‘People’s Republic of Desire’ Film Review: Doc Takes a Chilling Look at China’s Live-Streaming Culture

Instant stars and instant has-beens are made in the virtual world, in a terrifying glimpse at what might be the future of human interaction

People's Republic of Desire

If you’ve had the sinking feeling that technology is about to engulf the world as we know it, and that the apocalypse is just around the corner, Hao Wu’s documentary, “People’s Republic of Desire,” is not going to make you feel any better. In fact, it’s likely to make you feel considerably worse.

It’s a well made and, at times, innovative film about the fame and fortune beckoning ordinary people in China’s live-streaming culture, but it plays like a scary science-fiction story come to life.

It’s not surprising that a culture of virtual celebrity would take hold in a country like China, with a population of 1.3

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