The Top Ten Hollywood Movies That Suck Up To China
(©ñªª³£¥«blog) The Top Hollywood Movies That Intentionally Suck Up To China. November 17, 2009.
Ever since the reforms began in China, the country's international prowess has been growing. After the Beijing Olympics, more foreigners recognize the excellence of traditional culture of China, while the modern buildings raise the influence of China even higher. After the financial tsunami, the exceptional economic performance of China impressed foreigners. Suddenly, China has turned from a "demonized country" into a "responsible grand nation."
Meanwhile, in the movie industry, the economic downturn caused many big foreign movie companies to go into debt, even bankruptcy. But the film market in China continued to grow at an annual rate of 60% plus. The Chinese movie market is the biggest in the world and also the one with the greatest potential. So the profit-driven Hollywood movie companies are all heading to this "virgin territory" to grab market share. In order to win the hearts of the Chinese people, many Hollywood movies deliberately inject Chinese elements into their movies. So let us review which Hollywood movies have been intentionally trying to please the Chinese people!
#1: <2012>
<2012> is currently a global hit. Apart from the special computer effects in some truly astonishing scenes, this is the first time that a Hollywood movie carried a theme about how "the People's Liberation Army saved the world." There are many other Chinese elements in <2012> which were obviously intended to please China. For example, it was said that only China was capable of building the arks within the given timeframe.
#2: <Transformers 2>
There were many Chinese elements in <Transformers 2> with the movie opening in a fight across the streets of Shanghai. Unlike other foreign movies with urban Chinese scenes, <Transformers 2> did not highlight the filth and squalor. On the contrary, Shanghai is shown as a modernized metropolis in <Transformers 2>. The fawning apparently worked, because <Transformers 2> because the top grossing movie in China.
#3: <Kung Fu Panda>
Before the Beijing Olympics, the animated cartoon <Kung Fu Panda> sold more than USD 600 million in tickets worldwide. It also became the top grossing animated movie in China. Why was <Kung Fu Panda> able to succeed in China? I think it has everything to do with the promotion of Tai Chi philosophy. (Pandering worked for <Kung Fu Panda>?)
#4. <The Forbidden Kingdom>
<The Forbidden Kindom> was exhibited in mid-2008. This was clearly a movie that was made to fawn at the Chinese people and hence take the money from their pockets. For this purpose, the movie company hired two veteran Chinese movie stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Unfortunately, the movie script really sucked and the fight scenes were unexciting. But the cast of Jackie Chan and Jet Li was still able to sell 180 million yuan worth of tickets.
#5: <Mulan>
<Mulan> is an animated cartoon with Chinese elements. Actually, <Mulan> is a good movie which gave this author plenty of joy. But this animated movie that was designed to please the Chinese can only be treated as a comedy, because the director did not know enough about Chinese culture to communicate the culture of loyalty and filial piety in the historical story.
#6: <007: Tomorrow Never Dies>
I thought that <Tomorrow Never Dies> was the best of the <007> movies. In this movie, the Bond girl was not just a plaything for James Bond. The Chinese special agent played by Michelle Yeow fought alongside James Bond in Germany, Vietnam and the South China sea. The reason why I say that <Tomorrow Never Dies> sucks up to China is that the image of China is no longer a bellicose nation. Instead, China is a peace-loving country which will not tolerate its sovereignty to be violated. The Chinese special agent is also presented as an example of an excellent special agent.
#7: <The Mummy 3>
In the first two movies of <The Mummy> series, the director showed us the mysterious Egyptian culture. In <The Mummy 3>, the director moved the story background to China. During media interviews, the director said that he admires the excellent Chinese culture.
#8: <Rumble In The Bronx>
<Rumble In The Bronx> is actually a Hollywood movie that Jackie Chan made to cater to American tastes. In the movie, Jackie Chan successfully created the image of a Chinese person who is "brave, clever and righteous." By comparison, the Americans in the movie were either street thugs or lowly mafia types. Oh, there are the incompetent American policemen too. This movie would play well to the Chinese audience as well.
#9: <Pearl Harbor>
I remember that when the American pilots were being sent off to bomb Tokyo, they were told that they would have to proceed to land in China afterwards because there won't be enough fuel. They were taught how to say "I am an American" in Chinese to anyone that they see if they crash-land. This may be designed to please the Chinese, because it implies that the people in China all knew that America is their ally.
#10. <Dragonball Evolution>
Everybody knows that the movie <Dragonball Evolution> was based upon the classical Japanese animated cartoon. In order to pander to the Chinese market, the movie hired Chinese actors such as Chow Yun Fat and the Chinese director James Wong.
