Here, a human story is shown as ‘an act of listening’, where personal memories of a devastating social movement are revealed through family conversations. Those memories of that turbulent time, although always lingering around the family’s everyday life, remain covered up by a collective narrative, a correct one, an official one.
And history echoes the present. When the pandemic hit London, Beijing declared the national lockdown lifted. But ever since, the Chinese government has received international accusations. In response, the authority urges the public to ‘form a correct collective narrative.’ The government’s earlier failures turned into a taboo. The personal losses are veiled by the collective victory, just as it has always been in all human history.