Ip Man 2 (5 Stars)

This is an incredible film. Maybe the English are the bad guys, the Foreign Devils, but I can take it. I don't feel any guilt for what my countrymen have done in past centuries, or even what they do now. Maybe I feel ashamed, but not guilty. I know that if I'd been in the same place as those bad Englishmen, I would have acted differently.

Not everyone thinks like that. One of my Facebook friends (an American) recently tried to blame me for the sins committed in the name of the British Commonwealth, and when I tried to reason with her she went into a xenophobic rant, claiming that all the British are racists. It's heartbreaking that someone I call a friend can be so deluded.

Every country and every race has its good and its bad qualities. As I write these words I'm sitting with a glass of Trollinger wine next to me. I'm in love with German wine, especially the South German red wines. Maybe that's a bad example, because England has no mentionable wine of its own. All I can say is that despite being an Englishman I would always choose a German wine over an English beer.

I'm sad to say that in recent weeks I've experienced xenophobia against the Chinese. It's assumed, though not yet proved, that the Coronavirus originated in bats that are eaten in China as a delicacy. Even if that's true, it's no reason to blame the Chinese. A disease could just as easily have come from infected chicken or any other animal. But what do people say?

"We're going to die because the Chinese will eat anything".

That's so stupid. The Chinese like to eat ice cream, just like you and me.

One of the messages of "Ip Man 2" that might be overlooked in the midst of all the fight scenes is that nothing is as important as family. Honour and national pride are important values, especially in Chinese culture, but if they separate you from your family you have the wrong priorities.

That's all I'll write for now. I'll have another glass of Trollinger, then I'll go to bed.

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