Comments on: What if?

By: C. W. Hayford

C. W. Hayford — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 06:42:41 +0000

I detect a certain looseness of “ifs,” in some of the comments here, but Alan’s question about the results of WWII reminds me of the Korean film “2009 Lost Memories.” It’s based on the question “What if Gov. General Ito Hirobumi was not assassinated in Harbin in 1909?” Well, then Japan never lost the Second World War and Korea never gained independence in 1945. In 2009,Seoul is the third major city of Japan. The hero of the film, Detective Sakamoto, is of Korean descent but doesn’t know what that means, and works to root out a terrorist gang, which we the audience know to be Korean patriots, who want to go back in time to assassinate Ito and …. well, you have to see it.

If each step of the plot’s logic doesn’t exactly follow, never mind. It’s still a great adventure action film.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:32:24 +0000

Marco Polo did go to India…

By: Alan Baumler

Alan Baumler — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:01:39 +0000

Can I play?

What if WWII had gone differently (or not happened) and Japan was left in control of Taiwan?

What if Zheng He had discovered America?

What if Mao’s son had not been killed in Korea?

What if the Qianlong emperor had decided to play polo with Lord Macartney and they became best buddies?

By: Michael Turton

Michael Turton — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:13:30 +0000

1. What if the Chinese had invented the fork during the Shang Dynasty?

2. What if Mao had really been named “Schickelgruber”?

3. What if Du Fu and Li Bai had preferred limericks?

4. What if Marco Polo had gone to India instead?

5. What if the Chinese had been unable to understand Kissinger’s accent?

By: Pete

Pete — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 05:21:54 +0000

Actually the biggest, and possible, what if was “What if Chiang accepted the US suggestion of splitting the country into halves – North of Yangtze for the Commies, and South for Chiang.” The meeting was held and Chiang rejected it, and kept fighting and loosing.