Xiaojuzi

 
On Sunday, the decision by the crew of TV series Red Dance Shoes to delete their official apology on Sina Weibo seemed to take its cat-killing controversy from bad to worse. Viewed by 130 million netizens on the social media platform, recent news that the film crew's vehicle hit a campus cat called Xiaojuzi (Lit: Little Orange) at Yunnan University has triggered widespread public backlash. Following the death of the cat, the TV team issued an earnest-sounding apology, but it did too little to calm the situation and public anger is still simmering. 

Is people's anger only about the loss of Little Orange? Deeper than that, the true source of public outrage lies in the filming crew's "production-above-all" mentality while operating in a shared public space. 

When discovered, the kitten had been run over at the neck. It may be graphic to recall, but details of the cat's death paint an obvious picture of how careless the TV crew was at the university. The crew acknowledged this oversight and issued a formal apology, admitting that the driver had "acted negligently." Additionally, they announced the creation of a "Little Orange Fund" to provide compensation.  

But, the question is "Can carelessness that cost a life every truly be excused by an apology?" Put another way: If it had been a student, not a cat, that was struck, what form of compensation could ever suffice? Every action a film crew takes in a public space carries responsibility, and often irreversible consequences. This responsibility carries a weight far heavier than the value of a perfect shot.

Following the incident, many Yunnan University students like Xiang Ling have taken to Sina Weibo and Xiaohongshu to decry the presence of film crews on campus, because they "disrupt campus order and culture," Xiang told the Global Times.

In pursuit of artistic authenticity, there is nothing inherently wrong with a film crew shooting in public spaces like campuses. However, the student's comment is telling because it reveals that many public spaces have their own operational logic and community culture. 

For example, a university campus has its own traffic and access rules. And, for the Yunnan institution, Little Orange was more than just a cat; it was once a living testament of the school's humanity. 

Hence, not just film crews, when any outsider enters a public space, they must adhere to the spaces' operating dynamics. That's to say, production crews should adapt their film plans to local context. 

Unfortunately, accidents have not just been limited to the Red Dance Shoe team. There have also been many other film crews that got their priorities wrong. 

In 2024, a production team went to a hospital intensive care unit (ICU) in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, to film. To avoid disrupting the shoot, they reportedly asked the family members of a patient to keep their weeping quiet. In another instance, a crew filming in a residential area of Chongqing Municipality aimed laser pointers directly at the eyes of tourists to clear the area, resulting in injury to one tourist's eyes.

The recurrence of such cases is a stark warning to the film and television industry. The sector should rebuild its rules and boundaries for on-location shooting. On a more profound level, such cases call into question the very ethical foundation of the industry. 

A set of standards must be re-established from within the industry itself. For instance, before filming begins, every production crew should be required to submit a detailed "minimum interference plan" for their on-location shooting. This plan, which could become a mandatory part of the project approval process, should include specific measures to mitigate noise, traffic, ecological disruption and ensure respect for a public space's primary function.

Also, a "tiered permit system" for on-location filming should be co-established between the industry and its regulatory body. This system should be able to assess the feasibility of filming based on a location's sensitivity. Crucially, it would define certain zones as inherently "high-risk" or "no-film" areas. Taking the hospital ICU as an example, filming should be prohibited to protect patients' safety and dignity. 

Measures and terms like these may guide the industry, but they still remain external. The true transformation that is needed lies within the film and television industry itself. 

As a highly commercial industry, audiences are the source of revenue and market expansion. Therefore, the collective voice and choices of audiences can ultimately pressure the industry to act more responsibly. 

Maybe it is a somewhat ironic example, but following the Little Orange incident, the yet-to-be-released Red Dance Shoes drama has already suffered a significant blow to its reputation. This has been clearly reflected in the numerous online comments of people vowing to "never watch it." 

While it remains uncertain whether the controversy around the show will fade with time, it is undeniable that Red Dance Shoes acts as a painful lesson: Even a potentially excellent work cannot win public affection once it loses its audience's trust and empathy.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn