Summary
In 1989, Joe Schofield, aged nineteen, watches the Tiananmen Square student protests from his hotel room in Beijing. He and his editor, Frank, discuss the best way to get Joe out of China as quickly and quietly as possible since his status as a foreign correspondent puts him in great danger. Suddenly, Joe sees a Chinese man about his own age stand directly in front of a line of tanks headed toward the protestors. Joe manages to take several photos of the anonymous man and hide his film rolls in the toilet cistern before the Chinese police barge into his hotel room and attack him.
Twenty-three years later, Joe, now forty-two, and Mel Stanwyck board a flight from New York to Beijing. They sit beside Tessa Kendrick, an Englishwoman who uses data and statistics to "characterize people;" she heads to China to adapt her methods to the Chinese market. Joe and Mel discuss their upcoming meeting with Zhang Lin, Joe's longtime friend. Joe and Mel make conversation with Tessa, during which Mel annoys and insults her, and Tessa uses this information to "characterize" Mel, much to his chagrin. As the plane takes off, Tessa, afraid of flying, holds Joe's hand.
Joe meets Zhang Lin, now an English teacher, after touring a plastics factory. Joe expresses that he feels "so guilty" about the poor working conditions. An American couple, Barbara (a history enthusiast) and Herb ask Joe to take their photo, not realizing that Joe is a renowned photographer; Joe then turns his camera to the hotel where he took the "Tank Man" photo before a strange man obscures the image. Zhang Lin, aware they are being followed, invites Joe to his apartment, where they drink beer and discuss the Tank Man. Joe admires Tank Man's bravery, comparing him to Nelson Mandela, though bolder. Joe tries to convince Zhang Lin to come to America, insisting that China is oppressive, though Zhang Lin argues "much has changed" in China, and quickly.
Zhang Lin argues with Joe that America isn't superior to China, and subtly criticizes Joe for not fully understanding the student protests and reducing them to the figure of "Tank Man." During their conversation, Zhang Lin, slightly intoxicated, accidentally reveals that the Tank Man is still alive and living in New York. They are quickly interrupted by the arrival of Zhang Lin's brother, Zhang Wei, whose son graduated from Harvard University.
Back in Manhattan, Joe argues with Frank about publishing his photos from China, angry that his "only war story all year," which is "two weeks’ work," will likely not be published because it shows people's faces and because the publication is primarily interested in American issues. Frank suggests telling the Tank Man's story from a pro-American angle, using the fact that the Tank Man emigrated to America as proof that "America means freedom, it means rights," and the ability "to be an individual" even though the nation's economy and power are ebbing. With this new spin, Frank agrees to run the story, until Doreen confirms that Wang Pengfei, the suspected Tank Man, is dead.
Joe meets with Paul Kramer, a former foreign correspondent for The Herald. As Paul and Joe discuss Paul's work on the Tank Man's supposed execution, Paul cares for his infant daughter. Paul reveals that the article, though bearing his name, was written by someone else; from this, Joe concludes that the Tank Man could still be alive.
Joe meets with Tess at a Chinese restaurant. Joe initially thinks it is a date since he and Tess had sex on the plane to Beijing. However, Tess's company wants to use one of Joe's photographs from the China trip on a credit card. Joe is offended since the image depicts children fishing in a polluted village with high child mortality rates, and rudely walks out of the dinner.
Back in China, Zhang Lin and his brother argue about Joe, prompting Zhang Lin to remember the 1989 protests. In his memory, Luili, his partner, criticizes him for being "still a little baby, a little boy" as he breaks his hunger strike. In the present, Zhang Lin opens the refrigerator; inside, Luili's ghost stands wearing a bloodstained version of her dress.
Analysis
"Scene One" is simply the visual image of the "Tank Man" photograph. Since this image creates the play's central conflict, showing it here prompts the audience to reconsider a familiar scene. The choice to begin the play with this photograph demonstrates the power of photography and establishes the themes of anonymity and the ethics of journalism. Since the photograph's publication in 1989, viewers of the Tank Man photograph invariably ascribe motivations to the Tank Man and a backstory to the iconic image. However, though the man "remains a powerful symbol of defiance," to this day, no one knows his identity or the words he spoke to the soldiers driving the tanks. Chimerica attempts to humanize this figure and add nuance to an image often cited in anti-Chinese propaganda.
The play establishes the hypocrisy and callousness of foreign correspondence in America through subtle comedic dialogue. Though characters like Joe Schofield believe their work gives a voice to the oppressed and promotes truth, the news outlets for which they work are motivated by profit and thus willing to compromise journalistic integrity in favor of enticing stories. Joe pitches the idea of a follow-up story about the Tank Man to Frank, following the advice that "if it bleeds, it leads," meaning that the stories that help sell the most newspapers are those about human suffering that shock the public. Frank only accepts the idea once it is reframed as American propaganda, demonstrating the hypocrisy and ethical issues of American journalism; the only way Joe's story can be told is if it is corrupted to serve a political purpose.
Mel also demonstrates a similar callousness and disillusionment in his day-to-day conversations. For example, after receiving news that a fellow journalist was paralyzed by "a thirteen-year-old sniper" in Somalia, Mel responds regretfully that he will "have to find a new racquetball partner." Mel views the suffering of others through the myopic lens of his own inconveniences. His statement is a clear example of understatement and dark humor; within a single line of dialogue, the play reveals two human rights tragedies; first, that children are conscripted into the Somalian war and forced to commit acts of violence; and second, that a journalist was permanently wounded while attempting to tell this story. Mel, a profit-obsessed American journalist, is desensitized to the suffering of others.
To convey its intercultural themes, Chimerica incorporates multiple languages and slang terms into its dialogue. For example, Zhang Lin and his brother, Zhang Wei, code-switch between English and Mandarin, appropriate for the Chinese-born English teacher and his brother. Joe and Tess both occasionally speak in broken Mandarin, using simple vocabulary such as bāozi, a type of steamed bun. Similarly, Mel uses the term schiesse, a swear of German origin that is popularly used in the United States, and Joe speaks French to tourists while in China.
The characters in Chimerica play into stereotypes for humor and to meta-textually criticize American arrogance. For example, while Joe and Zhang Lin discuss whether or not Zhang Lin should go to America, Zhang Lin makes several "hyper-American" references to demonstrate his lack of interest in moving abroad. For example, Zhang Lin suggests that the real Tank Man likely "got hit by a Cadillac on Route 66," referencing a distinctly American car and road, or died after "his heart exploded from all the beef," referencing America's internationally derided beef-heavy diet.
Playing into stereotypes also demonstrates Joe's ironically limited worldview. Despite being a foreign correspondent, Joe is only able to see Chinese people, including his friend, as victims of an oppressive, rapidly Westernizing regime. Zhang Lin pokes fun at Joe's naivete when he pranks him by saying they are going to have dinner at Pizza Hut, pretending he thinks the fast food chain is "very special."
