Taiwan I suppose?)
i always wonder how they make money. I knew they had the CIA money, but still to operate a huge organization like this, there gotta be ways to make money.
that's probably true but that doesn't make it ok to "violently persecute" them or harvest their organs. the ccp literally made a religion illegal and there are people who claim to be progressives in this comment section who are acting like it's fine.....
The Falun Dafa are scarily good in their tactics. Went to an art festival in Fremont, CA. The street was in the shape of a letter L. And where did this group put their tents? At one end: Sheng Yun At the other end: Falun Dafa And in the middle: Epoch Times. Even though they were all the same organization, they split and set up different booths in the more important parts of the festival.
Classic influence tactics: minimize your presence by obfuscating your tendrils. Not the only cult that does this, unfortunately (Scientology and Christian Science come to mind)
@@matheussanthiago9685 No there were dozens other legit local artists just selling paintings, sculptures, honey, food, etc. The Falun Dafa just happened to also have three tents in it lmao and tbh I think that's the scary part.
A "fun" fact: Falun Gong also operates some businesses unrelated to their direct mission. For instance, they own Albany Subaru in Albany, CA, and advertise it on Falun Gong/Epoch Times accounts (which is why I know this), and if you click the button to get more info about the ad, you're taken to a Falun Gong adjacent TH-cam channel with propaganda...and not information about the all-new Subaru whatever.
How dare they snub our darling Subaru? Theirs is a time-honored mobility based business, without which the world would suffer - how could they not see the consequences their actions carry? When Subaru is only a distant memory, Falun Gong will see the error of their ways.
That's surprising, considering Subaru has a very Pride-friendly brand. Their "Love: What Makes a Subaru a Subaru" is famous as an early example of pro-LGBT advertising hiding in plain sight. Someone should tell them about the connection. Just to see their look of horror as they desperately try to debrand. And maybe capture it and upload it to TH-cam Shorts :)
Some takeaways: Fa Lun actually means “the wheel of natural laws” that spins in mind. Gong is the same character as Kung in Kung Fu which means function or ability, just pronounced differently in Mandarin and Cantonese.
When I was bombed with their ads and had no idea what it was I thought this might be nice. I clicked on it and saw the ticket price and did a 180 on the spot. I can go to 4 theater shows for that money. At least in the city near me they charged like a Broadway. Now that I know what it is I’m happy I made the right choice.
@@Rokegle135 I just checked and it's $130 for decent seats in detroit. Now, considering that it'd be a $406 ticket out, and a $259 ticket back on southwest airlines... um....that's a no from me dawg.
@@Rokegle135 it’s been a few months but I remember it started at about a hundred dollars for the worst seats. I have no clue how this thing almost sells out. People pay 200$+ for front row it’s crazy.
I think that's the most nefarious thing about Shen Yuen. They market themselves as "China before communism", and it's like... they're not talking about the dancing, they're talking about their religion, and that's not even correct, because they started their religion DURING communism anyway. 🤷♂ But they purposely make it seem like this type of art only existed before communism in China, even though they probably have similar dance going on in China right now. Like, China ain't Footloose ya'll, someone didn't come in and ban all dancing.
China before communism = endless civil war, invasion by japan, opium addiction, serfdom and mass illiteracy. Thats what these idiots want to go back to.
LMAO at "china ain't footloose" i was somewhat hoping this vid would talk about what kind of dance they're doing exactly in shen yun, but traditional chinese dances like the lion dance you can still see in basically any chinatown during the lunar new year
Yeah, they like to market how China was better before communism. For someone like me who knows some of Chinese history, China before communism wasn't always a nice place you would want to live in, especially in the 1930s and 1940s.
@@TechieWidget No communist country was a capitalist paradise before their revolutions like Shen Yun would have you believe. We could argue about whether they were better or worse, but history tells us that happy people generally don't feel the need to start revolutions.
On top of owning Shen Yun and Epoch Times, they also own New Tang Dynasty and China Uncensored (hence why you always see NTD microphones in their commercials). Regarding that headquarters you mentioned, you can actually see Dragon Springs if you take the Port Jervis Line (as their temple is huge). Everything built there goes against local construction and environmental regulations. The town took them to court in 2014, and they were sued by residents and NYenvironcom in 2022 for breaking the Clean Water Act. The people who perform for Shen Yun are forced to live and rehearse there. And their leader Li Hongzhi says he was brought to save everyone and when asked if he's a human being has said, "You can think of me as a human being"...yeah
Shit, they OWN China Uncensored? I was just under the impression that Chris was just trying to ignore Taiwan and Falun Gong’s shortcomings for his audience… though to be honest, his endorsement of Trump’s China policy made me unsubscribe before then.
I am from Hong Kong. Before 2019 (just Google 2019 Hong Kong protest), we had freedom of the press. The Epoch Times would show up to random events like tree planting days or community sports days (we had to invite all media, no one came except The Epoch Times). They didn't come to report the events, they came to preach and it was very difficult to stop a reporter from "asking questions" without them citing their rights.
@@SockieTheSockPuppet and Apple Daily (the one that pioneered anime TikTok style news) was just a more legit version in terms of their China news coverage.... Only bad and terrible stuff were printed with a reasonable amount of exaggeration
They try to make it seem like an earnest cultural effort and hide everything about the political/religious message they can. They _want_ you to think it's niche, they want you to think you're the special city where this got traction, it's easier to catch people unaware this way.
Ooooooo.... I've been wondering about this for the past 20+ years from all the posters in Chinatown and H Mart, but thanks to your work, now I don't have to worry about wondering about it anymore.
I can confirm. I went to see Shen Yun back in February with a friend. I knew all about everything going on behind the scenes, and I went as a way to futher find out about it because I found it very interesting. The songs against evolution and all that stuff was definitely jarring, even more so the organ harvesting number. Over and over through the performance, the MCs make a very convincing argument about members of Falun Gong being prosecuted and that they are trying to perserves traditional chinese culture. So, if you knew nothing about falun gong or anything else, you might believe it. It was funny to see just how much they pushed these ideas lol I will say that the show was impressive though, the performers were all very talented, but many of the dance numbers felt repetitive. Honestly i found the show the most enjoyable because i knew about all this background knowledge before hand. Also right when I was leaving, there was a thing set up where audience members were being interviewed about the show. I wish I could bw closer to hear exactly whT they were asked lol. I also remember during intermission i overheard a lady who said she sees the show every single year.. that was definitely something lol Anyway, definitely a very strange experience
Sounds bizarre alright. I mean not for the fact that they promote Falun Gong - but all the anti evolution stuff... I imagine if you were just expecting a normal show, this would be quite a shock. Btw what's the price for a ticket?
I am German and I am pretty sure I got a TH-cam ad for it a couple of weeks ago. The thing I found offputting in the ad was how pretentious the totally not paid post show reations from the "guests" where.
For a while these ads where everywere. And while the testimonials sounded very paid to me as well, probably its mostly cult members doing these for free.
A meme is supposed to be a self-reproducing idea. Bydgoszcz could not possibly be a meme because its name is impossible to remember how to spell. The city is clearly an anti-meme, a self-censoring idea.
Yeah Kind-of. A main difference is Scientology members are kinda a more diverse group of people politically, while Falun Gong is very conservative and aligns with the far-right, even sharing their own media platforms with other far-right media. Their show's propaganda includes a lot of messaging that's blatantly anti-science, anti-athiest, anti-LGBT, anti-communist, anti-bi-racial marriage, etc... Super conservative, both personally & politically.
The Thumbnail alone made me go “wait that has played in my city!” I usually go to the theatre for musicals when they come to town but always wondered why. I thought the tour was sponsored by China to promote Chinese arts and culture so to find out they hate was a big shock to me.
I went to one of these because I was invited by someone. We all left half way through. We spent half of the first part talking about when we should leave.The guy who bought the tickets was so mad.
Can we just take a moment to salute the fact that he actually tried to make an effort to pronounce the Chinese names? Sure, it's still a fair bit off, but... you can hear he tried.
@@superslash7254 uhhhhh... what? You would you mind developping your point and the arguments for it? Because I genuinely don't understand what part of the video is comparable to Holocaust denial...
"Red henchmen from space" "SPACE LION - Flew into sleeve of God???" "The leg flexibility of this stage is unnerving" "Why does the woman next to me keep shaking her head?" Yeah, I think she did, lol
Who gives a shit? Call me when they start destroying chinese artifacts, create a famine that wipes out 3 million people and keeps religous practitioners in concentration camps. Someone thinking a lifestyle of relaxation and exercise improves their wellbeing is relatively benign. Considering "Half as interesting" is another generic, no-face, voice of god, youtube channel, I have a feeling they are most likely funded by the CCP and aren't being truthful either.
To be fair, a giant chunk of medical issues can easily be cured without medication. It’s no coincidence that thin people who eat very healthy, natural foods have way less disease and problems. And tons of people who drastically improve what they put into their bodies drastically reduce the amount of medications they need to take.
@@jasondashney lol obviously we re not talking about those behavioral affected health issues, ones that can improved with diet and exercise. We're talking about viral infections, diseases, stuff that needs modern medicine, antiviral and antibiotics to treat etc!
Someone from this show randomly showed up to my high school back in December. This Chinese lady walked up to me and three other teens and the saddest part is that we couldn’t understand a word. We all had the same reaction after she walked out but I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing these posters
@@abbycollins Filming inside is illegal because of the copyright they have of the graphics technology thing (hard to explain what the technology actually is, but the way they integrate the dancers with what's happening on the screen behind them is part of a patent that is legally protected by copyright law).
I ran into this group during a trip to DC my class did in my 8th grade. I was in the elevator with one of them and he tried to sell me on everything and gave me a pamphlet. I only realized this is who you were talking about when you brought up the organ farming stuff, that the biggest thing I remember from what the guy gave me.
Being chased by Falungong grannies as a Chinese mainlander in Sydney was like a daily thing to me back in 2011-2013. The first time was the worst because I didn't know who they were, what they were. I had a small talk with the grannies, once they learned that I am from China, they cornered me and forced me to sign petition to fight against CCP LOL. I tried to leave but they had their hands on my backpack and my jacket so I had to call the police. It seemed like they didn't understand a word of English which means that they didn't even know the police was coming. When the police arrived, they were so scared and just left. I feel like they are way less aggressive now.
I’m starting to have some serious wondering about New York State. I grew up there (Rochester), and one time my mom took me to a giant gathering outdoors, where they told interesting stories that started out “Christian”. But at some point - just when I thought it was getting interesting! - she yanked me out of there quick as could be, in front of everyone and wouldn’t turn back. Turns out it was the big meeting of the Mormons, whose “sacred texts” were supposedly dug up near there. Then there’s the Oneida cult. Very popular in the 1800s, the Oneida flatware company still exists and makes really good flatware. But they were originally another cult. The Shakers - they of the lovely simple furniture, who were also completely celibate - ALSO originally settled in NY. And now to find out Shen Yun is based on NY state as well … What the heck?! Is it some subtle mineral in the land there that draws religious-fringe and cult groups?? Guess I’m glad I moved away in my teen years! 😂
Tbf, NY has a large population thanks to being a massive historical immigrant nexus, so ideas mix and travel out through the area. Plus cults have an easier time brainwashing people who have just arrived to the country with few friends or family to check in on them, so it's easier to gain a following and grow to a significant size and become known. As for Shen Yun, I think they just moved to deerpark because its the NYC area.
NY is pretty much the first state you would be arrive in usa if you were to immigrate from Europe to escape religious prosecution( religion wise) and to start anew, many would built up a following and then move out of state or stay to earn funds for their churches as it's populated and huge economic growth, as for falun gong, its a heavy density of chinese immigrants to gather recruits from during the 90s that just left china
Yeah the experience is relatable. The show is really impressive and entertaining, but the political message waaaaay to thick, especially when you peddle some seriously questionable stuff.
Yeah I saw it too. The dancing was nice (mostly, except for that one about the government killing people) so it's cool, and the three musketeers have their own youtube channel (3 male dancers) that isn't that bad. Too bad their messaging is crazy.
I used to live less than a half hour away from the Dragon Springs Temple in Deerpark NY. Don't remember much other than there was some weird Asian religious group that kept themselves up on top of a hill. I think this is also the only time Deerpark has ever been mentioned on the internet.
Wow, you lived at their epicenter and didn't hear ALL ABOUT the atrocious things the Chinese government does to them? Usually they have a booth at... festivals, fairs, craft shows, farmer's markets... anywhere you can rent a booth for the day, handing out flyers and acting like they're persecuted for doing tai chi.
@@johnladuke6475 The town of Deerpark is really rural, and the closest city of Port Jervis was more like a village than a city, they seem to like do their preaching in locations like busy city centers. I think they probably kept a low profile in the local area so they wouldn't get kicked out by the local government.
They've been here in New Zealand for a while now as well. There was someone outside the local supermarket giving out fliers rather insistently and I'm really glad that I got rid of the flier when they pushed it on the person I was supporting.
@@therealspeedwagon1451 then they are no better than the oppressor, they are equally as bad. If the world ran on revenge, there would be nobody left. If Ukraine decided they will commit the same war crimes as Russia, will you think that’s right.
I used to drive by a big Falun Gong protest in Vancouver. I never knew what it was, and I was never going to look into it, so I'm glad Half as Interesting could inform me 2 years later. Thanks!
bit of additional context regarding falun gong getting banned in china in the 90s: it was the 1990s in east asia. lotta westerners might not remember or know but similar cults were either working to infiltrate governments, committing terrorism, or in the case of aum shirinkyo, both, on top of the usual emotional and physical abuse that occurs in similar groups. china's crackdown on falun gong is undeniably an authoritarian policy for an already authoritarian government but it does kind of make a sort of sense in the years following aum and their subway attack. falun gong in china went on to do mass public suicides (including children) in protest of the crackdowns so this was not like a perfect victory for the chinese government. it's legitimately a hideous and sad situation. and it hasn't really gone away. today, japanese and korean government are lousy with moonies. shinzo abe was assassinated because of his connection to the moonies. moonies and falun gong both have insane financial and political resources and can essentially buy legitimacy with it in the west, banking on ignorance and anti-chinese sentiment. in the us, keep in mind that tulsi gabbard's political career was launched as part of multi-generational push into politics by the "science of identity foundation" cult. guess what they think about gay people. she's cut ties officially but is still supported by current members of that cult. not even going to mention scientology, but check out "christian science" if you want more western cults with disturbing amounts of power in "normal" society. alan fucking shepard was a christian scientist. nasa actually let him take cult materials to the actual moon. yes, really. deadly serious: eyes open folks there's a lot of people in a lot of cults with a lot of power right now, like today right now. talk to your friends and family, these cults can't grow if we help people who could be vulnerable to them in the first place. you can not save everyone but there are resources available if you are worried about somebody you know. cult deprogramming is not easy, cult victims are not stupid, cult victims are not a joke. they're victims, and you could easily be one of them given the right circumstances. sleep well!
Add to all that the fact that cult-led rebellions and civil wars that happened a lot in Chinese history Look up the "Taiping rebellion" of the 19th century China, which killed 20 million people. The American Civil War that happened around the same time killed 500,000. I think no matter what kind of government hold power in China they will always be very vigilant against cults. Imagine if the Mormon rebellion of 1857 had killed 20 million people, you can bet your derriere the US government would be clamping down of any religious cult religiously
Moonies buggered over South Koreas covid response too. They were doing very well with suppression measures then the cult decided that the rules dont apply yo yhem and the whole thing went to custard.
@@everyonesfavoritesejong christian science is not really about science, and it's barely christian. it's a cult about spiritual medicine and healing people using techniques claimed to have been used by or inspired by christ. it's heavily tied into "animal magnetism", a pseudoscientific set of beliefs created by franz mesmer in the 19th century. my most charitable definition of christian science would be a mystic cult that attempts to reinterpret christianity as a religion based on animal magnetism and mesmerism first and above all other things. cloaking itself in the language of christianity was useful for granting the cult a degree of leeway that a cult that claimed no connection to christianity would likely have been denied. the christian scientists were counting on people having similar reactions to yours, where you dont really know what it's about but you hear the name and assume "oh they're scientists who are christian"
So I worked security for these shows at a local theater. One of the most disrespectful talent clients my team ever worked with. They commanded my team and I to crawl on the floor as to not disrupt the show as we worked. They Demanded the theater buy catering on the first day with no notice. Required all lights be put out in theater… even flashlights and floor guide lights, but relented as it would go against local regulations. I get it they are talent and guests in our theater, but it’s kinda like being invited to a party and you show up and make an ass of yourself in the hosts house.
I love those notes at 5:14 : "Why does the woman next to us keep shaking her head" , "I'm cold", "So much butt stuff in this one (stab??)", "ladiee next to us left..."
Makes you wonder how the hell they have such an ENORMOUS budget for marketing around the world. They have way more money than most world-class performing groups. Like, who is providing the funding...?🤫
As someone who lives in Gainesville, Florida.... Seeing Gainesville being mentioned in the same breath as Paris, Nagoya and Taipei, has to be one of the weirdest feelings XD
I took a friend of mine to see the show a few years ago. I had NO clue what it really was going in. I just thought it was a cool Chinese ballet. And, I mean, the show WAS beautiful. But it was also wild. The woman I was with noticed first. And then it was impossible NOT to see it. My friend and I STILL laugh about the whole experience.
the probably got off after one of their leaders made a 'small donation' to your local politician. You'd be surprised how much political sway FLG has in US politics despite how small it is
Now we need an episode on the much lesser known Windows 97. I myself, like mostly everyone else, went from Windows 95 straight to Windows 98, so I really do wonder what the aesthetics of Windows 97 was like.
Which flavor do you want? On one hand... It's just Windows 98 if it was on schedule for its original 1997 release On the other hand... Windows NT 4.0 (even though it was released in 1996)
I think it's an allusion to vapourwave (like Windows 96, the artist). Retro aesthetics used unironically in contemporary artistic settings. It's like a reimagined, nostagic, lo-fi past.
It says "Photography Strictly Prohibited" at 0:31 as it's being filmed...Amy is an absolute legend. We rarely allow people from outside our country to perform in Pyongyang and this is just another group that was added to the reject pile. The only time a group from the US has performed in the DPRK is when the New York Philharmonic visited in 2008 during my father's rule. Since then, we've had Slovenian rock band Laibach perform in August 2015 (who came to celebrate the 70th anniversary of liberation from Japanese control), and pop group Red Velvet in 2018 (who I'm in love with). But we really don't need all these groups when we have the incredible Moranbong Band and Chongbong Band to entertain us! Like us or not, our music never fails to be catchy.
Oh man, I got a pamphlet about the organ harvesting when I went to Washington DC the summer of 8th grade. I was pretty naive at the time and I still thought it was very weird that a government would be harvesting the organs of people who just liked a certain form of exercise.
@@samuelcalkin3516 Yeah. The Falun Gong people aren't entirely lying that they get sold for parts. They're just not telling you that so does literally every other dissenting group.
@@samuelcalkin3516 Organ harvesting is pretty much always a crackpot conspiracy theory. If you subtly ask around with people who believe in those theories you'll also find a cesspool of antisemitism, because these notions are almost always derivations of the blood libel. The chinese government absolutely imprisons and likely executes many people. But organ harvesting is just a stock go-to accusation because it has such a grotesque reaction from people and because the cultural legacy of the blood libel has already primed people to be on the lookout for it. The real thing China is doing with the many people it imprisons is using them for cheap prison labor. Most of the cotton that comes out of China is grown by Uyghur prisoners, and is used by major western brands like Nike and H&M.
The leader that ordered it also used it as an excuse to build up internal security forces, while making bank off the organ trafficking. So a power play and a money grab in one go.
@@Fishmans That's, uh, not how it works. Organ matching is more successful the closer to your geno/phenotype, so in broad strokes, yes, you're more likely to get a good match from someone who happens to be of the same race. Better a person within your family, actually. But you can't always wait for Grandma to die so you can get your heart transplant and modern medicine does a lot to make up the gap. We don't even need to be the same blood type anymore.
I saw the show in Salt Lake City in 2017. It was not at all what I expected, each segment was it's own thing. I thought there would be some overarching story, like the nutcracker or something. NOPE.
yeah to me some parts genuinely were interesting/pretty, like the more "traditional" dances, but the """"""opera"""""" segments oh my god do not get me started on that, plus all the culty "ballets" were absolutely terrible and well not worth even my time let alone my money
Yeah, me and a friend went to go see Shen Yun some years ago, and we knew nothing about it going in. As soon as that line in the Fail Ye Not segment came up, we both immediately went "WTF" and started being far more critical of the following segments and were not able to miss the propaganda moving forward. Ended up leaving before the whole show was over, mostly because she could not contain her giggling at some of the subtitles appearing on the screen.
F***ing knew it was gonna be Shen yun from the title. Those posters are everywhere in London. It’s such a weird Wikipedia hole - how do people still keep going? How do shen yun not get into trouble?
money. and also a large amount of political influence due to the fact that they hate china (well, only the PRC) and communism, and most western govts also hate china and communism
A cult is like a group of rabis infected hyenas, you just don't want to be anywhere near it. Should any western democratic government try to intervene, they'll immediately get slapped with all sorts of accusations like "CCP hitman", "religious persecution" and even "racisim", which ironically is what they are most good at themselves.
Thanks for explaining why I've good reason for avoiding Shen Yun like the plague. Something about it put me off immediately the very first time I saw an advert for it.
This is so wild! I thought they were just a normal Chinese theater putting on normal plays. As a kid I saw their ads on the morning news all the time and the commercials made it look like a family show.
The whole rumour about CCP harvesting organs from Falun Gung practitioners started from a report which pointed out the discrepancies between the number of patient who have received an organ transplants (quite a big number) and the number of people signed up to donate their organ after death (which is not a lot). The writer of the report than account for the number of FLG practitioner who supposedly went missing during the same period and assume they were detained, killed and had their organs harvested. Right... THAT is the proof that CCP harvested organs from FLG practitioners and the world believed it. I mean no one considered that it was the CCP officials who cooked up the numbers of transplants to make themselves look good. Everything they have reported were 100% accurate. *roll eyes*
i mean, last time i checked an organ donor can have multiple viable organs, which can be used for multiple different transplants, so a discrepency isnt that weird imo? if you have two kidneys left when you die, thats two whole transplants for one donor
Don't get me wrong, the CCP definitely harvests organs. Just not from Falun Gong practitioners. There is a reason why most Western states have banned traveling to China for cheap organ transplants. And looking at their record with Tibet, the Uighurs, or human rights in general, this shouldn't be surprising to anyone. As Half as Interesting said, this is a situation where both sides are bad. Falun Gong having to escape from China doesn't make them saints. Neither does their lying means that CCP's track record is clean.
I live on top of the back-entrance to a concert hall in Europe, and not so long ago Shen Yun performed here. I usually dont pay attention to whats happening down there, as alot of event trucks come and go. But when they were here, i noticed there was two guards in black clothes just standing in front of the tour busses, looking towards the road, all night long. Every time i checked, the same two men were standing there. They ended up standing and walking in front of the busses 24/7 for the 3 days/nights they were here. Even stood in the rain, and ate their lunches while standing up. I've never seen any security at this venue, as its not really needed as such a small place so it really stood out. Really shows how much they fear the CCP, that they bring their own security.
are you that much of a rube that you believe that means anything? alright. im gonna get my two best friends to dress in all black and act as my personal security and say its because i fear your psychotic rampages.
When Falun Gong holds a protest in my city, the Federal Police are always keeping an eye on it. Which is weird - you rarely see the Federal Police. If it was security arrangements it would be the state police. Not sure if the Feds are worried about Falun Gong causing trouble, or about China's secret police here causing trouble with the protest.
For a while when I was working the Spirit Halloween circuit one of my big empty box stores had a little troupe of old people doing stretching and exercises outside the door, like, literally every morning. I kind of just left them alone but one day one of my cashiers came in a few minutes late with a bunch of pamphlets, telling me about how those nice old people outside were protesting the Chinese government harvesting their organs because they liked Tai Chi with their morning coffee. It sounded fishy, and I knew Shen Yun was a cult, but I didn't think the two were connected until now... Neat.
they really think their organs are that healthy just because they did stretching every morning lmao, and most of them are old people. who in their right mind will harvest their organs lol plus organ transplant don't work that way.
Aww, I'm kinda sad. I've seen the advertisments for a while now and looked into it a bit to see if it was legit but genuinely couldn't find anything "worrying" in my language (wasn't aware it was such a massive global thing and I could have searched in English too), so I had half-resolved myself to buy tickets one of these days, because I really like the visuals they are putting forth. Sadly, there are no other shows of that kind within reasonable travel distance of my city, so I was really happy that they were coming to mine...but I don't wanna give some cult my money :(
Considering "Half as interesting" is another generic, no-face, voice of god, youtube channel, I have a feeling they are most likely funded by the CCP and aren't being truthful either.
The short answer is: donations from members used as capital for business ventures (such as Epoch Times or Shen Yun) which generate their own revenue, allowing continued operation. Part of their ability to mobilize a lot of people for disproportionately small amounts of money is that they get members to volunteer. They're a non-profit so they don't pay tax and they've also received some government funding.
Part CIA, part guillible people and lonely elderlies' retirement money. They have lots of members and donation. This cult has network all over South East Asia and also many part of North America where they take refuged. Already faced legal prosecution in many SEA countries like Vietnam, Singapore.. for illegal activities. Well know for propagating dangerous anti-scientific health practices that result in voluntary deaths instead of seeking proper treatments.
While suffering isn't a virtue, stoicism and perseverance inspite of suffering is. Causing suffering upon yourself or others for no reason is bad. It also depends on what you define as suffering, because going to work, studying and excercise does cause you to suffer, but those things are good and should be encouraged, while starvation causes you to suffer and should be stopped.
I agree. That is one reason why Mother Teresa is not actually a saint - she wanted those mothers to suffer so that they could get Brownie points in heaven. Sadistic. Same with the " Magdalene laundries" in Ireland. While stoicism may be useful, actually wanting people to suffer and saying that it gets bonuses on your soul, is not.
I mean I'm Floridian, of course I had no problem when I saw that on the billboard in English, but with all this scientological, Falun Gong stuff? Yeah. Icky.
I have seen them once, but the only thing close to propaganda I recall from it is them saying things such as “The theory of evolution is a sham” as opposed to things such as “Gays shouldn’t marry” or “Only marry within your race”. They did something on the destruction of elements of Classical Chinese culture towards the very end, but I recall nothing of organ-harvesting.
@@aycc-nbh7289classic cult tactic known as "boiling the frog" Start slow and steady, only effective enough that the unsuspecting victim is absorbing the message, but not crazy enough so they have a reaction and leave Slowly but surely tho, the conversion is happening and the water is heating unbeknownst to the target
@@aycc-nbh7289 They might vary it a bit depending on what's locally more tolerated. Or maybe it's just the less objectionable things at the first introduction, then they hope you continue further into the weirdness?
I remember the billboards for it around Detroit said "China before communism" maybe a year ago, which told me enough about the show to know that it was very political. Strangely, from what i remember, i can't find a single billboard that still says that. They're otherwise identical, but none of them say "China before communism"
I think it depends on the market. In the trailers, they put before my local news on behalf of my theater, they do use that slogan, as well as when they’re selling at Costco out of all places.
I remember the billboard near St. Louis that I saw several years ago also said "China before communism" and with the picture of the dancer I thought it looked pretty neat but once I learned later that it was a cult and that the show is apparently weird as hell I was glad to know I didn't miss much by never going lol.
Thank you so much for making this. The advchina guys used to push Falun Gong *all the time*, and refused to respond for comment. They didn't research into what they were promoting at all, and just went with "enemy of my enemy is my friend". This video only has the surface-level issues, but Falun Gong isn't a good thing, the only good thing about them is they're opposed to the CCP. I'd REALLY love to see the advchina guys issue a retraction on their previous support. Been following them for years and years now, and it was wild seeing how much support they were rallying for it.
Loved how finishing this video, I got the Shen Yun ad which I’ve been bombarded with for the past few weeks in the Mexican, Spanish, and American version: “Me faltan calificativos para decir…”
I recently attended a Shen Yun production in Perth. It was a scam and a sham. I went in to watch 5,000 years of Chinese culture - NOT politics, not propaganda against the current Chinese government. The politics and religious propaganda was offensive to me culturally as a South-east Asian Chinese and really turned me off. Even the (Australian white) couple sitting in front of me left after the intermission. I regret I didn't do the same, because I still hoped for a better second half. But in the second half, the political and religious propaganda got worse. The only good thing about the show was the dancers. But that was what I had paid to see. Overall score for the show: 3/10. More than half of the show was propaganda about religion and against the Chinese government, of whom about 90% of Chinese support. I will tell all my friends and family not to waste their time and money to watch the Shen Yun show. They are not honest in their advertisements. The real motive of the show is not Chinese history and civilisation as promoted, but a shaming of China and propaganda against the CCP government. As a South east Asian Chinese, I am utterly disappointed and ashamed of Shen Yun. Eight Shen Yun shows running concurrently around the world? The quality of the show isn’t even good - 3/10. The tenor and soprano were so bad, I thought there was something wrong with my ears or my mind. If I want to hear a religious song, I can go to my local church and listen for free. And they are better singers. Who helps fund all the Shen Yun shows worldwide denigrating the Chinese government? American funds, I bet. After all, Shen Yun's HQ is in New York.
I live a directly across from an ad for the show, so i can never miss it from my kitchen window, living room window, or when i leave for work. That's fun.
you could argue that the ccp has *done* worse things than falun gong but thats probably because falun gong doesn't have the authority to do bad stuff. if they had a country itd be an ethnic theocracy so like...
I saw posters for Shen Yun basically every day on the Texas A&M campus for my entire 2017-22 run, and I still can't escape them now that I moved to Dallas 😂 I always wondered what her deal was.
I asked my mother this once, she said it was a (possibly drug) cult. I rly thought it was only a thing that only happened in my area, but I guess not! Thanks for the info!
Shen Yun marketers came by the coffee shop chain I work at. They were VERY insistent about putting up their brochures and posters in our store, even as the manager was growing increasingly uncomfortable by the level of "this is fine. this is a good show. you wouldn't want to suppress the arts, would you?" that they were forcing on her. It was only after they left that I popped my head around the corner and went "they're basically a cult, you know that right?"
They came back a week later and were very distressed that the posters and brochures that they'd "given" to us were nowhere to be seen.
I'm gonna have to check it out. Epoch has some good articles yeah its right wing but I'm down the middle.
@@dj_ath the homophobia and racism wasn't an issue for you? That's not "down the middle" buddy that's messed up
@@dj_ath lol “good”.
It’s propaganda. You’re lapping it up thinking they have a line between promoting propaganda and honest and accurate stories.
Their stories are the propaganda, and propaganda’s nature is to make itself look like it isn’t promoting a political agenda
@@davidmc5762 he’s either a troll or truly ignorant on the subject of propaganda
@@davidmc5762 "I'm a centrist because my economic stance is right wing but I'm afraid of also admitting that my social stance is rightwing"
I'm sure the "handpicking" of young women/girls in a devout "religious community" as dancers in a remote estate is entirely unproblematic, and nothing shady whatsoever is going on!
Australian Broadcasting Company did an interview with a former member who tried out as a dancer as a child. The instructor grabbed a handful of fat at her stomach and told the whole class "This is not what a woman is supposed to look like."
Resisting the urge to look up their travel arrangements for shows...
@@Wintermute01001 This sounds more like an Asian thing than a cult thing
Yup. Young petite, extremely fit and flexible women with an aptitude for grace have always been completely safe in the hands of old spiritual advisors who hold positions of unchecked power.
@@andersjjensen I want to become a spiritual leader.
Being a native New Yorker, I see Shen Yun advertising EVERYWHERE. I always thought it was a cultural display like an opera showing how beautiful ancient Chinese culture is. I actually really wanted to go. Luckily this video was recommended lol.
Thankfully someone else thought for you. You seriously have only seen this channel’s one sided representation of it. The channel is obviously a CCP shill. Think for yourself.
Same! This is shocking 😳
Yo same
Cant see it anywhere here, tho its a really large city lol. Maybe due to noone rich warning to come here and noone being able to afford it.. or dancing not being a thint
SAME BUT IM IN CANADA
We had quite a few field trips canceled in high school, but this was the only one that was canceled because one of the teachers went to see it first and reported back with "this is a propaganda show, do not send the kids to this." And I don't remember that being elaborated on much at the moment but uhh......this video has certainly cleared that up, yikes.
And the same teachers allowed half naked men dressed as drag queens to sell sex change operations and puberty blockers to the students. No wonder they barely get paid higher than minimum wage. Its because minimum wage is more than their worth. If they were worth more, they would have quit their jobs. I think they didn't want the kids to watch the show because it could cut into their process of brainwashing and indoctrinating kids to believe they will die because the air is 1 degree warmer in 1000 years from now or there are more than one gender even though their genes determine the gender. Don't believe in science, believe the lies from minimum wage workers. Watching Chinese dancers are more dangerous than puberty blockers of course.
This must’ve been a long time ago because teachers these days certainly have no problem with teaching propaganda
@@jasondashneythey’d definitely have a problem with anti-CCP propaganda lol
But now they can take elementary school children to drag shows
@@ahndeux 🤣
When I first saw advertisements for this play, I thought it was Chinese government propaganda. How ironic then that I was right about it being propaganda, but I couldn’t have been more wrong about the involvement of the Chinese government.
Truly an example of the horseshoe theory, when the left and the right goes extreme enough, they'll eventually end up looking the same
@@dasamont8274 ok liberal
@@dasamont8274 yep. That’s actually why I’m a proud centrist.
Then it's simply because you don't do enough research...
@@EpicgamerwinXD6669 This is one of the groups of right-wing extremists the US govt backs in hopes of destroying Chinese society, along with the Al-Qaeda-affiliated East Turkestan Islamic Movement that wants western China to become part of a new Caliphate, and the pro-theocracy Tibetan separatists who want to re-establish serfdom in their country.
So, Falun Gong IS "centrist".
always see their posters around asian markets and asian cultural spaces, and i find it particularly nefarious as a chinese-american. they advertise themselves in spaces that asian-americans feel safe and included in. They’ll put their posters up with posters for locally owned asian businesses that people trust. It’s predatory and gross.
Good to hear that. Before I knew much about them, I thought loads of people would stand with them, cause they're persecuted... But luckily loads of Chinese are critical of the CCP and still level headed enough to reject this bs. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying people are dumb... all I'm saying is that I'm glad people don't just see them as a persecuted group, but an evil cult that they are.
Shen Yun is proof that an enemy of an enemy is not necessarily a friend.
It’s one of the rare cases where it’s impossible to root for anybody involved
Except Amy. She’s a hero for sitting through it lol
My thoughts exactly!
Isnt China on Geopolitics enough for that? Our leaders dont like Russa who dont like China. But we dont like China as well.
Now throw in East/West Europe, India, Pakistan, Brazil, etc. and you got a real cluster?uck.
@@Padgriffin It's honestly not that rare for there to be a case where it's impossible to root for anyone involved... Authoritarian governments and religious nutjobs get into squabbles with other authoritarian governments and religions cults quite often.
I’ve played enough video games to know that the enemy of my enemy is also my enemy
It's important to remember that just because a group is persecuted and oppressed-which is always wrong-it doesn't automatically make that group the good guys.
The Hong Kong protesters are the most recent example. They wanted freedom from the CCP, but stepped over themselves by waving US flags and worshipped far-right extremists like Trump. Not to mention they had racist attitudes towards mainland Chinese and other people of color (i.e. LeBron James). It backfired on them, and played into Beijing's hands.
but i havent seen one bad thing about them so sounds to me like they ARE the good guys.
@@garyjones2084 Great logic, lol.
@@valmarsigliawhat has the group done to you?
@@Randomperson12232 Nothing at all. Are _you_ only critical of groups who have done something directly to you?
there's something hilarious about them naming a place "Dragon springs" only for it to be in "Deer park". The contrast is too good
It's *Deer*park not Deep Park
@@OkieOtaku Thanks. The whole point of the contrast was deer and dragon so idk how I wrote deep.
@@batriam5921 It's also not "Deer Park", which is a whole another town in Long Island :D
@@wilsonli5642 Until today I was unaware of Deerpark NY and Deer Park NY. (I'm on the west coast, where we have Eureka CA and Yreka CA.) I'm sure this never causes New Yorkers any confusion whatsoever.
A deer is a dragon, if the emperor says it is a dragon.
Amy is becoming my favorite person in these videos. Putting herself on the line for stupid HAI videos
The hero we needed
She needs a raise for "the aesthetics of Windows 97" alone XD
Amy is the real MVP.
Is there a playlist of videos with Amy appearances?
I really like her open disdain for Sam. My new favourite part of the channel.
An added wrinkle: if you are ethinically/visibly Chinese, you should be extremely cautious about going to one of these shows. My best friend is Chinese American and was invited to one of these shows by a non-Chinese friend--at the time, neither of them knew about Shen Yun's background.
At the show, a group of 'plainclothes' Falun Gong/Shen Yun people cozied up to the pair and pretended to be fellow enthusiastic audience members. Then, they basically separated the non-Chinese woman from my friend and started doing a really hard sell on Falun Gong and extreme anti-CCP stuff, which is slightly hilarious because my friend is definitely not a fan of the CCP but is also not at all interested in Falun Gong (in no little part because she's mixed-race, even if she doesn't look it). It was actually pretty frightening at the time for both women--my friend's friend watched as our friend was virtually kidnapped so carefully and politely during the intermission right in front of her, and my normally streetwise friend discovered she'd been lured into a room with strangers who wanted her to sign up to a cult because she looked "sufficiently Chinese".
Long story, short: everyone should avoid Shen Yun, but especially if you have Chinese ancestry because you will likely be targeted for recruitment at the show. Stay safe, y'all.
ccp pls go
@@superslash7254 Sorry, I'm a little confused. Is your comment just a general wish/statement, like "I want to see the end of CCP," or is it directed at me? Because if you think I am somehow associated with or a fan of CCP, it's amazing how much you don't know me, friend.
don't worry. Just announce loud and proud you're gay or trans and they drop you like a hot potato.
Thank you! I am mixed race Chinese I have been wary of them too. I don't look too Chinese but this must have been a very strange thing... I hope this doesn't happen to me...
@@hughmungus2760 yeah they're massively reactionary lol
Watch out for this cult. I met a kind person at my work and he was there because his son at the time was in critical condition eventually passing away. When I seen him again the next day he told me how his son didnt make it and I gave him my condolences. A few minute later he went from talking about his son to trying to recruit me to Fa Lun Gong but I already knew about their cult history. It blows my mind how someone that lost a child would still try to recruit members at that very moment.
WTF? How big is this cult!?? It seems they're everywhere!
Its not a cult. Its a religion just like Jehovah witness
@@crashharmonyroberson5076What is the difference?
@@JesusLopezPrado9601 a cult incentive is violence, supreme punishment, suicide, murder, rape, sexualisation of minors, etc. the worst I have found falun gong doing is protest.
They believe in a higher being and do not inflict violence or any of the sort to their own people
@@crashharmonyroberson5076Jehovahs witness is definitely a cult
The best part of this show is watching all the people who brought their kids to the ballet without knowing what Shen Yun is about. My favorite was when a mother of 3 chose to awkwardly shuffle her three tots out of the theatre after the main character had her eyes gouged out by the CCP police. "Time to go kids"
The advertising definitely doesn't make it clear lol
even better is the fact that you can actually argue with policemen in china without fear of getting shot
@@gelomelo44 Yeah, they just send you directly to the "reeducation facility". Pigs gonna pig, the country just changes their preferred methods.
@@dustinbrueggemann1875 after not so recent reforms, police cannot send you to reeducation facilities at will and a court order is needed to do anything actually bad to you. Not that I condone resisting lawful orders of police, but if you are going to do it, it is better for you to do it in China.
Chinese police and government is extremely tough on political dissident, but not petty crime. You won’t see the arbitrary brutality of American cops over things like stops, but you better not insult Xi.
It comes around in January here and in 2021 we had a joke that if the people who put up Shen Yun posters across our entire metropolitan area overnight had rolled out the vaccines we would've been done so quick lol
The irony of the joke is that the Falun Gong people probably don't believe in vaccines lol
I haven't checked, but I'd bet they're antivaxers.
Ironic since FLG are antiscience and anti modern medicine..
To bad they're anti-vaxxers as well
You do know the latest medical data shows the vax, mask and quarantines were bs,right? There is a reason why fauci is desperately trying to defend himself
My husband got tickets for us for this before we knew what it was (and WHOO BOY DID I GOOGLE DURING INTERMISSION), but even my intermission research could not have prepared me for the show finale, which featured a literal tidal wave (on the not-great CGI projected backdrop) looming over Beijing, and then the tidal wave had KARL MARX'S FACE ON IT WITH A GIANT RED HAMMER AND SICKLE ON HIS FOREHEAD AND RED EYES, and then he was defeated by the cult founder (again, bad CGI projection!) and then clip art of various chinese deities flew around the screen orbiting him. I about died laughing and I will be talking about the LOOMING FACE OF KARL MARX in my eventual nursing home, I am sure.
Anyway shit is WILD, I don't recommend seeing it but it is a weird mix of "mostly normal ish chinese dancing and silent plays" followed by "absolutely wild propaganda" at the end of each act.
Holy shit LMAO now I gotta see this looming face of Marx lol
Gotta love the Karl Marx titan.
Reading your comment has to be the best laugh I've had in weeks. :') Thank you.
@TigOlBiddies as someone who recently watched shen yun, it really is a strange mix of genuine cultural performances, religious preaching, and political messages. But the advertising very carefully hides the show's political and religious themes. If you can get past that, it's otherwise a pretty spectacular show.
I really hope someone steals and leaks the Marx Wave. It sounds like an epic desktop background
I was almost recruited in elementary school. We went on a field trip to the Fei Tian academy in SF to learn about their school (Note that we are a class of all Chinese students from a Chinese school). We toured the place and had us to some stretching exercises, which I’m pretty sure was their way of seeing if we are flexible enough to join. They picked me and a friend for recruitment and gave us a sheet of paper with contact info and about their program for if we wanted to join. Their program for students was majority of the day is dancing, and about 4 hours worth of general ed classes afterwards.
I’m so glad I was too lazy to want to dance.
Do you know if they get paid for this? Their compound looks like it's run like one of those North Korea worker's outposts in Russia or Poland - all money being sent back home while you slave away and get food and shelter in return.
"The wonder of seeing a human being do a flip with the aesthetics of Windows 97" is one of the greatest sentences ever written
And the ads make it look exactly that way too! Although I think it looks more like Windows XP
Made even better by the fact that Windows 97 does not exist, there's 95 and 98.
@@patientallison probably got mixed up with the existence of Office 97 :P
@@patientallison surprisingly, Windows 97 almost existed
Microsoft planned for 3 releases in 1995, 1996 and 1997 under the codenames Chicago, Nashville and Memphis
Chicago became Windows 95
Nashville was cancelled
Memphis was delayed to 1998 and became Windows 98
Can't be positive. Remember CLIPPY
Huh
Amy should be in the next Jet Lag.
She's already wasting Sam's money, she'd be a perfect future teammate! Brian and Ben with their telescope and tinder subscription would be so proud!
Yes, I was going to comment the same thing. Amy for the Jet Lag Season 7?
Please do this!
That's what I was thinking
@@artielikesthings what do you mean by that?
It's creepy how much these guys can't hide their deep Scientology vibes in adverts, in ticket booths, all over.
I WAS LOOKING FOR A SCIENTOLOGY COMMENT LMAO
China is not subtle and it is everywhere. I suspect Falun Gong is doing what it can to mirror its oppressor. It's like how abused children grow up to be abusive parents and perpetuate the cycle.
Well, yeah. Generally once you're questioning whether you sound to outsiders like you're in a cult, you're getting close to questioning whether you are in fact in a cult. Can't maintain the "right" mentality if you've got self awareness.
Christian science is basically the og when it comes to these organizations in the U.S. it directly inspired aspects of Scientology
@@vaderbuckeye36 If by "Christian Science" you mean young-earth creationism then I can see where you're coming from, but what from I understand scientology is much more based on mysticism and subjective personal practices whereas young-earth creationism is based almost entirely on scripture. Creationists also follow scientific processes in their research much more than evolutionists seem to think, but that's a talk for another day.
I grew up in mainland China but went abroad in my high school years. When I went out with friends and saw these propaganda, we would joke about how we should work for them since they pay a lot. My family did one time approach a person from Falungong in Taiwan, they they said they are paid around 100 bucks a day to advocate for this Falun organization, and this was back in 2015. We had hidden rules about not siding with everything between Chinese communities, because deep down inside we know that there are some disturbing shit going on in it. This is an organized group of people connected not by any religious beliefs, but money.
I wouldn't say that's necessarily true. In any organization of this scale you'll always find some true believers as well as some who are truly just in it for the exercise (Yoga class with your friends?). The majority of the people at the top may be in it for the money but they make their money by getting the masses to believe whatever they're peddling. Then you make money either directly from the flock or by getting paid by outside groups to promote certain things to them.
I even saw these falungong people spreading leaflets in Malaysia, mostly old chinese ladies who can't speak a word of english, not local Malaysian chinese but from somewhere else (Taiwan I suppose?)
@@alexsis1778 True. But in the end it's all about money for the cult leaders. Falun Gong is essentially a Chinese Scientology church
i always wonder how they make money. I knew they had the CIA money, but still to operate a huge organization like this, there gotta be ways to make money.
Falun gong is Asia's scientology
It's always new age BS, but STILL better than scientology.
@@thotslayer9914 Even Jesus is better.
It's more like chinese nazism.
@@thotslayer9914 lost souls you are.
that's probably true but that doesn't make it ok to "violently persecute" them or harvest their organs. the ccp literally made a religion illegal and there are people who claim to be progressives in this comment section who are acting like it's fine.....
The Falun Dafa are scarily good in their tactics. Went to an art festival in Fremont, CA. The street was in the shape of a letter L. And where did this group put their tents?
At one end: Sheng Yun
At the other end: Falun Dafa
And in the middle: Epoch Times.
Even though they were all the same organization, they split and set up different booths in the more important parts of the festival.
Classic influence tactics: minimize your presence by obfuscating your tendrils. Not the only cult that does this, unfortunately (Scientology and Christian Science come to mind)
What was this festival?
The cultcon?
Haha, that's a step above Scientology, which in my city is "coincidentally" two doors down from the Dianetics Foundation.
@@matheussanthiago9685 No there were dozens other legit local artists just selling paintings, sculptures, honey, food, etc. The Falun Dafa just happened to also have three tents in it lmao and tbh I think that's the scary part.
CA? California Insider (youtube channel) is affiliated with Epoch Times.
A "fun" fact: Falun Gong also operates some businesses unrelated to their direct mission. For instance, they own Albany Subaru in Albany, CA, and advertise it on Falun Gong/Epoch Times accounts (which is why I know this), and if you click the button to get more info about the ad, you're taken to a Falun Gong adjacent TH-cam channel with propaganda...and not information about the all-new Subaru whatever.
I for one am troubled by how they are tainting the noble business of subaru dealerships
How dare they snub our darling Subaru? Theirs is a time-honored mobility based business, without which the world would suffer - how could they not see the consequences their actions carry?
When Subaru is only a distant memory, Falun Gong will see the error of their ways.
That's surprising, considering Subaru has a very Pride-friendly brand. Their "Love: What Makes a Subaru a Subaru" is famous as an early example of pro-LGBT advertising hiding in plain sight.
Someone should tell them about the connection. Just to see their look of horror as they desperately try to debrand. And maybe capture it and upload it to TH-cam Shorts :)
@@Hrafnskald That would be awesome! 💜✊
#OneLove 🌈🌞🏳️⚧️🍀
They also operate China Uncensored on youtube
Some takeaways: Fa Lun actually means “the wheel of natural laws” that spins in mind. Gong is the same character as Kung in Kung Fu which means function or ability, just pronounced differently in Mandarin and Cantonese.
When I was bombed with their ads and had no idea what it was I thought this might be nice. I clicked on it and saw the ticket price and did a 180 on the spot. I can go to 4 theater shows for that money. At least in the city near me they charged like a Broadway. Now that I know what it is I’m happy I made the right choice.
Really is it that expensive
Prices look reasonable but it sure is sold out
@@Rokegle135 I just checked and it's $130 for decent seats in detroit. Now, considering that it'd be a $406 ticket out, and a $259 ticket back on southwest airlines... um....that's a no from me dawg.
@@Rokegle135 it’s been a few months but I remember it started at about a hundred dollars for the worst seats. I have no clue how this thing almost sells out. People pay 200$+ for front row it’s crazy.
To paraphrase L Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology: "the real money is in starting a cult"
I think that's the most nefarious thing about Shen Yuen. They market themselves as "China before communism", and it's like... they're not talking about the dancing, they're talking about their religion, and that's not even correct, because they started their religion DURING communism anyway. 🤷♂ But they purposely make it seem like this type of art only existed before communism in China, even though they probably have similar dance going on in China right now. Like, China ain't Footloose ya'll, someone didn't come in and ban all dancing.
China before communism = endless civil war, invasion by japan, opium addiction, serfdom and mass illiteracy. Thats what these idiots want to go back to.
LMAO at "china ain't footloose"
i was somewhat hoping this vid would talk about what kind of dance they're doing exactly in shen yun, but traditional chinese dances like the lion dance you can still see in basically any chinatown during the lunar new year
Yeah, they like to market how China was better before communism. For someone like me who knows some of Chinese history, China before communism wasn't always a nice place you would want to live in, especially in the 1930s and 1940s.
@@TechieWidget No communist country was a capitalist paradise before their revolutions like Shen Yun would have you believe. We could argue about whether they were better or worse, but history tells us that happy people generally don't feel the need to start revolutions.
Its never the communism that makes something suck, its the intense fascism that often comes with it
On top of owning Shen Yun and Epoch Times, they also own New Tang Dynasty and China Uncensored (hence why you always see NTD microphones in their commercials). Regarding that headquarters you mentioned, you can actually see Dragon Springs if you take the Port Jervis Line (as their temple is huge). Everything built there goes against local construction and environmental regulations. The town took them to court in 2014, and they were sued by residents and NYenvironcom in 2022 for breaking the Clean Water Act. The people who perform for Shen Yun are forced to live and rehearse there. And their leader Li Hongzhi says he was brought to save everyone and when asked if he's a human being has said, "You can think of me as a human being"...yeah
Also, he can fly. Too modest to show it off though.
Shit, they OWN China Uncensored? I was just under the impression that Chris was just trying to ignore Taiwan and Falun Gong’s shortcomings for his audience… though to be honest, his endorsement of Trump’s China policy made me unsubscribe before then.
@@ianmason96 yeah he’s an actual Falun Gong practitioner
So that's why the CCP chose violence...
@@pandaandthegecko5480 but he's in an interracial relationship
I am from Hong Kong. Before 2019 (just Google 2019 Hong Kong protest), we had freedom of the press. The Epoch Times would show up to random events like tree planting days or community sports days (we had to invite all media, no one came except The Epoch Times). They didn't come to report the events, they came to preach and it was very difficult to stop a reporter from "asking questions" without them citing their rights.
Wow...I don't know the media is also bad, I thought only the religion is kind of weird.
Lol “freedom of press” you mean freedom of propaganda. Epoch times is literally fallun gong propaganda
Wasn't bad that they banned them after 2019 then
@@SockieTheSockPuppet and Apple Daily (the one that pioneered anime TikTok style news) was just a more legit version in terms of their China news coverage.... Only bad and terrible stuff were printed with a reasonable amount of exaggeration
@@champan250 The fact that TikTok is even remotely associated makes me doubt that even more.
i don’t know why i thought this was a niche thing, but it truly is enormously international 💀
We should make a battle Royale thin with the leaders of all ultrarich international cults
The winner gets to be the one true cult
@@matheussanthiago9685 Savior Royale
They try to make it seem like an earnest cultural effort and hide everything about the political/religious message they can. They _want_ you to think it's niche, they want you to think you're the special city where this got traction, it's easier to catch people unaware this way.
Me too
@@matheussanthiago9685nobody liked the last time we had crusades
Ooooooo.... I've been wondering about this for the past 20+ years from all the posters in Chinatown and H Mart, but thanks to your work, now I don't have to worry about wondering about it anymore.
Literally scientistology/ jeovah's witness for Chinese immigrants
I can confirm. I went to see Shen Yun back in February with a friend. I knew all about everything going on behind the scenes, and I went as a way to futher find out about it because I found it very interesting.
The songs against evolution and all that stuff was definitely jarring, even more so the organ harvesting number.
Over and over through the performance, the MCs make a very convincing argument about members of Falun Gong being prosecuted and that they are trying to perserves traditional chinese culture. So, if you knew nothing about falun gong or anything else, you might believe it. It was funny to see just how much they pushed these ideas lol
I will say that the show was impressive though, the performers were all very talented, but many of the dance numbers felt repetitive.
Honestly i found the show the most enjoyable because i knew about all this background knowledge before hand.
Also right when I was leaving, there was a thing set up where audience members were being interviewed about the show. I wish I could bw closer to hear exactly whT they were asked lol.
I also remember during intermission i overheard a lady who said she sees the show every single year.. that was definitely something lol
Anyway, definitely a very strange experience
Sounds bizarre alright. I mean not for the fact that they promote Falun Gong - but all the anti evolution stuff... I imagine if you were just expecting a normal show, this would be quite a shock.
Btw what's the price for a ticket?
@@MultiSciGeekFrom what I remember the prices ranged from $90 ish to around $300. Really expensive.
I am German and I am pretty sure I got a TH-cam ad for it a couple of weeks ago.
The thing I found offputting in the ad was how pretentious the totally not paid post show reations from the "guests" where.
Same here. I received at least four of these ads on TH-cam whilst I was still in the UK.
For a while these ads where everywere. And while the testimonials sounded very paid to me as well, probably its mostly cult members doing these for free.
@@bond0815 and every singe one of them was like "CEO" or "Professor" or "Doctor" or "politician" or something. Every single one.
The thing is, this guys still have light years to go before they can hold a candle to Mormonism/ jeovah's witness work of spreading cult bs
Their ads on American TH-cam were blatant hate speech, trying to incite violence against people from China.
The fact that you included Bydgoszcz of all cities in the opening is funny to me because Bydgoszcz is the biggest meme city in Poland.
Would it be the Ohio of Poland?
A meme is supposed to be a self-reproducing idea. Bydgoszcz could not possibly be a meme because its name is impossible to remember how to spell. The city is clearly an anti-meme, a self-censoring idea.
What about Białowieża, the biggest meme forest?
Bydgoszcz, Sosnowiec, Radom,... Half of all Polish cities are memes anyway 😂
Is it like Bielefeld in Germany which does not exist?
Now we want Amy in the next Jet Lag season
Wtf is this Amy
Yes
the entirety of the next jet lag season has already been filmed, it is just in the editing phase
@@Hottest_man_in_Siberia The one after the next..??
@@Hottest_man_in_Siberia then maybe she is there in it
So basically, Scientology but disguised as Beijing Opera.
More or less it boils down to that
Yeah Kind-of. A main difference is Scientology members are kinda a more diverse group of people politically, while Falun Gong is very conservative and aligns with the far-right, even sharing their own media platforms with other far-right media. Their show's propaganda includes a lot of messaging that's blatantly anti-science, anti-athiest, anti-LGBT, anti-communist, anti-bi-racial marriage, etc... Super conservative, both personally & politically.
The Thumbnail alone made me go “wait that has played in my city!” I usually go to the theatre for musicals when they come to town but always wondered why. I thought the tour was sponsored by China to promote Chinese arts and culture so to find out they hate was a big shock to me.
I went to one of these because I was invited by someone. We all left half way through. We spent half of the first part talking about when we should leave.The guy who bought the tickets was so mad.
At the price per ticket, no wonder.
Was the guy who bought the tickets already a member?
I mean either way he lost out on his investment, just in different ways
Can we just take a moment to salute the fact that he actually tried to make an effort to pronounce the Chinese names? Sure, it's still a fair bit off, but... you can hear he tried.
If only the same effort went into the word "ancient"
We should also salute the impressive zeal to which he's taken to repeating CCP propaganda that's the moral equivalent of being a holocaust denier.
@@superslash7254 uhhhhh... what? You would you mind developping your point and the arguments for it? Because I genuinely don't understand what part of the video is comparable to Holocaust denial...
@@superslash7254 what
What?
As a person who was born in Bydgoszcz and used to live in Nagoya I’m truly amazed to see those two random cities named in one video.
I’m glad Amy is doing something fun this week.
ikikik
they didn’t even take any of her blood!
Wtf is this Amy
@@krallja no marshmallows though :(
"Red henchmen from space"
"SPACE LION - Flew into sleeve of God???"
"The leg flexibility of this stage is unnerving"
"Why does the woman next to me keep shaking her head?"
Yeah, I think she did, lol
My friend's mom in New York joined and she actually believes she can be healed of various medical issues with no medication.
Cults are a hell of a drug.
@@cam4636unification church is similar group from Korea
Who gives a shit? Call me when they start destroying chinese artifacts, create a famine that wipes out 3 million people and keeps religous practitioners in concentration camps. Someone thinking a lifestyle of relaxation and exercise improves their wellbeing is relatively benign. Considering "Half as interesting" is another generic, no-face, voice of god, youtube channel, I have a feeling they are most likely funded by the CCP and aren't being truthful either.
To be fair, a giant chunk of medical issues can easily be cured without medication. It’s no coincidence that thin people who eat very healthy, natural foods have way less disease and problems. And tons of people who drastically improve what they put into their bodies drastically reduce the amount of medications they need to take.
@@jasondashney lol obviously we re not talking about those behavioral affected health issues, ones that can improved with diet and exercise. We're talking about viral infections, diseases, stuff that needs modern medicine, antiviral and antibiotics to treat etc!
Someone from this show randomly showed up to my high school back in December. This Chinese lady walked up to me and three other teens and the saddest part is that we couldn’t understand a word. We all had the same reaction after she walked out but I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing these posters
I went to this show expecting a cultural display.
Then they ended it with a tsunami with Marx's face on it, and I couldn't take it seriously anymore.
That’s honestly legendary, holy shit. Does anyone have a TH-cam link or something?
@@abbycollinsI am devastated to inform you that as far as I can find it isn't on TH-cam 😭
@@abbycollins Filming inside is illegal because of the copyright they have of the graphics technology thing (hard to explain what the technology actually is, but the way they integrate the dancers with what's happening on the screen behind them is part of a patent that is legally protected by copyright law).
I kinda want to watch it now.
I went to the show multiple times, this has never happened.
I ran into this group during a trip to DC my class did in my 8th grade. I was in the elevator with one of them and he tried to sell me on everything and gave me a pamphlet. I only realized this is who you were talking about when you brought up the organ farming stuff, that the biggest thing I remember from what the guy gave me.
A month ago I'd never heard of Amy, now she is my new favourite character
Agreed! Since I haven't watched this in a while, I have never heard of her! Now, I like this journalist/scriptwriter/theater-goer a lot!
Sam's probably started banging her?
Being chased by Falungong grannies as a Chinese mainlander in Sydney was like a daily thing to me back in 2011-2013.
The first time was the worst because I didn't know who they were, what they were.
I had a small talk with the grannies, once they learned that I am from China, they cornered me and forced me to sign petition to fight against CCP LOL.
I tried to leave but they had their hands on my backpack and my jacket so I had to call the police.
It seemed like they didn't understand a word of English which means that they didn't even know the police was coming.
When the police arrived, they were so scared and just left.
I feel like they are way less aggressive now.
I’m starting to have some serious wondering about New York State. I grew up there (Rochester), and one time my mom took me to a giant gathering outdoors, where they told interesting stories that started out “Christian”. But at some point - just when I thought it was getting interesting! - she yanked me out of there quick as could be, in front of everyone and wouldn’t turn back. Turns out it was the big meeting of the Mormons, whose “sacred texts” were supposedly dug up near there.
Then there’s the Oneida cult. Very popular in the 1800s, the Oneida flatware company still exists and makes really good flatware. But they were originally another cult.
The Shakers - they of the lovely simple furniture, who were also completely celibate - ALSO originally settled in NY.
And now to find out Shen Yun is based on NY state as well … What the heck?! Is it some subtle mineral in the land there that draws religious-fringe and cult groups??
Guess I’m glad I moved away in my teen years! 😂
Tbf, NY has a large population thanks to being a massive historical immigrant nexus, so ideas mix and travel out through the area. Plus cults have an easier time brainwashing people who have just arrived to the country with few friends or family to check in on them, so it's easier to gain a following and grow to a significant size and become known.
As for Shen Yun, I think they just moved to deerpark because its the NYC area.
NY is pretty much the first state you would be arrive in usa if you were to immigrate from Europe to escape religious prosecution( religion wise) and to start anew, many would built up a following and then move out of state or stay to earn funds for their churches as it's populated and huge economic growth, as for falun gong, its a heavy density of chinese immigrants to gather recruits from during the 90s that just left china
Jehovah’s Witnesses are also based in New York state (Warwick, to be precise).
Oneida is a tribal nation, what do you mean by cult?
I think they’re talking about a different Oneida, the religious community one. I heard about it in a Sam O’Nella video lol
Yeah the experience is relatable. The show is really impressive and entertaining, but the political message waaaaay to thick, especially when you peddle some seriously questionable stuff.
Like the CCP killed Falun Gong members, did Tianmen Square, and persecute Uyghur Muslims?
Something something something.
Oh look a gaint tsunami that takes up 90% of the background of a giant Fing stage, better start praying people!
People used to say the same thing about the holocaust. Now a solid third of millenials and gen Z don't believe it happened.
Yeah I saw it too. The dancing was nice (mostly, except for that one about the government killing people) so it's cool, and the three musketeers have their own youtube channel (3 male dancers) that isn't that bad. Too bad their messaging is crazy.
I used to live less than a half hour away from the Dragon Springs Temple in Deerpark NY. Don't remember much other than there was some weird Asian religious group that kept themselves up on top of a hill. I think this is also the only time Deerpark has ever been mentioned on the internet.
Wow, you lived at their epicenter and didn't hear ALL ABOUT the atrocious things the Chinese government does to them? Usually they have a booth at... festivals, fairs, craft shows, farmer's markets... anywhere you can rent a booth for the day, handing out flyers and acting like they're persecuted for doing tai chi.
@@johnladuke6475 The town of Deerpark is really rural, and the closest city of Port Jervis was more like a village than a city, they seem to like do their preaching in locations like busy city centers. I think they probably kept a low profile in the local area so they wouldn't get kicked out by the local government.
They've been here in New Zealand for a while now as well.
There was someone outside the local supermarket giving out fliers rather insistently and I'm really glad that I got rid of the flier when they pushed it on the person I was supporting.
lmaoo the video of the "photography strictly prohibited" gives me "That sign can't stop me cuz I cant read!" vibes
HAI’s outside correspondent Amy is the hero of this channel lately 😂 10/10 review
Just because a group is oppressed doesn’t mean that they themselves should do the same.
So the Falun Gong people shouldn't arrest people and harvest their organs. I agree with that.
No! A group that is oppressed should take their revenge and beat their oppressors and destroy their culture and history! Truly show them who is boss!
@@therealspeedwagon1451 then they are no better than the oppressor, they are equally as bad. If the world ran on revenge, there would be nobody left.
If Ukraine decided they will commit the same war crimes as Russia, will you think that’s right.
@@therealspeedwagon1451 Now where have I heard that before...?
@@TheKeksadler the local university campus
They tried to recruit me to play in their orchestra 10 years ago. I almost did. Until my friends who played in it before told me not to. It’s a cult.
I'm glad that friend told you to not play in the Shen Yun orchestra! After all, it's also the Falun Gong orchestra!
I used to drive by a big Falun Gong protest in Vancouver. I never knew what it was, and I was never going to look into it, so I'm glad Half as Interesting could inform me 2 years later. Thanks!
Unfortunately this video's basically the CCP equivalent of a neonazi's holocaust denial propaganda.
I turned up to one of these thinking it was just a Chinese theatre show.
I was very disappointed but the Karl Marx with laser eyes was pretty funny
bit of additional context regarding falun gong getting banned in china in the 90s: it was the 1990s in east asia. lotta westerners might not remember or know but similar cults were either working to infiltrate governments, committing terrorism, or in the case of aum shirinkyo, both, on top of the usual emotional and physical abuse that occurs in similar groups. china's crackdown on falun gong is undeniably an authoritarian policy for an already authoritarian government but it does kind of make a sort of sense in the years following aum and their subway attack. falun gong in china went on to do mass public suicides (including children) in protest of the crackdowns so this was not like a perfect victory for the chinese government. it's legitimately a hideous and sad situation.
and it hasn't really gone away. today, japanese and korean government are lousy with moonies. shinzo abe was assassinated because of his connection to the moonies. moonies and falun gong both have insane financial and political resources and can essentially buy legitimacy with it in the west, banking on ignorance and anti-chinese sentiment. in the us, keep in mind that tulsi gabbard's political career was launched as part of multi-generational push into politics by the "science of identity foundation" cult. guess what they think about gay people. she's cut ties officially but is still supported by current members of that cult. not even going to mention scientology, but check out "christian science" if you want more western cults with disturbing amounts of power in "normal" society. alan fucking shepard was a christian scientist. nasa actually let him take cult materials to the actual moon. yes, really.
deadly serious: eyes open folks there's a lot of people in a lot of cults with a lot of power right now, like today right now. talk to your friends and family, these cults can't grow if we help people who could be vulnerable to them in the first place. you can not save everyone but there are resources available if you are worried about somebody you know. cult deprogramming is not easy, cult victims are not stupid, cult victims are not a joke. they're victims, and you could easily be one of them given the right circumstances. sleep well!
Add to all that the fact that cult-led rebellions and civil wars that happened a lot in Chinese history
Look up the "Taiping rebellion" of the 19th century China, which killed 20 million people. The American Civil War that happened around the same time killed 500,000.
I think no matter what kind of government hold power in China they will always be very vigilant against cults.
Imagine if the Mormon rebellion of 1857 had killed 20 million people, you can bet your derriere the US government would be clamping down of any religious cult religiously
Moonies buggered over South Koreas covid response too. They were doing very well with suppression measures then the cult decided that the rules dont apply yo yhem and the whole thing went to custard.
What is a Christian scientist? I know the guy that discovered the Big Bang was a priest. Was he a Christian scientist?
@@everyonesfavoritesejong search it up, has to do with a cult called “Church of Christ, Scientist”
@@everyonesfavoritesejong christian science is not really about science, and it's barely christian. it's a cult about spiritual medicine and healing people using techniques claimed to have been used by or inspired by christ. it's heavily tied into "animal magnetism", a pseudoscientific set of beliefs created by franz mesmer in the 19th century. my most charitable definition of christian science would be a mystic cult that attempts to reinterpret christianity as a religion based on animal magnetism and mesmerism first and above all other things. cloaking itself in the language of christianity was useful for granting the cult a degree of leeway that a cult that claimed no connection to christianity would likely have been denied. the christian scientists were counting on people having similar reactions to yours, where you dont really know what it's about but you hear the name and assume "oh they're scientists who are christian"
So I worked security for these shows at a local theater. One of the most disrespectful talent clients my team ever worked with.
They commanded my team and I to crawl on the floor as to not disrupt the show as we worked. They Demanded the theater buy catering on the first day with no notice. Required all lights be put out in theater… even flashlights and floor guide lights, but relented as it would go against local regulations.
I get it they are talent and guests in our theater, but it’s kinda like being invited to a party and you show up and make an ass of yourself in the hosts house.
Saw an abundance of these posters and ads in the UK a while back- always found it pretty odd seeing them everywhere, even as a Chinese person.
I love those notes at 5:14 : "Why does the woman next to us keep shaking her head" , "I'm cold", "So much butt stuff in this one (stab??)", "ladiee next to us left..."
OK, I kinda want to know what the butt stuff was!
“Never mess with a drunk monk” and “Elton John” are my two favorites
I used to think this show was unique to Dallas until I started to travel and seen it almost everywhere
Makes you wonder how the hell they have such an ENORMOUS budget for marketing around the world. They have way more money than most world-class performing groups. Like, who is providing the funding...?🤫
I remember the dancing being great, the cgi being horrendous, and the messaging being weird
As someone who lives in Gainesville, Florida.... Seeing Gainesville being mentioned in the same breath as Paris, Nagoya and Taipei, has to be one of the weirdest feelings XD
And I found it funny that they had both Portlands back to back, with mine, the newer (and better) of the two, first.
@@Rosarium2007nothing about Portland Oregon is better than the one in Maine lol
I took a friend of mine to see the show a few years ago. I had NO clue what it really was going in. I just thought it was a cool Chinese ballet. And, I mean, the show WAS beautiful. But it was also wild. The woman I was with noticed first. And then it was impossible NOT to see it. My friend and I STILL laugh about the whole experience.
A Shen Yun tour bus drove me off the interstate in Indiana. Really hope the state troopers actually caught up to them after I called 😂
the probably got off after one of their leaders made a 'small donation' to your local politician. You'd be surprised how much political sway FLG has in US politics despite how small it is
@@neverletmego6414 if a civil war breaks out in the US it probably is a fat lun gong vs Ukraine proxy war.
I knew about this thanks to JJ McCullough. Thanks for covering it, Sam!
Me too!
Now we need an episode on the much lesser known Windows 97. I myself, like mostly everyone else, went from Windows 95 straight to Windows 98, so I really do wonder what the aesthetics of Windows 97 was like.
Had to be there I guess
Which flavor do you want?
On one hand... It's just Windows 98 if it was on schedule for its original 1997 release
On the other hand... Windows NT 4.0 (even though it was released in 1996)
I think it's an allusion to vapourwave (like Windows 96, the artist). Retro aesthetics used unironically in contemporary artistic settings. It's like a reimagined, nostagic, lo-fi past.
It's a website that's themed after Windows and vaporwave that you can mess around with
@@coelhoigor whaaat I don't even know windows 96 and 97 existed
It says "Photography Strictly Prohibited" at 0:31 as it's being filmed...Amy is an absolute legend. We rarely allow people from outside our country to perform in Pyongyang and this is just another group that was added to the reject pile. The only time a group from the US has performed in the DPRK is when the New York Philharmonic visited in 2008 during my father's rule. Since then, we've had Slovenian rock band Laibach perform in August 2015 (who came to celebrate the 70th anniversary of liberation from Japanese control), and pop group Red Velvet in 2018 (who I'm in love with). But we really don't need all these groups when we have the incredible Moranbong Band and Chongbong Band to entertain us! Like us or not, our music never fails to be catchy.
I can't believe Kim is spitting facts here, gahdamn!
well photography prohibited means that you can't take photos not videos so they were abiding by the rules
I just was there. This was during intermission.
Hold up...
Oh man, I got a pamphlet about the organ harvesting when I went to Washington DC the summer of 8th grade. I was pretty naive at the time and I still thought it was very weird that a government would be harvesting the organs of people who just liked a certain form of exercise.
@@samuelcalkin3516 Yeah. The Falun Gong people aren't entirely lying that they get sold for parts. They're just not telling you that so does literally every other dissenting group.
@@samuelcalkin3516 Organ harvesting is pretty much always a crackpot conspiracy theory. If you subtly ask around with people who believe in those theories you'll also find a cesspool of antisemitism, because these notions are almost always derivations of the blood libel. The chinese government absolutely imprisons and likely executes many people. But organ harvesting is just a stock go-to accusation because it has such a grotesque reaction from people and because the cultural legacy of the blood libel has already primed people to be on the lookout for it. The real thing China is doing with the many people it imprisons is using them for cheap prison labor. Most of the cotton that comes out of China is grown by Uyghur prisoners, and is used by major western brands like Nike and H&M.
Organ matching is usually most successful for those in the same race. Only a tiny percentage of Americans are of Chinese descent.
The leader that ordered it also used it as an excuse to build up internal security forces, while making bank off the organ trafficking. So a power play and a money grab in one go.
@@Fishmans That's, uh, not how it works. Organ matching is more successful the closer to your geno/phenotype, so in broad strokes, yes, you're more likely to get a good match from someone who happens to be of the same race. Better a person within your family, actually. But you can't always wait for Grandma to die so you can get your heart transplant and modern medicine does a lot to make up the gap. We don't even need to be the same blood type anymore.
0:05 No way he actually mentioned Bydgoszcz
I saw the show in Salt Lake City in 2017. It was not at all what I expected, each segment was it's own thing. I thought there would be some overarching story, like the nutcracker or something. NOPE.
yeah to me some parts genuinely were interesting/pretty, like the more "traditional" dances, but the """"""opera"""""" segments oh my god do not get me started on that, plus all the culty "ballets" were absolutely terrible and well not worth even my time let alone my money
@@munmilks I totally agree, I saw it with my parents this year. Amy's description of the show is so spot on.
Yeah, me and a friend went to go see Shen Yun some years ago, and we knew nothing about it going in.
As soon as that line in the Fail Ye Not segment came up, we both immediately went "WTF" and started being far more critical of the following segments and were not able to miss the propaganda moving forward. Ended up leaving before the whole show was over, mostly because she could not contain her giggling at some of the subtitles appearing on the screen.
F***ing knew it was gonna be Shen yun from the title. Those posters are everywhere in London. It’s such a weird Wikipedia hole - how do people still keep going? How do shen yun not get into trouble?
This part
Money mostly, and their anti cccp propaganda fits well with what a lot of people in the west already want to believe so it's an easy sell for them
Same as how Scientology is still healthy and strong. But they are definitely not on the same level. haha
money. and also a large amount of political influence due to the fact that they hate china (well, only the PRC) and communism, and most western govts also hate china and communism
A cult is like a group of rabis infected hyenas, you just don't want to be anywhere near it. Should any western democratic government try to intervene, they'll immediately get slapped with all sorts of accusations like "CCP hitman", "religious persecution" and even "racisim", which ironically is what they are most good at themselves.
Thanks for explaining why I've good reason for avoiding Shen Yun like the plague. Something about it put me off immediately the very first time I saw an advert for it.
This is so wild! I thought they were just a normal Chinese theater putting on normal plays. As a kid I saw their ads on the morning news all the time and the commercials made it look like a family show.
The whole rumour about CCP harvesting organs from Falun Gung practitioners started from a report which pointed out the discrepancies between the number of patient who have received an organ transplants (quite a big number) and the number of people signed up to donate their organ after death (which is not a lot). The writer of the report than account for the number of FLG practitioner who supposedly went missing during the same period and assume they were detained, killed and had their organs harvested.
Right... THAT is the proof that CCP harvested organs from FLG practitioners and the world believed it.
I mean no one considered that it was the CCP officials who cooked up the numbers of transplants to make themselves look good. Everything they have reported were 100% accurate. *roll eyes*
i mean, last time i checked an organ donor can have multiple viable organs, which can be used for multiple different transplants, so a discrepency isnt that weird imo? if you have two kidneys left when you die, thats two whole transplants for one donor
Don't get me wrong, the CCP definitely harvests organs. Just not from Falun Gong practitioners. There is a reason why most Western states have banned traveling to China for cheap organ transplants. And looking at their record with Tibet, the Uighurs, or human rights in general, this shouldn't be surprising to anyone.
As Half as Interesting said, this is a situation where both sides are bad. Falun Gong having to escape from China doesn't make them saints. Neither does their lying means that CCP's track record is clean.
I live on top of the back-entrance to a concert hall in Europe, and not so long ago Shen Yun performed here. I usually dont pay attention to whats happening down there, as alot of event trucks come and go. But when they were here, i noticed there was two guards in black clothes just standing in front of the tour busses, looking towards the road, all night long. Every time i checked, the same two men were standing there. They ended up standing and walking in front of the busses 24/7 for the 3 days/nights they were here. Even stood in the rain, and ate their lunches while standing up. I've never seen any security at this venue, as its not really needed as such a small place so it really stood out. Really shows how much they fear the CCP, that they bring their own security.
are you that much of a rube that you believe that means anything?
alright. im gonna get my two best friends to dress in all black and act as my personal security and say its because i fear your psychotic rampages.
When Falun Gong holds a protest in my city, the Federal Police are always keeping an eye on it. Which is weird - you rarely see the Federal Police. If it was security arrangements it would be the state police.
Not sure if the Feds are worried about Falun Gong causing trouble, or about China's secret police here causing trouble with the protest.
Or maybe they guards were there to make sure the performers didn't go sightseeing and forget to come back.
I was expecting more "HELP ME, I BEEN FORCED TO WATCH THIS!" In the notes lol.
For a while when I was working the Spirit Halloween circuit one of my big empty box stores had a little troupe of old people doing stretching and exercises outside the door, like, literally every morning. I kind of just left them alone but one day one of my cashiers came in a few minutes late with a bunch of pamphlets, telling me about how those nice old people outside were protesting the Chinese government harvesting their organs because they liked Tai Chi with their morning coffee. It sounded fishy, and I knew Shen Yun was a cult, but I didn't think the two were connected until now... Neat.
they really think their organs are that healthy just because they did stretching every morning lmao, and most of them are old people. who in their right mind will harvest their organs lol plus organ transplant don't work that way.
Aww, I'm kinda sad. I've seen the advertisments for a while now and looked into it a bit to see if it was legit but genuinely couldn't find anything "worrying" in my language (wasn't aware it was such a massive global thing and I could have searched in English too), so I had half-resolved myself to buy tickets one of these days, because I really like the visuals they are putting forth. Sadly, there are no other shows of that kind within reasonable travel distance of my city, so I was really happy that they were coming to mine...but I don't wanna give some cult my money :(
Considering "Half as interesting" is another generic, no-face, voice of god, youtube channel, I have a feeling they are most likely funded by the CCP and aren't being truthful either.
A dive on where Falun Gong's money come from (they seem to have quite a lot of it) would be nice!
The short answer is: donations from members used as capital for business ventures (such as Epoch Times or Shen Yun) which generate their own revenue, allowing continued operation. Part of their ability to mobilize a lot of people for disproportionately small amounts of money is that they get members to volunteer. They're a non-profit so they don't pay tax and they've also received some government funding.
A dive in where Jews get their money too would be nice too!
Since falon gong and china is interchangable with nazis and jews.
the video says the HQ is in new york. it's probably NATO shit
Part CIA, part guillible people and lonely elderlies' retirement money. They have lots of members and donation. This cult has network all over South East Asia and also many part of North America where they take refuged. Already faced legal prosecution in many SEA countries like Vietnam, Singapore.. for illegal activities. Well know for propagating dangerous anti-scientific health practices that result in voluntary deaths instead of seeking proper treatments.
Absolutely living for Amy's treks into the real world on behalf of videos!
Suffering is NOT a virtue. Let’s as a species work toward minimizing human suffering. That will make life better for everyone.
While suffering isn't a virtue, stoicism and perseverance inspite of suffering is. Causing suffering upon yourself or others for no reason is bad. It also depends on what you define as suffering, because going to work, studying and excercise does cause you to suffer, but those things are good and should be encouraged, while starvation causes you to suffer and should be stopped.
I agree. That is one reason why Mother Teresa is not actually a saint - she wanted those mothers to suffer so that they could get Brownie points in heaven. Sadistic. Same with the " Magdalene laundries" in Ireland. While stoicism may be useful, actually wanting people to suffer and saying that it gets bonuses on your soul, is not.
What I love is that they are very un-subtle. For example, here in my country their posters read in plain spanish: "China before communism"
They been doing that in English in the US for several years now actually
@deliciousmile They do it in Canada too, my city's got ads for em at a ton of bus stops
I mean I'm Floridian, of course I had no problem when I saw that on the billboard in English, but with all this scientological, Falun Gong stuff? Yeah. Icky.
Love it when Shen Yun's gets exposed as propaganda (also a cult)
Yeah it's a lot of dodgy shite
I have seen them once, but the only thing close to propaganda I recall from it is them saying things such as “The theory of evolution is a sham” as opposed to things such as “Gays shouldn’t marry” or “Only marry within your race”. They did something on the destruction of elements of Classical Chinese culture towards the very end, but I recall nothing of organ-harvesting.
@@aycc-nbh7289classic cult tactic known as "boiling the frog"
Start slow and steady, only effective enough that the unsuspecting victim is absorbing the message, but not crazy enough so they have a reaction and leave
Slowly but surely tho, the conversion is happening and the water is heating unbeknownst to the target
@@aycc-nbh7289 They might vary it a bit depending on what's locally more tolerated. Or maybe it's just the less objectionable things at the first introduction, then they hope you continue further into the weirdness?
I like seeing it exposed too!
I'm sorry for Amy for having to go there. I would say she deserves a raise.
I'm under the impression that Amy somewhat enjoyed the show. Worth her time, but not worth her money.
He said Portland, and Portland, cuz they're the other side on each coast of the U.S. :P
I remember the billboards for it around Detroit said "China before communism" maybe a year ago, which told me enough about the show to know that it was very political. Strangely, from what i remember, i can't find a single billboard that still says that. They're otherwise identical, but none of them say "China before communism"
I think it depends on the market. In the trailers, they put before my local news on behalf of my theater, they do use that slogan, as well as when they’re selling at Costco out of all places.
I remember the billboard near St. Louis that I saw several years ago also said "China before communism" and with the picture of the dancer I thought it looked pretty neat but once I learned later that it was a cult and that the show is apparently weird as hell I was glad to know I didn't miss much by never going lol.
Every year I see the posters for the show, I look forward to the day when they will perform - so I can stop seeing the ads for another year.
Wow, the pronunciation of Bydgoszcz was almost spot-on, which is quite extraordinary. Great, great job, Sam!
Thank you so much for making this. The advchina guys used to push Falun Gong *all the time*, and refused to respond for comment. They didn't research into what they were promoting at all, and just went with "enemy of my enemy is my friend". This video only has the surface-level issues, but Falun Gong isn't a good thing, the only good thing about them is they're opposed to the CCP.
I'd REALLY love to see the advchina guys issue a retraction on their previous support. Been following them for years and years now, and it was wild seeing how much support they were rallying for it.
Loved how finishing this video, I got the Shen Yun ad which I’ve been bombarded with for the past few weeks in the Mexican, Spanish, and American version: “Me faltan calificativos para decir…”
so shen yun is the litteral definition of the word propaganda circus?
Would more people know if their propaganda rhetoric werent so poor quality?
I recently attended a Shen Yun production in Perth. It was a scam and a sham. I went in to watch 5,000 years of Chinese culture - NOT politics, not propaganda against the current Chinese government. The politics and religious propaganda was offensive to me culturally as a South-east Asian Chinese and really turned me off. Even the (Australian white) couple sitting in front of me left after the intermission. I regret I didn't do the same, because I still hoped for a better second half. But in the second half, the political and religious propaganda got worse. The only good thing about the show was the dancers. But that was what I had paid to see. Overall score for the show: 3/10. More than half of the show was propaganda about religion and against the Chinese government, of whom about 90% of Chinese support. I will tell all my friends and family not to waste their time and money to watch the Shen Yun show. They are not honest in their advertisements. The real motive of the show is not Chinese history and civilisation as promoted, but a shaming of China and propaganda against the CCP government. As a South east Asian Chinese, I am utterly disappointed and ashamed of Shen Yun. Eight Shen Yun shows running concurrently around the world? The quality of the show isn’t even good - 3/10. The tenor and soprano were so bad, I thought there was something wrong with my ears or my mind. If I want to hear a religious song, I can go to my local church and listen for free. And they are better singers. Who helps fund all the Shen Yun shows worldwide denigrating the Chinese government? American funds, I bet. After all, Shen Yun's HQ is in New York.
I live a directly across from an ad for the show, so i can never miss it from my kitchen window, living room window, or when i leave for work.
That's fun.
you could argue that the ccp has *done* worse things than falun gong but thats probably because falun gong doesn't have the authority to do bad stuff. if they had a country itd be an ethnic theocracy so like...
"Has done" Luckily the ccp has not done anything ever since, they did all these bad things in the past.
Ah yes, because joining a cult is always harmless, we all know that.
@@KahruSuomiPerkele yes ofc. especially one that lies a bunch and promotes racial segregation.
@@liamlargo7481 So nothing changed between CCP and this cult.
And the United States has done 1,000x worse than that
I saw posters for Shen Yun basically every day on the Texas A&M campus for my entire 2017-22 run, and I still can't escape them now that I moved to Dallas 😂 I always wondered what her deal was.
I asked my mother this once, she said it was a (possibly drug) cult. I rly thought it was only a thing that only happened in my area, but I guess not! Thanks for the info!
They're all over. And The Epoch Times boxes are all over especially on the west coast. Got to remember to empty them any time I see them.
They are a cult ran by cunning and ruthless chinese priests with the goal of gaining political power and money for themselves.
hehe thanks
love how the backing strings briefly play “there is a light that never goes out”
they got cate blanchett too 😭😭😭 its over
She's also a supporter of Roman Polanski and named one of her kids after him, so I don't think she's the best arbiter of morality in Hollywood...