Fudan video controversy

Source: China Real Time (5/29/15)
Chinese University’s Video Boldly Goes Where Others Have Gone Before
By Te-Ping Chen

Screenshots from the Fudan University video (left) and the Tokyo University video (right).

China has long struggled with the question of how to build world-class universities that encourage creativity and innovation. This week, that challenge was again in the spotlight after Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University – one of the country’s best schools – pulled a glossy promotional video from its website, following a public outcry over allegations of plagiarism.

Posted earlier this week, the video bears a striking resemblance to the University of Tokyo’s official promotional video, “Explorer,” which was released last year. In it, an astronaut walks through campus and the city of Tokyo, narrating in English in a contemplative voice.

“I took this city as an explorer, ate with strangers from the same bowl, laughed, partied together, became a family,” the astronaut intones in English, as the video shows footage of her busting various moves on a laser beam-lit dance floor. The video culminates with a shot of the main character removing her white helmet to reveal a woman identified as astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, class of 1993.

Fudan University’s film follows a similar arc, with the main character dressed in a flight suit and shown partying on a dance floor. When she whips off her helmet at the end of the video, it is revealed that she is Le Yafei, class of 2009 and a flight test engineer.

Social media users were quick to mock the video, which the university explained earlier this week was produced in English in keeping with its increasingly internationalized campus. Some said that Fudan University would be more aptly named “Fuzhi” University: in Chinese, fuzhi means to copy.

“Such a famous school shouldn’t need to plagiarize for their promotional films,” wrote one user on Weibo. Another complained that the Chinese version, twice the length of the University of Tokyo film, was still inferior. “If you’re going to learn from something, then what you create should be better than the original. If you look at the two, it’s obvious the Japanese one is better,” the user wrote.

Others had a more measured take. “To be honest, they didn’t make it poorly, and it’s not a complete copy. It’s just that they used some of the University of Tokyo’s creativity for convenience….and creativity is the most important.”

Fudan is one of China’s most selective universities, a member of the so-called “C9 League,” a collection of prestigious Chinese universities that is sometimes referred to as the country’s Ivy League. The university didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an interview with state-backed publication The Paper, producer Teng Yudong said that as part of their process, the production crew watched more than 20 promotional films for schools around the world, including that of the University of Tokyo. However, he said that the Fudan film differed in various ways, including scenes involving the lead character interacting with the elderly.

“For the harm I’ve created to the school’s reputation, I feel a deep sense of responsibility and sincerely apologize,” he said.

Since the blowback, Fudan has released a new promotional video, featuring sun-dappled trees and interviews highlighting the history of the university, which is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year.

–Te-Ping Chen. Follow her on Twitter @tepingchen.

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