Slur in Chinese drama shocks UK university
We are also shocked to hear the misleading and inaccurate dialogue between the two characters that referred directly to the University of Nottingham.
BEIJING: The University of Nottingham Ningbo is seeking legal advice after it was depicted in a negative light in a Chinese TV series.
Ironically, the university had allowed the production team to film the romantic sitcom on its China campus.
One scene in the show had cast doubts on the educational standards of the university, to the outrage of students, school authorities and alumni.
The contemporary sitcom with the working title The Endless Love had premiered on Hunan TV.
The show is an adaptation of a novel by the same name and tells a love story about a young painter named Gu Yebai who goes colour blind but finds an accepting partner in Lu Youyan. According to the plotline, Gu had studied at the University of Nottingham’s Ningbo campus.
Halfway through the 45minute episode, a rival painter and fellow Nottingham alumni named Wei Zijian casually refers to the university in disparaging terms.
Wei appears unimpressed with Gu and some of his fellow students, saying: “I was also at Nottingham University for four years. I understand my fellow classmates very well — they need only hand in their assignments on time to get their hands on a degree certificate.”
Chris Rudd, the campus provost at UNNC, has condemned the portrayal on the TV show as a “deliberate misrepresentation and breach of trust” between the two parties involved.
Chris Rudd, pro vice chancellor
“We are also shocked to hear the misleading and inaccurate dialogue between the two characters that referred directly to the University of Nottingham,” wrote Rudd in an email sent to staff and students.
Rudd is professor of mechanical engineering, and pro-vice chancellor at the University of Nottingham.
The university posted a series of screenshots of the show on its official microblog account, and Rudd also accused the producers of “manipulating an image of a different university purporting to be the main gate of UNNC.”
Rudd clarified that while the university had granted film crews access to its campus, it had never agreed to let the show use Nottingham’s name in any form.
The university will seek legal advice on the matter and has contacted the show’s producer about issuing a retraction, Rudd wrote in an email.
UNNC was founded in 2004 in Ningbo, a city located some 200 km from Shanghai. With more than 7,800 students, it is one of a number of foreign educational institutions to have established campuses in China.
Angry Chinese students and alumni have also taken to social media to voice their protest. Many attacked the show’s director, Gu Yunyun, demanding an apology and an explanation for the “malicious slander.”
Shu Yuanwen, a second-year student majoring in international communications, slammed the show for implying that students at UNNC aren’t hardworking, and for questioning the school’s academic rigour. Soon after the episode aired, Shu’s social media was abuzz with discussion on the topic.
“Whatever they are saying is completely inaccurate and false,” complained Shu.