Tens of thousands of netizens posted messages online to express their criticism of director Chen Kaige and their support for videographer Hu Ge, both involved in the latest dispute over A Murder Sparked by a Chinese Bun, an online video satirizing Chen's The Promise.

 

Most netizens thought Chen had gone too far with the issue.

 

"Chen lacks a sense of humor. The short video is only something amusing to the public rather than a commercial production. Chen was not expected to make a fuss over it," said netizen Meng Xiaoshe.

 

Some said Chen might use the incident as a way of drawing more attention to his big-budget film, as he is still promoting The Promise.

 

Hu was surprised at Chen's saying he is planning to sue him. Hu said he had not found a solution to the problem.

 

At the same time, the videographer said that Steamed Bun was purely for entertainment, and he would not mind if someone else satirized his work.

 

(Shenzhen Daily February 15, 2006)