ipl-logo

A Review Of Gate Of Heavenly Peace: The Tiananmen Square Protests

448 Words2 Pages

The two-part documentary, Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Tiananmen Square Protests, provides an overview of the events leading up to and during the Tiananmen Square protests during the spring of 1989. In my opinion the documentary accurately explains the issues that drove the students and citizens of China to march to the square and remain there for approximately two months. The protests were sparked by the death of Hu Yaobang on April 15th 1989, who favored political liberalization and advocated for dialogue with the demonstrators (LO #4, pp. 1). The students began arriving on Tiananmen Square on April 16th, and by the end of the month the protests began to encompass broader grievances with the Chinese Communist Party like corruption, lack of …show more content…

1). The students wanted to use Hu as an affirmation for their grievances and their push towards democracy and away from corruption (LO #4, pp. 1). I think the documentary highlighted the diversity of the protests very well, by including the numerous student organizations involved as well as the citizens who wanted their grievances heard. From my understanding of the documentary, I think the students wanted a variety of things. There were many students there to protest the corruption, economic reforms, and political freedom that they were facing ten-fold compared to their parents. I also think with the heightened focus on Hu Yaobang, it was hard from the protests to steer away from a focus on democracy as well. I feel that the documentary did a good job of capturing the multiple facets of the protests and showing multiple perspectives (i.e. Chinese people, reporters, and Western journalists). I think the documentary was designed to appeal to a Western audience. It includes interviews with Western journalists and academics, includes footage of the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda and clips of protestors in a way that seemingly demonizes protestors. I do think the documentary does a good job at providing context and analysis of the events through the interviews with Chinese citizens, but I think the overall curb appeal was definitely directed towards a Western

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of History 489 By Michael Kolkind

    182 Words  | 1 Pages

    However to other it meant different things. People were standing for they believes; this showed the community cohesion. However I learned in the class while watched the documentary that

    Read More

  • Documentary Film: Freedom Summer By Stanley Nelson

    462 Words  | 2 Pages

    The documentary shows the diligent planning and training that occurred before any buses were loaded up. The students that were leaders of SNCC realized, somewhat, that danger would be present in trying to make a drastic social change. SNCC knew that they had to be tedious in choosing students that would be a part of this movement. These young adults had to have a stable demeanor and a certain wisdom about them (Freedom Summer). Those chosen would then go through a training process before leaving for

    Read More

  • Kent State High School Shooting Case Study

    1205 Words  | 5 Pages

    Like most students, Douglas Wrentmore, a student at Kent State University during the protest, did not understand the reason behind firing toward the crowd (Caputo 28). Wrentmore, like Caputo, discovered that the sniper was nonexistent and the troops were making false accusations. He knew that firing into a crowd was a dangerous action, especially when it was composed of college students. Eszterhas and Roberts recognize that “not all of the students had come to participate in the rally” (150-151). Instead, most were there to see what the commotion was about, not to protest the Cambodian incursion.

    Read More

  • Who Is Martin Luther King Jr Letter To Birmingham Jail

    932 Words  | 4 Pages

    King these protesters are fighting for something they strongly believe in. They have been pushed back my local police through violent acts, yet they remain strong in their fight for injustice. “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: … determine whether injustice exists; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action.” (King 6). These acts are still used today to solve many problems like to on happening in Hong Kong.

    Read More

  • Dbq Essay On The Declaration Of Independence

    679 Words  | 3 Pages

    A large protest was in place and the result ended with 3,000 civilians killed by the government (Document

    Read More

  • A Brief History Of Kent State University Student Protest

    842 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many protests against wars, civil rights, race, etc. have occurred throughout United States history. The way America and its government handle these situations and events shows a great deal of what America stands for. The Vietnam war was one that had many protestors and dangerous events like those that took place at Kent State University when America’s National Guards' way of handling the situation got out of hand and four college students were shot and killed. Events like this affect the U.S. because it shows how incapable of change America is; despite a murderous event happening, little to no change occurred because of America’s long-standing lack of empathy and focus on commercial products rather than a social society.

    Read More

  • Carved In Silence Analysis

    127 Words  | 1 Pages

    For example, the scene when the interrogators asked plethora of trivial questions to the Chinese newcomers were extremely infuriating because it was a no-win situation for them. I think documentaries like this one are extremely important for us, Americans, to reflect on the shameful moments

    Read More

  • Mlk Letter From Birmingham Jail

    1274 Words  | 6 Pages

    This proves how dangerous it was for them to protest. They wanted a brighter future for themselves where they would have fair rights and be treated as equals, yet they were met with violence. Later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his

    Read More

  • Letter From A Birmingham Jail: Peaceful Disobedience

    517 Words  | 3 Pages

    Protestors were beat, jailed, and tormented for standing up for their beliefs. As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “I am in a Birmingham jail because injustice is in here.” The law enforcers were disobeying the laws and they were not peaceful. They stripped the protestors right to freedom of speech while terrorizing the marches and their participants. This was not the American way.

    Read More

  • Chicano Activism In The 1950's And 1960s

    1240 Words  | 5 Pages

    During the 1950’s and 60’s, protests were occurring all throughout the United States. Ordinary citizens and civil rights leaders alike joined each other to voice their opposition and frustrations with the everyday injustices and discrimination that they were faced with. Although there are many figures associated with the successes that came from the time period, grassroot activism immensely propelled the movements because without them, the marches and demonstrations would not have been possible. Student activism especially was essential to many of the movements because of their connections to other adolescents and the fact that they were the upcoming generation made their voice interesting to the media. The largest and most covered movement,

    Read More

  • Campus Carry Legislation

    910 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sometimes the protest tactics they practice are aggressive, and push the envelope. Again, I would say, this is how it ought to be on campus -- it hearkens back to universities’ role as political incubators and testing

    Read More

  • The Chicano Movement Analysis

    550 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, the documentary showcased the students who protested during the East Los Angeles Walkouts, who advocated for better conditions for Chicanx students in the Los Angeles school community. It depicted the struggles of the community and the numerous activists that allowed me to have the privileges that they campaigned for in the

    Read More

  • The Walkout Or The Blowout Analysis

    404 Words  | 2 Pages

    The walkout or the “blowout” (as they would call it) is a significant moment because students had resist the racial inequality by going against the authority and even assemble the Hispanic/ Latinos community to be

    Read More

  • Tiananmen Square By George Orwell Analysis

    551 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this essay “No one died in Tiananmen Square” by William Lutz, it is evident that the events displayed confirm the warnings that Orwell shared in Nineteen Eighty – Four. This essay resembled the novel by George Orwell in many different ways, both exploit the government to manipulate the mind of an individual over the actual reality and both governments overuse and abuse there powers. In “No one died in Tiananmen Square” the government uses violence to stop the peaceful protesters. This is similar to 1984 because the totalitarian government in Oceania uses violence if they do not obey the rules of Big Brother. A quote from 1984, from part 2 of chapter 10 displaying violence for commenting thought crime is “One of the men had smashed his fist into Julia’s solar

    Read More

  • Transcendentalism In Civil Disobedience

    904 Words  | 4 Pages

    The transcendentalism time period is described as a time that stressed equality, social responsibility, and the power of the individual. Although this time period had many influential authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were two of the most influential writers of this era. Throughout both Self Reliance, written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, the lesson of non-conformity to society and the idea that it is each person’s social responsibility to stand up for themselves is discussed. One of Emerson’s main goal of Self Reliance was wanting to explain an important idea of individuality and that humans should not conform to the societal views that were being forced upon them and that

    Read More

More about A Review Of Gate Of Heavenly Peace: The Tiananmen Square Protests

Open Document