While the Chinese government is keen to grow and expand its cultural industries, mainly through the film sector, it is hampered by its suspicion towards foreign influence, especially from Western culture. Ironically, China’s filmmakers require Hollywood connections and film-making skills and expertise to perform well internationally (Marchetti, Kam & Feng, 2009).
3.4 Influence of Hollywood on Chinese Cinema
As a result of the current high levels of transnationalism, China’s way of viewing cultural identity is mainly shaped by the influx in movement of ideologies, people, technology and capital (Dorovicova & Newman, 2009). In essence, transnationalism has made cultural perceptions transcend ethnical and national boundaries. Just like other
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On the other hand, some critics are of the opinion that for the reason that of film interactions occasioned by globalization, there has emerged a genre of hybrid cinema brought about by interactions among cultures such as the African American hip-hop and China’s martial arts. Through these interactions and combinations, cinema has been able to address controversial issues such as socioeconomic and cultural marginalization, capitalism, communism, colonialism, nationalism, and political subordination among other issues (Chan, 2009).
In films such as Lethal Weapon 4 and Rush Hour, Hollywood has managed to interact with Chinese actors and culture, introducing the concepts of multiculturalism, masculinity and citizenship. In these movies, minority groups such as African-Americans, Asians and Asian-Americans are given prominence (Carter, 2010). These films reveal that the current interaction between international cultures by far goes beyond the East-West dimension.
3.5 Protectionism in China’s Film
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In fact, there seems to be a lot of strain between Beijing and China’s cinema industry (FlorCruz, 2014). Hence, the informational problem is not only between the domestic and foreign cinema but also between some elements of the domestic cinema industry (Cheng, 2004). Clearly, prevention of allegedly corrupt Western influence through propaganda is the main reason Chinese authorities seek to regulate foreign cinema. It is for these reasons that the Chinese government has a policy that has set a quota of twenty foreign films and a condition that foreign filmmakers shoot their films in China as Chinese co-productions (Berry, 1998). These barrier-policies are put in place to help the government preserve what it considers important to it than to protect local cinema industry.
The government of china could also be using the quota policy on foreign films to reduce local competition for Chinese films (Zhang, 2010). For an illustration, China State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) recently instituted more strict regulation of non-Chinese animation television programs such as anime, requiring television stations to desist from screening foreign-produced animation between 1700hrs and 2100hrs (Berry, 1998). The purpose of this directive is to create space and suitable environment for China’s animation sector to
Walt Disney Co.’s China division and Marvel Studios chose to partner with Beijing-based DMG Entertainment as the latter maintains close working ties with the state-run China Film Group. By doing so, the producers were able to bypass China’s rigid foreign film quota system of 34 films a year. This quota will be increased to 44 films in the next few years and that is good news for aspiring filmmakers from Singapore who is considering a join venture with China. By partnering with a Chinese company, the Singapore producer will gain leverage in obtaining a spot in the quota, as state media will view the co-production as a domestic film as opposed to a 100% foreign film.
Ever since the establishment of cinema in the early 1900s, Hollywood has continuously recreated elements of history to reenact for its future generations. In order to clearly broadcast a specific theme or message to relay to viewers around the world, Hollywood executives tend to embellish real life events, in order to provide a “fairytale” aspect to a seemingly not so “happily- ever-after” story from history. As part of this “fairytale” aspect, Hollywood tends to delegitimize as well as provide a more disrespectful and more comical version of societies and cultures in the specific time frame that the film is being set. Through the art of story telling, the movies Mulan and Kung Fu Panda, depict the two sides of Hollywood, the falsifying and mockery making of Chinese people, their society, beliefs and true events of history and that of an accurate portrayal.
Riseman, Barbara. “Gender as a Social Structure: Theory Wrestling with Activism.” Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Spring/Summer 2014. Eds. Kathryn Karrh Cashin and Lauren Martilli. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2013.
Schepelern, Peter. "Film according to Dogma: Ground Rules, Obstacles, and Liberations." Transnational Cinema in a Global North. Eds. Andrew Nestingen and Trevor G. Elkington. Detroit: Wayne State Press, 2005: 73-107
...enshoff et al. (2009), it is important to mention that films that are produced by Hollywood are first and foremost strictly business. To Asian viewers, it may be easier to detect these faulty portrayals, but whether Hollywood casts a Korean to play a Japanese role, or a Chinese to play a Korean, it is all the same because Hollywood uses what works to sell its product well.
Mimura, Glen M. "What Is Asian American Cinema." Introduction. Ghostlife of Third Cinema: Asian American Film and Video. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2009. N. pag. Pdf.
The quest for identity quickly finds its place in the construction of the notion of ‘Hong Kong-ness’ in films. The local cinema has remained as a powerful cultural institution, both reflecting and intervening in the discourses of alterities and selfhood. It is therefore not surprising that in local films, the cinematic representations of Hong Kong have been seen as inextricably interwoven with the triangular relationship between the British coloniser, the Chinese motherland, and Hong Kong itself. Since its inception in the 1910s, the Hong Kong film industry has enjoyed much independence from colonial control, yet simultaneously much association with Western culture. Many films openly deal with the theme of ‘East meets West’ in which ‘Hong Kongese’ identity is often expressed in "transnational settings" against the existence of a Western Other, in particular through the portrayal of Westerners visiting Asia, and vice versa. After the handover, "Hong Kong" as a geopolitical en...
In conclusion, I have learned that the use of mass communication that accurately depicts cultural and political issues can ultimately raise awareness. During my mission here on earth, I hope that my productions can to be different and somehow help the development of society as Lee has. Using the skills that Lee has obtained, he has accurately showed modern society that life is not all picture perfect. Despite all of the controversy and his downplay of stereotypical Hollywood setting and characters, Lee still stands strong toward the movement of cultures as a whole to a better understanding of life itself. This understanding can influence others to move toward change and innovative ways of promoting equality.
A new edition to the course lineup, this week's film classic, Sunset Boulevard. This film will focus on the culture and environment of the Hollywood studio system that produces the kind of motion pictures that the whole world recognizes as "Hollywood movies." There have been many movies from the silent era to the present that either glamorize or vilify the culture of Hollywood, typically focusing on the celebrities (both in front of and behind the camera) who populate the "dream factories" of Hollywood. But we cannot completely understand the culture of Hollywood unless we recognize that motion pictures are big business as well as entertainment, and that Hollywood necessarily includes both creative and commercial
Modernization in the 1980s paved the way for the Hong Kong New Wave, as the studio system set up in the 1950s was dismantled, the film industry experienced more freedom. Since decolonization was heavily present 75% of Hong Kong’s box office revenue were home grown movies, while the meager 15% was left for the foreign market. As one can see the political context of Ho...
Thompson, K 2003, ‘The struggle for the expanding american film industry’, in Film history : an introduction, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, Boston, pp. 37-54
It is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has heavily influenced the emulating of American film making from European influences. He is a prime example of a ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ director, not only from his ethnicity and background, but from his sheer interest in this form
In Hollywood today, most films can be categorized according to the genre system. There are action films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories: Hollywood films, and independent or foreign ‘art house’ films. Yet, this outlook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered ‘Hollywood films’. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive violence or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to displace its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of ‘foreign’ or ‘art house’ cinema.
While watching movies, have you ever noticed that the villains in almost every single Hollywood film are of Middle Eastern or European descent? In a reoccurring theme of Hollywood, the villains in these films are almost always foreigners or people of color. This is a stereotype. On the other side of the spectrum, we often see that the heroes of these films are most often than not white males. This is another stereotype. Within the last few years, we’ve seen actors such as Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Zoe Saldana take the lead roles, so it can’t be said that there are no non-white heroes, but there certainly isn’t many. Hollywood action movies, moreover than other genres, are typically loaded with an abundance of stereotypes. The way these movies are composed and structured can tell us a great deal about the views held within the American psyche and who holds the social power. The harsh reality is that the media ultimately sets the tone for societal standards, moralities, and images of our culture. Many consumers of media have never encountered some of the minorities or people of color shown on screen, so they subsequently depend on the media and wholeheartedly believe that the degrading stereotypes represented on the big screen are based on fact and not fiction. Mary Beltran said it best when she stated in her “Fast and Bilingual: Fast & Furious and the Latinization of Racelessness” article, “ultimately, Fast & Furious mobilizes notions of race in contradictory ways. It reinforces Hollywood traditions of white centrism, reinforcing notions of white male master while also dramatizing the figurative borders crossed daily by culturally competent global youth – both Latino and non-Latino” (77). This paper will specifically look...
But we should start out by acknowledging its success. In considering some of the reasons for the recent success of South Korean cinema, two further observations can be made. First, if we pay attention to the international export success of South Korean cinema, we can see that it has carved out a new route. This is based on regional markets, at least as much as Europe and the United States. Second, unlike the successes of the Taiwanese and Chinese “new waves” since the 1980s, it is not based on the old European art cinema model.