Wednesday, 8/1, afternoon session - Stanley Rosen, USC

[Natali Ramon]

Donna,

            I agree with the comments you made during lecture and as I was listening to this lecture, I felt about

why Chinese films have to fight such an uphill battle to become popular in the US.  When I think about films I know that the faces and attractiveness of actors who come out in the movies have a huge influence in how popular a film will be.  I think the mainstream standards of beauty are very much rooted on imperialist values.  As I sat thinking about why Chinese films have such a hard time, I couldn’t help but wonder if part of the reason why Chinese films struggle so much is the faces that are portrayed in the movies.  Perhaps, I am projecting the social issues of media in Latin America to the Asian film context, but in Mexico for example, it is the artists that have European features who get most prominently featured in productions.  People who for example, have more indigenous features, are usually relegated to secondary roles if at all.  I wonder if these standards of beauty also apply to the way in which Chinese films are received here in the US.   

[Natali Ramon]

Today’s lesson on China’s “soft power” was very illuminating because this is the first time I have ever heard of this concept.  Most interesting was the idea that soft power aims to draw on culture and values so that other countries are compelled to cooperate more.  Most notably it seems that one of the most prominent methods of accomplishing this agenda is through the film industry.  The difficulties that Asian film industry has faced offers a great opportunity for reflection for American audiences and it seems that the way in which we have chosen to receive Chinese films has really impacted the way in which cinema companies have tried to reach US audiences.  Since we are not so open to films in another language or with other non-white faces, companies have opted to take a stake in US audiences by producing films with white American actors.  These methods also make me think about the way in which Latin American artists have had to navigate the preferences of mainstream American audiences.  For instance, as of late it seems that a lot of directors from Latin America have found their niche by directing films with white artists.  Some of the more recent films that come to mind are The Shape of Water and The Reventant. However, this does not address the issue of representation in films.  It seems that until US audiences learn to adjust their cinematic palate to include a wider variety of films, cinema from other countries will face an uphill battle winning US audiences over.

[Natali Ramon]

Kim,

I agree with you that Crazy Rich Asians was more palatable to American audiences since it attempted to combine Asian values with American values through Rachel as a Chinese-American.  As a non-Asian viewer I think I might have missed a lot of the cultural subtleties that Asian viewers caught on to.  I was lucky enough to get some explanation by some Asian colleagues on the more nuanced moments in the movie that made references to values in Asian countries. Ultimately, it seems that in the end of the film happiness on the individual level triumphed as the love story plot line unfolded.  I wonder how this ending was received in Asian, and I also wonder if there is a differing opinion from older generation and younger generations. I also think that comparison essay is a fantastic idea. It would be interesting to see how our students’ family values compare to those depicted in the film.  Values in latino families tend to be more family oriented and this seemed to be a prominent theme in Crazy Rich Asians.     

[Ann Huynh]

When I read, “The Use of Film for Public Diplomacy: Why Hollywood Makes a Stronger Case for China" by Stanley Rosen, the author talked about why certain Hollywood films are more successful in China than others.  For example, he talked about the success of the film, 2012.  In this film, the Chinese people helped the Western.  The Chinese were represented favorably, thus, the film was able to garnered huge box office numbers.  I believed that all governments would want their country to be shown in a positive light, but unlike the United States, the Chinese government can restrict freedom of speech.  Therefore, if Hollywood wanted to continue to show their movies, they have to adapt as necessary.  For me, I would use the film clips in Kung Fu Panda 2 to talk about the scenery about China and contrast it with an actual photograph so that they can see what a part of China looked like. 

[Daniel Horowitz]

Zoey I agree with your description of government influence. I think what set off the discussion in class is the strong word "power", where a "softer" word like "influence" might be more appropriate. Popular film often falls into traditional models of heroes and villains, and that's not just with superhero films. Often American films fall into stereotype when the villanous character is cast as a certain ethnicity, feeding an us versus them mentality. From the clips we saw of Wolf Warrior we see that other cultures are perfectly capable of doing this as well.

[Donna Jamshidnejad]

Natali, 

I was also connecting Chinese cinema to other regions such as Latin America and the Middle East. Similar to films and TV in Latin America, Middle Eastern cinema is influenced by western beauty standards. You find the actors with the lightest skin and most European features are cast in films more often. You bring up a good point, maybe we are projecting issues that don't apply to East Asia. However, I would not be surprised if western beauty standards also impact East Asians. While I know skin color was related to status and income, I wonder why eyelid and other surgeries are popular. 

[Donna Jamshidnejad]

I recently listened to an interview with the author of the book, Crazy Rich Asians. I thought I should share what he said about the female Chinese-American protagonist. The author said that he was previously contacted by a film producer who wanted to create the film, but only if he was willing to make the protagonist a white American character in the movie. I was not surprised to hear this, but happy to know that the author did not even respond to the producer because he would never consider changing the race of the main characters. 

[Ann Huynh]

I have never heard about Chinese soft power before this lecture.  It was very interesting to hear.  China’s soft power is strongly connected to its government and the Chinese government is trying to increase it outside of China.  They are trying to do this through films, but to date they have not had much success.   I also learned about the Chinese dream.  This would be interesting to compare with the American dream.  Maybe they can create a Chinese/American dream.

[Helen Kang]

Wolf Warrior II (2017, one of the most popular Chinese films), Operation Red Sea (2018, Similar to "Black Hawk Down)

These movies, I learned were intended for Chinese audience, and to build soft power. Soft Power, by definition I noted from the lecture and additional research, is the ability to get others to want the outcomes that you want, and the ability to achieve goals through attraction rather than coercion”(Nye, 1990). The media industry is a big factor and with China's presence in the film industry, we see it affecting Hollywood blockbusters. I was surprised to learn that China had such a big infuence in the movie making industry. 

The contrast of the Chinese dream vs. the American dream was that the Chinese dream is one that benefits and honors the country and American dream is for individual success.

[Author]

Posts