In my previous post about the karma fiasco, I remarked tongue-in-cheek that we should boycott Sharon Stone’s movies. Well apparently that is becoming a reality, which reinforces my belief that one day satire will no longer be necessary because the world itself will have become a farce.

The cinema chain UME has decided to ban two of Stone’s upcoming film releases this year from their theaters, which I suppose assumes that people would have gone to see them in the first place. And, taking a hint from Carrefour, Christian Dior has pulled all advertisements featuring Stone, who models a cosmetics line, from Chinese stores, lest they find themselves the target of another capricious Chinese boycott (Dior is French after all).

From Dior China’s statement:

Due to some customer reaction we have decided to pull her image from all of the department stores and from all of China…. We just want our customers and fans to realize that her personal comments are not related to the company and of course we don’t support any type of commentary that will hurt the feelings of our customers.

It seems that China is getting good at a popular American pastime: taking offense at things. Watch out, Wal-Mart, Dixie Chicks, et al. I am not defending anything celebrities say or companies do (especially if they are ridiculous and untrue), but China is getting quite adept at drawing apologies—from CNN, BBC, even Stone herself. Is this indicative of an oversensitive population, anxious about the Olympics? Or is it a symptom of the West trying to capture the essence of a country they can’t quite read? Or maybe it’s just another episode in the long-running soap opera, “People Doing Stupid Things.”

Stone’s apology, issued through a statement so you know she means it, goes something like this:

Due to my inappropriate words and acts during the interview, I feel deeply sorry and sad about hurting Chinese people…. I am willing to take part in the relief work of China’s earthquake, and wholly devote myself to helping affected Chinese people.

I fully support Stone’s commitment to help with relief work. If she goes to Sichuan to help with disaster relief, she can show the Chinese people that she isn’t wholly insensitive. But if, while helping remove rubble, a neighboring wall collapses on her and leaves her trapped for days, she would no longer have to apologize, because there might be something to be said for karma after all.