On The Media did its program from China last week. A story on pitching brand China to the world took a fascinating tour of that nation’s emerging business, fashion and cultural media. Almost in passing, there came this important truth:
BROOKE GLADSTONE: Publisher and blogger Hong Huang says that the deepest generational divide separates those born before 1980 and those born after, because of what they saw happening around them, and what they saw on TV.
HONG HUANG: If you want to know [LAUGHS] what contributed most to a peaceful evolution in China, it would be pirated DVD. From cartoons, from Disney to movies, it’s the only thing that broke the censorship barrier. I’m sorry Hollywood lost a lot of money about this, but just consider it a donation to democracy around the world.