Anger in China as Netflix show 3 Body Problem goes viral

A new Netflix hit begins with a violent scene depicting China’s tumultuous history, sparking a raft of different reactions around the world.

Warning: Spoilers.

New sci-fi epic 3 Body Problem got mixed reviews in China for its depiction of the country’s tumultuous history, but received a warm reception from conservatives in the West.

The show is an adaptation of Liu Cixin’s novel The Three-Body Problem and jumped straight into the top 10 Netflix list after its release on March 21.

The book and show are named after the three-body problem in physics and maths, which relates to the complicated calculation of how three bodies can be in orbit around each other.

The series is about Earth’s discovery of, and conflict with, alien civilisations and jumps back and forth between the past and the present.

A physicist is denounced in the 3 Body Problem series. Picture: Netflix

3 Body Problem’s depiction of China during the Cultural Revolution. Picture: Netflix

The opening scene, set in a time akin to Mao Zedong’s China during the Cultural Revolution, features a horrifying portrayal of “struggle sessions”, which were violent and public denunciations of “class enemies” that took place in the 1960s and 70s.

In the show, former physics teacher Ye Zhetai (Perry Yung) is viciously beaten to death after defending Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and calling the Big Bang model “the most plausible explanation for the origin of the universe”.

(Side note: the Big Bang model does not explain the origin of the universe, but rather the early moments of its hot, dense state.)

His wife takes part in the denunciation as his daughter, astrophysicist Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng), watches from the jeering crowd.

A crowd cheers during a struggle session in China during the 3 Body Problem series. Picture: Netflix

The show is graphic in its depiction of the struggle sessions. Picture: Netflix

American journalist and editor Nick Gillespie called it a “brilliant, terrifying depiction of China’s Cultural Revolution” in a post on X.

“The entire series is worth watching, but this scene, moved from the middle of the original novel to the start of the English translation, provides a rare but important depiction of a society run amok by power-mad, ideology-crazed groups hell-bent on purifying society along Marxist-Maoist lines,” he wrote.

Singaporean journalist and activist Melissa Chen wrote: “It’s one thing to read historical accounts of the Cultural Revolution. To intellectualise it. It’s quite another to experience the visceral violation of your conscience from seeing it on a TV screen (Netflix’s 3 Body Problem).”

Another wrote: “To understand what the left is doing, I suggest watching the opening of the Netflix series 3 Body Problem. The scene of the cultural revolution demonstrates what is taking place. Learn history or be doomed,” according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter.

The show is not available in China, although it can be accessed through a virtual private network or by downloading torrents. Reuters reported the show was trending in China on Friday, despite the restrictions.

It sparked “nationalist anger” in China, with some people arguing the book was twisted to paint China in a bad light, according to a report by CNN.

The decisions to set the show in London, rather than China, and include a diverse cast also came under fire.

“Netflix you don’t understand The Three Body Problem or Ye Wenjie at all!” one person wrote on Weibo.

“You only understand political correctness!”

Chinese state media outlet Global Times reported that reactions varied in China, with some happy that it showed China “can go global”.

It noted other viewers criticised the show as “bland and superficial.”