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Earlier this semester, I had the honor of attending a series of seminars in conjunction with the Strategic Broadening Seminar at the McConnell Center. It was a fantastic opportunity to interact with members of our military and discuss major security dilemmas and opportunities from different angles.
A particularly poignant lesson came during the lecture series on China. One of the visiting professors asserted that most characterizations of China either come from the “panda huggers” or “dragon slayers.” – that is the two diametrically opposed viewpoints regarding China’s rise in military, political, and economic clout. The professor noted that in many academic circles today, while the former school of thought is on the decline, the “dragon slayers” are ascendant.
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| Christian Bush - Class of 2018 |
However, I believe the silver screen is one area where the panda huggers are thriving. The depiction of China in Hollywood films as antagonist or ally speaks volumes to the film industry’s view of the emerging nation.
In the modern movie market, a strong overseas run can augment a well-received American film or recuperate the budget of a less than stellar film. This is particularly important in a time when Americans have increasingly embraced subscription services to get their movie and television fix. If China’s censors clear a foreign film to be screened, the production company then has access to the lucrative Chinese film market. Currently worth 6.78 billion dollars, China’s box office grew at an astonishing rate from the valued 1.51 billion dollars just six years ago – including 48.7 percent growth in 2015 alone. One caveat to all this otherwise good news is that as of 2015, 61.6 percent of box office returns went to domestic films.
In order to appeal to Chinese moviegoers, American production companies have embraced the idea of “pandering to China” – either with Chinese characters, subplots or both. For example, I was fairly surprised to see the Chinese nobly offer NASA the important spaceship McGuffin to go save Matt Damon in The Martian. It feels like a forced plot when using a China ex machina. In 2012, MGM altered its planned remake of the Cold War classic Red Dawn to have North Korea invade the U.S. rather than China. Nevertheless, the film was still banned in China, and the disappointing remake failed to recuperate its budget. It felt strangely disjointed in 2007 the see Orlando Bloom and company hanging out in Singapore during Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
While I really don’t have a problem with pandering to China, I think it often falls flat for storytelling purposes. Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight incorporated a Chinese subplot in a more natural way, but it is exceptional in that it is an exception to the trend.
Ultimately, the best way to make a successful movie is not appealing to a specific demographic with lazy writing and some slight nods. Instead, Hollywood should focus on storytelling and originality – something that often feels lacking in today’s industry.
Christian Bush, of Louisville, Ky., is a senior McConnell Scholar studying political science, history, and Asian studies.