SALON

Friday, Jun 14, 2013 3:54 PM UTC

“Vice” makes North Korea seem silly, not scary

The much-awaited North Korea episode features a weird dolphin show, but no examination of the government's cruelty

By

Topics: Vice, North Korea, TV, Television, dennis rodman,

(Credit: VICE)

“Vice,” HBO’s adventure-focused newsmagazine show for dudes who regularly deny that they are hipsters, premiered two and a half months ago, amid a brouhaha of its own creation. Hoping to tape an episode of the show in North Korea and aware of new dictator Kim Jong-un’s love of the Chicago Bulls (a passion inherited from his father), Vice Media offered to bring Dennis Rodman and three Harlem Globetrotters over for a “foreign sports exchange.” Surprisingly, North Korea accepted, and soon images of Dennis Rodman and Vice employees cozying up to Kim Jong-un appeared in the media — just as the DPRK was making new threats to nuke America (while continuing with its standard repression and starvation techniques).  Rodman described Kim Jong-un as “awesome,” while Vice bragged about their access and the great meal they’d been treated to there. In the words of the New Yorker’s Lizzie Widdicombe, “What had seemed like a bold P.R. stunt by Vice now looked like cozying up to a dangerous dictator.”

The episode filmed during that trip finally premieres tonight, and while it goes much easier on North Korea than it could, or perhaps should, if it’s propaganda for anyone, it’s propaganda for Vice. Still, so little comes out of North Korea that even a flawed 30-minute documentary is fascinating. The first shot alone is Leni Riefenstahl-style iconic: a huge mass of North Koreans dressed in dark clothes sit in an arena. A few eagle-eyed citizens see something and rise, beginning to clap, and are soon joined by everyone in the frame, applauding, chanting and tearing up as Kim Jong-un walks in.

In a discussion of the episode arranged by HBO a few weeks ago, Vice CEO Shane Smith and Ryan Duffy, the journalist who went on the trip, explained that their strategy was to stop filming when the North Koreans asked them to because even what they were permitted to see was mind-boggling. North Korea put on a show for Vice, taking them on a tour meant to rehabilitate its international reputation, each stop more surreal than the next. They go to a Sea World-style aquatic park where Kim Jong-un has, allegedly, choreographed the dolphin show; a well-stocked yet deserted supermarket full of Western foodstuff that it’s impossible to purchase; a gym where suction cups are said to help with breast cancer; an Internet lab where a roomful of students stare at blank screens.

The climax is the basketball game, which Kim Jong-un surprisingly attends. He sits in the stands making conversation with Rodman as the Koreans and Globetrotters play a game with mixed teams that ends in a tie. Rodman makes a spontaneous speech in which he laments that the two nations are not better friends. And then the crew and players are whisked off to a private dinner where no cameras were allowed but the state’s. So viewers get a slideshow of official images accompanied by narration of what happens next: The visitors get drunk with Kim Jong-un, an all-girl group sings the theme song to “Rocky,” and Rodman belts out “My Way.”

Throughout its first season, “Vice” has largely forsaken context. It introduces a wildly dramatic subject — whether it’s assassinations in the Philippines or a Taliban training program — with a slight skimming of the history involved. “Vice” is entertainment that encourages its watchers to check Wikipedia if they want to know more. The same is true in this episode: Smith is more interested in establishing Vice’s anti-North Korea bona fides — the company has previously filmed a series of critical documentaries there, and he has personally been banned from the country — than fleshing out a profile of the nation or its leader. The episode tells viewers that the North Koreans revere Kim Jong-un as a god, but gives us no sense of the kind of cruelty or dysfunction he oversees. The North Korea in this documentary seems more like a farcical, ridiculous, absurd place than a dangerous one, more like something out of a Gary Shteyngart novel than out of Solzhenitsyn.

Vice is very aware of the criticism of its presence in North Korea and at the end of the documentary defends the visit there as genuinely destabilizing. Duffy describes the trip as historic, suggesting it may create some cognitive dissonance in the citizenry — North Koreans will wake up one morning to see that Kim Jong-un partied with the American imperialists. At the end of the trip, Duffy finally gets the guides to allow the crew to make one spontaneous stop at a playground, where the Globetrotters play basketball with a group of (cellphone-having, roller-skate-wearing) schoolchildren. It’s a hallmark moment that “Vice” wastes no time congratulating itself for achieving.  Gauche as that is, they did accomplish something.

Willa Paskin

Willa Paskin is Salon's staff TV writer. More Willa Paskin.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

 4 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows