When I saw this headline, I thought it must be from the Onion: "Chuck Norris Sues, Says Tears No Cancer Cure." The joke all American college students have heard has made its way into a book entitled The Truth About Chuck Norris.
"Chuck Norris's tears can cure cancer. Too bad he never cries."
Apparently, Chuck Norris thought this was believeable enough to harm his image and worthy of a lawsuit. When I was studying Chinese in Beijing a couple years ago, we had a lesson to remind us that America is the most litigious society in the world. The text talked about the McDonalds' coffee burning incident and gave other examples of how ridiculous Americans are when it comes to going to court. I, the neophyte that I was, wondered why Chinese people don't go to court and my teacher recommended Zhang Yimou's (pre-sellout) movie, the Story of Qiuju . Plot summary: An official kicks Qiuju's husband in the groin, possibly causing damage to his reproductive organs (one hell of a kick!), and then she spends the rest of the movie attempting to get payment for this barbarous act. The normally ravishingly beautiful Gong Li kicks ass as the stubborn, determined Qiuju.
My teacher's point was that going through the courts can be a long, convoluted process that sometimes leaves you worse off than you were before. This was a topic at the UN Human Rights hearing on China this year. When people seek redress for wrongs committed by government officials, they often end up in "black jails" that exist outside the law. They have no rights to have their cases heard and can be detained for an indefinite period of time.
So, for now, I'll gladly accept Chinese people's criticisms of American frivolity.
Note: Chinese law has indeed been getting better. Recently women won the right to sue their husbands' mistresses for damages. I don't know what this says about infidelity, but it sounds like progress. (Here for details)
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In the plaintiffs defense, mc donalds was brewing there coffee at a much higher temperature then there competitors.
ReplyDeleteDiomedes,
ReplyDeleteThank you for weighing in on the McDonald's case. I am unaware of the details, but I will pass on the info, provided I can render it into intelligible Chinese.