Please Vote For Me (2007) is a wonderful documentary about democracy coming to China. Specifically, a Grade 3 class in the city of Wuhan in central China learns about democracy by voting for the class monitor. The incumbent is a militaristic little boss whose father is a police chief. One of his challengers is a tubby, spoiled guy who seems pretty resourceful and gets plenty of help from his parents. The third and final candidate is a rather shy girl who seems overwhelmed at times, as does her mother who worries that as a single parent she cannot give her daughter as much assistance as the other parents can. Before the parents really get involved, the chubby guy has an idea of how to undermine the girl’s talent performance. When she starts to play the flute, he and his cronies shout insults like “Out of tune” and “You’re a slow eater.” She dissolves in tears.
The parents are very helpful in preparation for the debate: The three kids and their election teams make lists of their opponents weaknesses. Then in face-to-face combat they make accusation after accusation. The chubby tactician makes a successful strategic move by asking anyone in class who has been beaten by the incumbent monitor to raise their hand—and three-quarters of the students do so. As the day of final speeches approaches, one kid’s parents are coaching him so much that he yells to keep it simple and wants to be left alone. The girl’s mother simply writes the speech and says to give it because she wrote it. The incumbent’s father sits him down and explains a strategy. The day after the speeches will be a holiday, so his son should end by wishing everyone a great holiday and by giving everyone a gift.
The students get ballots, vote, put the results on the board, and cheer their new monitor who won by a landslide.
Weijun Chen’s documentary makes you think you are a fly on the wall. You’re in the lunch room hearing 8-year olds whispering dirty tactics; you’re in each candidate’s home watching the coaching; you’re in the classroom witnessing the reaction to the teacher’s lesson. Everyone is refreshingly unconscious of the cameras. Also, the documentary does not tell you what to think. In fact, one reaction to the film is not being sure what to take away from it. Most of all, it is a look at how a culture not familiar with democracy interprets the concept of democracy. How would democracy look if introduced to China? When you witness the character attacks, the bribery, and crafty rhetoric, you wonder whether this isn’t pretty much like democracy here. Then, when you see the results of the election, you wonder again whether 8-year olds in dictatorial China aren’t a lot like our electorate.
Note: Please Vote For Me won the Sterling Feature Award at this year’s Silverdocs Documentary Festival, and it aired October 23 on PBS’s “Independent Lens.”