Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood

Rating:
Summary: Virtual Faddism
Review: Orville Schell's works have always been exquisite. Written in a crisp style, penetrating in analysis, his books have never failed to breathe life into their subjects and leave the reader more informed than before. Expecting the same tour de force as found in Mandate of Heaven and Discos and Democracy, I was not disappointed with Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood. Schell tackles a topic that receives plenty of discussion and fanfare, but has experienced precious little objective study in recent years. Tibet has labored under the political and cultural repression of the People's Republic of China since 1951. Many believe that China is slowly committing cultural genocide through its repression of Tibetan religious and cultural customs and by encouraging vast numbers of Han Chinese to settle in Tibet. With the help of a charismatic Dalai Lama and throngs of Hollywood stars, the Tibetan issue has received a disproportionate amount of attention relative to its importance in world events. Whereas one struggles to find "Free East Timor" bumper stickers on cars, "Free Tibet" stickers are far more ubiquitous. The strong point of Schell's work is his analysis of Hollywood's fascination with Tibet. He interviews many of the most visible promoters of the Tibetan cause and also provides fly-on- the-wall accounts of numerous "Free Tibet" Hollywood functions and the making of the movies Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet. Through his interviews and observations, Schell largely confirms what I have suspected for years. Hollywood's promotion of the Tibetan cause has less to do with its relative merits than it does with the fact that it has become a fashionable issue in which to be associated. The Tibetan cause has become a virtual Rohrsach test in which Hollywood supporters can use to feel better about what ails them spiritually and politically. Schell's works demonstrate an uncanny ability of meeting all the right people and convincing them to reveal their true feelings. Instead of Communist Party officials or Chinese gangsters as in his previous works, Schell is somehow able to elicit revealing quotes from otherwise elusive individuals such as Steven Seagal and Brad Pitt. Although nobody has complained about being misquoted to my knowledge, I hope this reflects Schell's skill as an interviewer. It would be a shame if a writer and journalist of Schell's quality needed to embellish his subject's words for better copy. Schell succeeds in making the subject of Tibetan history more entertaining for the general reader without sacrificing content. Schell's Virtual Tibet is an informative and well-rounded work, lifting much of the mystique from an esoteric, yet prominent subject. While Schell sympathizes with their cause, he is able to remove the veil of motivation from Hollywood's Tibetan supporters. Many readers may have expected Schell to delve deeper into the issues surrounding China and Tibet, but this would have required Schell to tread over already well- traveled terrain. In deciding to leave the debate over the relative merits of Chinese policies toward Tibet aside, Schell has produced an original and thoughtful work of journalism. Schell's portrayal of the main protagonists for the Tibetan cause are unflattering and bound to upset many people. This is the hallmark of a fine journalist.

Rating:
Summary: what happened to the other reviews
Review: the other reveiws that were removed said it better than i can, but in short this book is a dishonest, biased view of the chinese invasion ot tibet. It was basically getting shelled in the customer reviews and they were pulled. Kundun, the book or movie are an accurate account of the events of the invasion. Mr. schell knows nothing about Buddhism, and should not try to defame it on misconceptions.

Rating:
Summary: Tibet 101
Review: This is a quick read highlighting Tibet's relationship to the outside world, especially through fallicious film accounts. It gives a good background of the country without getting too pedantic. A very good source for those seeking a good overview without th political and religious details.

Rating:
Summary: Virtual Realities
Review: This is an excellent book that tells how over the years Hollywood has become just as much a propaganda mouthpiece as the Chinese media. Hopefully it will awaken those Western supporters of Tibet from their fantasies and simplistic views of the Tibetan situation.

Rating:
Summary: Superb as a film book, overly quietist political analysis
Review: This is one of the best books ever written about the making of a movie. It is up there with Lillian Ross's "Picture:; she was writing about the earnest effort to film "The Red Badge of Courage" with a much-decorated veteran. Schell also writes about the effort to film "Seven Years in Tibet" with many Tibetan exiles, including the sister of the Dalai Lama. Both historical films were commercial and artistic failures, but the fascination of the books is with the industry involved rather than with the product.

What I find most interesting are the discussions Schell had with Tibetans on location in Argentina. The reader knows that their hopes are not going to be realized. And the author knows that the hopes of American Tibetophiles are not going to be realized. He is impatient with the pretentions of some, particularly (and justifiably!) Steven Seagal. I don't see how anyone can read him as being unsympathetic to the plight of Tibetans, whether they are refugees in diaspora or colonized in Tibet.

While I do not Schell is an apologist for PRC colonialism, his pessimism may foster Chinese goals by making opposition seem futile. In particular, I think that Schell underestimates Tibetans' persistence. The survival and revival of Christianity in the Soviet Union should encourage caution about pulverization. Fifteen years ago, who thought that apartheid could end without a bloodbath or that communists would surrender power in elections in Eastern Europ? Nonetheless, I also think that many Western admirers of Tibetan culture/religion underestimate the will to domination of the colonialist PRC and the need of the illegitimate Chinese communist party to wrap itself in nationalism and spurious claims to any territory ever controlled by any earlier dynasty.

Given Schell's interest in the authenticity of Hollywood representation of Tibet in the 1940s and 50s, it is disappointing that he focused on "Seven Years in Tibet" rather than "Kundun" in which Tibetans are more than glorified extras and in which no blond American movie star is there to distract the viewer. (Schell says that he went for the bigger-budget production because he was interested in Hollywood commodification of Tibet. Probably book-buyers are also more interested in Brad Pitt, Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, and Steven Seagal, so Schell's decision has its own sound commercial instincts...)

Along with reporting on how Tibet is used and projected onto by movie folks and on the experience of plaster recreations of Lhasa in the Andes, Schell discusses Harrer at length and also runs through earlier Western visitors to "the roof the world" and how their reports were read by seekers of a kingdom of the spirit on earth. This survey may not be rigorous or original, but surely it will introduce this travel literature to many readers.

Rating:
Summary: Superb as a film book, overly quietist political analysis
Review: This is one of the best books ever written about the making of a movie. It is up there with Lillian Ross's "Picture:; she was writing about the earnest effort to film "The Red Badge of Courage" with a much-decorated veteran. Schell also writes about the effort to film "Seven Years in Tibet" with many Tibetan exiles, including the sister of the Dalai Lama. Both historical films were commercial and artistic failures, but the fascination of the books is with the industry involved rather than with the product.

What I find most interesting are the discussions Schell had with Tibetans on location in Argentina. The reader knows that their hopes are not going to be realized. And the author knows that the hopes of American Tibetophiles are not going to be realized. He is impatient with the pretentions of some, particularly (and justifiably!) Steven Seagal. I don't see how anyone can read him as being unsympathetic to the plight of Tibetans, whether they are refugees in diaspora or colonized in Tibet.

While I do not Schell is an apologist for PRC colonialism, his pessimism may foster Chinese goals by making opposition seem futile. In particular, I think that Schell underestimates Tibetans' persistence. The survival and revival of Christianity in the Soviet Union should encourage caution about pulverization. Fifteen years ago, who thought that apartheid could end without a bloodbath or that communists would surrender power in elections in Eastern Europ? Nonetheless, I also think that many Western admirers of Tibetan culture/religion underestimate the will to domination of the colonialist PRC and the need of the illegitimate Chinese communist party to wrap itself in nationalism and spurious claims to any territory ever controlled by any earlier dynasty.

Given Schell's interest in the authenticity of Hollywood representation of Tibet in the 1940s and 50s, it is disappointing that he focused on "Seven Years in Tibet" rather than "Kundun" in which Tibetans are more than glorified extras and in which no blond American movie star is there to distract the viewer. (Schell says that he went for the bigger-budget production because he was interested in Hollywood commodification of Tibet. Probably book-buyers are also more interested in Brad Pitt, Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, and Steven Seagal, so Schell's decision has its own sound commercial instincts...)

Along with reporting on how Tibet is used and projected onto by movie folks and on the experience of plaster recreations of Lhasa in the Andes, Schell discusses Harrer at length and also runs through earlier Western visitors to "the roof the world" and how their reports were read by seekers of a kingdom of the spirit on earth. This survey may not be rigorous or original, but surely it will introduce this travel literature to many readers.

Rating:
Summary: Virtually Inexcusable
Review: Tibet needs all the attention it can get, and therefore any book on the subject, by drawing more interest, is probably helpful. But it is impossible to feel grateful for this.

In a sloppy, poorly researched volume, Orville Schell draws the attention of the reader away from all that is meaningful, interesting and important in the story of Tibet, focusing instead on Hollywood. He goes to great length to support his awkward central metaphor: Hollywood's "colonization" of Tibet. The Western interest in Tibet is portrayed, through great metaphoric and factual contortions, as a second occupation.

Understand this, Mr. Schell: you've got it backwards. The West has not colonized Tibet. Tibet has colonized us.

Its empire over the Western imagination continues to grow, and Hollywood was just a stepping stone. The dharma centers which you never visited are popping up all over every country in the West; the freedom movement spreads to country after country. Someday, we hope, the force will be irresistible, and the West will stand up to Beijing. In the meantime, Tibet must continue to grow its empire in the Western imagination, for that colonization is its only hope of surviving the empire of China.

In what occupation do the 'occupiers' remain in their country, while the 'occupied' spread throughout it? In what colonization do the colonists, from the safety of their homes, give money, deference, and other forms of tribute to the colonized?

Are the Tibetans the passive and unwitting objects of our projected fantasies? In some small way, perhaps, but it is more accurate to say that the Tibetans, in their desperate hope of rousing the world against their oppressors, have colonised the Western imagination. It has been their last resort.

They have come to us with their religion and their philosophy, their sense of humor, and most importantly the story of the cataclysmic injustice which propelled them from home. We in the West who have joined their struggle, who you dismiss as members of a "global publicity campaign", are conscripts in an army of the mind.

If Tibet can survive fifty years of occupation, it can certainly survive Hollywood's attention. It is an insult to the hundreds of thousands killed by China's occupation to compare Hollywood to the PLA. There has yet to be a casualty of Hollywood's 'occupation.' Hollywood has yet to execute a father or torture a nun.

But whether Tibet can survive the occupation by China is an open question, on which the members of what Schell calls "the global publicity campaign" have staked their energy and their time. This, surely, is the real story of Tibet's encounter with the West: where so many third-world liberation movements have failed to compel the Western imagination, how has Tibet drawn such a devoted constituency, so ready to sacrifice?

Unfortunately, Schell is no more interested in the Tibet freedom movement than he is in Tibetans themselves. His lack of interest in the Tibetan perspective is most pronounced, and most troubling, in his analysis of Tibetan history.

Schell describes Tibet between 1911 and 1950 as "virtually independent". This is the height of scholarly cowardice, understandable but not excusable in light of Schell's apparent fear of angering Beijing (which could deprive him of his access to China, and thus his livelihood). His evidence for this claim lies in his consideration of every opinion but the Tibetans'.

"Yet Tibet was not quite a nation in the European sense. Indeed, at no time did any Western power come out in favor of its independence nor grant it diplomatic recognition, and in the minds of the Chinese Nationalists and Communists alike, Tibet, like Taiwan, continued to be viewed as a de jure and integral part of China" (24).

All this is essentially true (although Western governments did, for example, sign trade agreements with Tibet independent of China, and Schell's word "continued" implies that Tibet was always viewed as part of China, rather than, as was the case, a vassal state).

But why no mention of the fact that Tibetans did not, and do not, see themselves as part of China? Why no mention of the fact that, as far back as Tibetan records go, we find a clear sense of Tibetans as a people, distinct from China? Would it not be worth noting that Chinese claims are based on the fact that both nations were successively occupied by the Mongols and the Manchus? Schell the Sinologist is interested in only one perspective: the Chinese.

It is an overpowering arrogance, to deprive the Tibetans of their dignity by portraying them as victims of two colonizations. The creation of 'virtual Tibet'--an imaginative creation no less real than Dr. King's dream, or Gandhi's fantasy of a whole and peaceful India--is their greatest achievement. It is not our illusion to dispel.

Rating:
Summary: Commendable but flawed and poorly edited...
Review: While this book is a good read for someone not familiar with Tibet and its history, I cannot recommend it wholeheartedly with so many other fine books available. The only new territory covered is the material about Hollywood, especially Brad Pitt and the making of Seven Years in Tibet. There are several long chapters summarizing the history of European exploration of Tibet, but these seem to have been compiled from sources (such as John MacGregor's Tibet: A Chronicle of Exploration and Derek Waller's The Pundits) that are far more comprehensive and are not fettered by the didactic agenda that suffuses this book.

There are many errors of fact (for instance, the events at Waco are said to have occurred in 1995) and interpretation (the passages about Buddhism are quite garbled).

Finally, I must differ with the author about the many travellers to Tibet in recent decades. I have spent much of my life in this region and have found the majority of travellers there to be well-informed about the history and politics of the region. Though doubtless there are some who arrive seeking a fantasy and leave disgruntled, this is true of most any travel destination. The beauty of the landscape and indigenous people of Tibet is very real, and much appreciated by most who journey there. Portraying the average Western traveller to Tibet as a naive Shangri-La seeker is a disservice in this era of savvy, Lonely Planet guide carrying wanderers. The situation in Hollywood is another matter entirely (well treated in this book), but I would also suggest that, prior to the Brad Pitt film, most Americans had only the faintest idea what Tibet even was, if they had heard of it at all.

Still, Schell does deserve much credit for his honesty and introspection - this is by and large a fair and balanced work. I hope it gets a wide audience, and that interested readers consult the bibliography in the back.

Rating:
Summary: entertaining, but not significant
Review: Who can resist first-hand accounts of movie stars acting silly? I loved the anecdotes about Steven Seagal, Brad Pitt, and a fund-raising dinner featuring the Dalai Lama. Schell's historical account of the West's fascination with Tibet, on the other hand, is ground that's been well covered by other authors, and I skimmed through those chapters. The book's political incorrectness undoubtedly explains the low rating given it by some reviewers. As light reading for those just discovering an interest in Tibet, this book is a good choice. But people looking for deeper insight will, I think, be disappointed.