The Huffington Post features China essay by Lloyd Kaufman

t has been my dream for years to further spread Troma’s shit-disturbing, peace-loving reach…into other parts of the world, specifically China. A lifelong interest in China’s history and culture has led me to want to actually make a Troma movie there, in the Mandarin language no less. Decades have passed, though, since I first visited China and the things that have always stopped me from making a film there still hold true. In fact, I would say, things have only gotten progressively worse since then. It’s not the Chinese laws or logistics that keep the Chinese Troma movie from ever being made. Instead, it’s the Chinese oppression, elitism, and corruption that has long-existed in China, so the nation’s failure to neither cease nor amend these obscene failures fuels my rage.

I have been fascinated by China since I was probably 9 years old. My very left of left-wing grandmother often gave me books, one of which was  The Brave New World. Not to be confused with Huxley’s dystopian tale, this book by Scott & Helen Nearing detailed the pair’s travels throughout China and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and glorified Chairman Mao and his actions. Though misguided, the book spurred an interest in me that continued through college where I majored in Chinese Studies at Yale University  (1). I spent four years studying the language, the history, the art, and culture. At this time, U.S. citizens were not allowed visit China but I took the opportunity to travel elsewhere including Taiwan. When I finally made it to China in 1979, I began to think that it was, quite possibly, a nation progressing towards a more democratic ideology and away from its oppressive past that so often maimed anything even resembling freedom or independence. To my wife and me, it appeared that there was a movement occurring to open up China and allow the voices of dissent to finally be included in the conversation. There was even a Democracy Wall located in Beijing from 1978 to 1979 where you could post anything you wanted to say. In fact, my wife and I put up a poster for our movie  Squeeze Play! which immediately drew a huge crowd, including the police, so we disappeared quickly  (2).