3 Body Problem, the newest Netflix show from the Game Of Thrones creators, is fueling some strong reactions from social media platforms in China.

Netflix’s 3 Body Problem is wreaking havoc on social media in China. The show was created by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, as well as Alexander Woo. It is an adaptation of Liu Cixin’s famous book, which is popular around the world. Netflix’s version is the second adaptation of the book, as China’s Tencent created its own version in 2023. The Netflix show opens with a man being brutally murdered in an attack during China’s Cultural Revolution.

While 3 Body Problem‘s characters regularly encounter horrifying threats, the Cultural Revolution attack is the threat that has become a major issue for viewers in China. Though Netflix is not available in China, The Hollywood Reporter and CNN report that Chinese social media site Weibo has been rife with various responses to the show’s opening scene. Check out their responses below:

“The first scene made my jaw drop. Even though I had anticipated this, the scene still startled me.”

One user was shocked by the violence in the Cultural Revolution scene, even though they expected to see it in the first place.

“Netflix you don’t understand ‘The Three Body Problem’ or Ye Wenjie at all! You only understand political correctness!”

Another felt that Netflix missed the point of Liu Cixin’s book and included the scene as a way to appeal to Western political sensibilities.

“History is far more absurd than a TV series, but you guys pretend not to see it.”

One user on the social media platform Douban, however, defended the show and argued that other users failed to acknowledge the intricacies of history.

The History Behind 3 Body Problem’s Opening Scene

3 Body Problem‘s controversial scene has not prevented the show from receiving critical acclaim among domestic audiences. In China, however, the history of the Cultural Revolution remains a divisive subject. The period began in 1966 and ran until 1976 with the death of Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong, who had controlled the country since 1943. Zedong helped to usher in the rise of communism in China in the wake of World War II.

The Cultural Revolution was a period of intense violence against capitalist influence that saw many students turn on their teachers and professors, as 3 Body Problem shows. Struggle sessions, including the one in the show’s opening, were meetings in which those intellectuals were humiliated and attacked. Many Chinese social media users argue that the show improperly depicted these struggle sessions, making them more violent than they were historically.

The 3 Body Problem opening struggle session features a professor being mocked by the crowd, before begging for a soon-to-be-granted rehabilitation. Another professor, however, refuses to reject the Big Bang Theory, and is summarily beaten to death in front of the crowd. His attackers are shocked after his death, while his wife and daughter look on in horror. The viciousness of the scene is likely what is drawing the most shock from Chinese audiences, who believe that Netflix is improperly depicting the brutality of the divisive Cultural Revolution.