Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower

The movie was undoubtably poorly executed with a simplistic narrative and Joshua is merely a symbolic figure. The complexity of the movement and of protesters was largely ignored.

I gave a 10 simply to toast to the little hero of our times.

But for Joshua's efforts 5 years ago, the anti-ELAM movement would not exist in 2019. Brainwashing is sickening. His leadership is not perfect. But he learned from failures and improved. Looks what he has become of in 2019. Add oil, HK.

I'd probably give this a 7.5 if I was able to break this down further, but as an American, this is a fascinating story that I knew very little about. It's the true story about a Hong Kong teenager leading the charge against China, and if this wasn't a true story, you would think that whoever made a story up like this was thinking up an implausible fantasy.

I saw this in August, 2019, and with all the news about what is going on in Hong Kong at this time, it was an extremely topical movie. Joshua Wong is mature far beyond his years, and I can see him winning the Nobel Peace Prize at some point in his life. Remember, I am writing this in August, 2019, so if he gets a Nobel Peace Prize sometime in the future, I obviously didn't know about it at this time of writing.

The document is not only about David vs Goliath, Democracy vs Totalitarian, Freedom vs Oppression, but also about human nature, about the real sacrifices of some individuals for their movement.

Everyone in Hong Kong knows about TianAnMen, June 4th, 1989. and what Chinese government would do for any disobedience. Yet, facing the real grave danger, Hong Kong citizen stood up against the center government at 2014 and 2015, led by a teenage boy. It's truly a remarkable story to tell. This film documented from the beginning to the current situation in roughly chronological order. It explained in personal details about how Joshua and his friends became activists, later leaders of movements. It shows us why in 2014,2015 so many Hong Kong people occupied the street and joined the demonstration, and what is the "umbrella movement". It shows the incredible spirits of not only the leaders, but also the citizens of Hong Kong as a whole. As I watched hundreds of thousands of people waving their lights together, I cannot hold back my tears. Those are truly touching moments for me. I was from China, but I've never imagined peaceful demonstrations could have taken place there again.

The film is only the beginning. The struggle is continuing every day. Chinese government demonized Joshua and his friends. This film is no doubt banned in China. However, I hope more Chinese people would find this film and watch it, then judge by themselves who's right and who's wrong. This film tells the story from Joshua's angle. It's biased, but since the official condemnation was everywhere, it's very rare to be able to see it from this angle. As the old Chinese saying, "Listening to both sides and you will be enlightened".

It's 2020 and I began following the Hong Kong riots closely in the summer of 2019. Prior to that, I was always just about "oh they'll resolve whatever they got going on" but as it kept popping up on the news, and it's quite the eye opener. I recently bought Joshua's book, Unfree Speech, and I didn't know that there was this special on Netflix until he mentioned it in the book and I had to check it out right away. It definitely shows what he's written about and it puts what he wrote into perspective.

This was a great summary of how their protests began and how it develops into the Umbrella movement. They are teenagers, fighting for what they believe is right. As a father, I want my children to do the same. Fight for what they believe in. No Government is perfect and we have the right to talk about that. Governments are there for the people, not for themselves.

I checked other people's reviews and I don't know why they say it's biased, the title says 'JOSHUA: Teenager vs Superpower', not 'Hong Kong Protesters vs Superpower: Who is right?' Of course it's going to show only about Joshua and what they're fighting for. Plus will we really ever see the Superpowers intent? They even explained it that the Chief Executive answers to Beijing, not the people of HK. So it won't be easy to get an honest perspective of China without it being propaganda material. Best I can say is to google about the protesters and news about Hong Kong, and see what they have to say and make a stance of where you are at.

I hope more of these documentaries come into light. Their struggle is real, we live in a democratic society and they want it as well. Without someone speaking up, they can't get what they want, like the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Right To Vote, Internal Resistance Against Apartheid, and the list goes on.

Liberation For Hong Kong, Revolution Of Our Time!