How Do Western Film Makers Represent China in the Contemporary Era？

刘佳妮

【Abstract】In the history of western films， the appearance of Chinese or China once were and continuously are familiar parts of its audiences. The western films though present China in a various way， however， in most cases， particularly the years before 21 centuries， the images of China and Chinese usually were presented distortedly. Western films， especially Hollywood films， as the important media forms of its culture， reflect its ideological messages to a large extent. Orientalism， post-colonialism， those are the main streams of thoughts that apply to the images of people other than westerns in the western films.

With the development of cultures and other aspects of the society， ideology changes so as to when it comes to the field of making films.It is， however， hard to remain the images of China as stable as usual in the eyes of western filmmakers. This thesis takesthe two important concepts of attitudes Orientalism and post-colonialism as a starting point to draw attention to the notion of westerners towards east. The studyaims to figure out the images of China in the contemporary era through the selecting fourfilmsmade after the year of 2000 by western filmmaker.

【Key Words】Orientalism；Post-colonialism；Hollywood

1.Introduction

Western entertainment and culture such as films have wide influence around the world. In recent years， a growing number of Chinese faces as well as Chinese traditional elements have appeared on the screens in western films. Hollywood， for example， rises its interesting in Chinese presence in films since 1997 （Chan， 2009）. Chinese film stars with Chinese directors feature Hollywood films and Hollywood-infected films （Chan， 2009： 7）. Meanwhile， the globalizing effects of Hollywoods hegemony have made those Films that even made in and released in theatres in Asia but carryingon the potential to enter the US market （Chan， 2009： 7）. Chan （2009） points out the impact of globalisations insert in films are the cooperation between multinational and transnational corporations made it difficult to label films in strictly national terms. Chinese presences in Hollywood face up challenges. “The booming of wuxiapian and Chinese action cinema throughout the world stimulates Hollywoods offering of crime action genre” （Chan， 2009： 31）. Hollywoods responds to Chinese crime action genre， the way they put it into global or local domain， relates to the discourses of American race relations. Major cultural， social， legal and religious changes take their effects on Hollywood （Bernstein， 2000）. Screening difference takes on a fascinating voyage through major movie blockbusters that deal with the encounter between us， based on white Hollywood， and the filmic representations of other races， ethnicities， and cultures by looking at subtle orientations in casting and make-up， sets and props， lighting and camera movements， music and language， from romantic movies to colonial adventures.

Above all， the development of European countries and therefore its policies towards non-western countriesbecome the base of studying orientalism， post-colonial studies， and intercultural studies. However， the point of view came from the Americans， representing in the forms of film studies is shortly circulated. This thesis aims to work through some of these problems. Different meanings of the terms orientalism， post-colonial studies， intercultural studies and the controversies around them will first be discussed. Then by introducing the history and backgrounds of film， particularly focus on the Hollywood films that contain important Chinese elements， connection will be made between film studies and key debates on orientalism， post-colonial studies and intercultural studies， showing why these studies become necessary in relation to film studies， including the vision of the west and the representation of Chinese images in films.

2.Case Study

（一）Freaky Friday （Walt Disney， 2003）

Freaky Friday （Walt Disney， 2003） is a comedy film which tells a fantasy story between mom and daughter. They shift their body and have an incredible experience of each others life for one day. After that， they come to get close to each other again.

The image of China in this film is mainly presented by two Chinese restaurantwaitresses and the Chinese restaurant they mangers. Those images the filmmaker tries to present can be described as mystery， old， traditional， crowded， complex， kind hearted， cunning and funny. The filmmaker first demonstrates the image of the mysterious China and Chinese. Peipeis mum （the Chinese old lady） owns mysterious“fortune” cookies which can shift peoples body， shift to， but not shift back. The image of Peipeis mother is the representation of a mysterious Chinese. The scene relates to this part of story happened in a Chinese restaurant， with the dark colour and mysterious music to emphasize the mystery atmosphere.

The film also presents theimages of kind-hearted， （over） enthusiastic of Chinese： Peipei and her mum appear one minute 39 seconds in the total one and half an hour length film. However， the old lady and her fortune cookies are the most important plots in the movie that represent the mystery oriental power of China thus provide a reasonable chance for body change for the whole story. The old lady did this for good will， to help them to compromise and feel the real selfless love from each other. Starring as comic roles， the two Chinese characters in the movie played as funny daughter and mother. In contrast to the American mother and daughter， the Chinese mother seems to be naughtier and happy to play mischief， while her daughter is more rational and make herself a good business woman； meanwhile she has to watch her mom not to make any more mischiefs.

The image of hardworking， cunning， sharp-sighted image of Chinese： Peipei and her mum are working class in this movie. Apart from the goodwill and kind-hearted Chinese image the film tries to present， Peipeis mum surly makes amischief. When the protagonists found something wrong and come back to the restaurant to ask for a switching immediately， Peipeis mum is trying to escape. Whereas Peipei tries to give 10% discount for the wedding catering of the protagonists which is not even plan to be in the Chinese restaurant to make up for the protagonist. This scene vividly presents the image of a Chinese businesswoman， the woman who is working hard and smart to run her restaurant. The image of Chinese female character especially Peipei is a in this film is an embodiment of strong， enthusiastic， hardworking and independent Chinese working class woman.

（二）2012 （Columbia： 2009）

2012（Columbia： 2009） tells a science fiction story happened in the year 2012， when the world comes to its end. It surrounds the experience of the protagonistJackson Curtis family and presents the struggle of the people all over the world when the doom day comes. The only way to keep the human race is to board on the ship “arks”to escape the impending catastrophe. After ensuring the information， Curtis struggles to save his family to flee to China.

Chinese people in this film take responsibilities of constructing the arks which are secretly built to ensure human race by the decision of leaders from every countries in 2010. These arks are constructed at Cho Ming， Tibet； in the southwest Chinese Himalayas under the guise of building a dam. The image of Chinese becomes the rescuer of the human beings. Even the Americans government officers wonder at the power of Chinese people of building a marvelous project when they arrive in arks. It is the growing development of China and its statues in the world give the western filmmaker a chance or courage to present the modern China in this way. Plusthe largest population China has， it makes the whole story based on a kind possibility to build the arks. A good film roots in the reality and shall also keep up the changed dominate ideology people unconsciously receive.

The traditional religion of China， believe in Buddhism and the connotation of Zen are also presented by the western filmmaker. Apart from a scope of Tibets scenery and custom， the film focalizes on the Zenism of Buddhism in Tibet. Two Lama talk about the essence of life and express the peaceful and calm attitude in front of the difficulties. The scene here represents the Buddhisms state of minds to pursue the peace of the soul； this kind of state of mind is accumulate from Chinas long histories and roots in its deep culture. A Buddhist Lama named Nima whose brother Tenzin joins the workers in the Ark project inquire his great Lama what should people do when the world is reaching to its end. The great Lama， however， pours tea out of the fulfilled tea cup， take it as a metaphor， to encourage Nima to wipe his fear and speculations out of his mind before finding thelight of hope.People from Tibet， for instance， Nimas grandma shows her state of emotional and mental detachment and kindness towards Curtis and his families.

Moreover， the film also take a shoot in the serious， extremely cautious， well- disciplined， as well as mysterious the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army. When arrived in China in a crash landing， Curtis and his families are spotted by helicopters from the Chinese army. “Welcome to the Peoples Republic of China” which is spoken by a Chinese army officer， make an illusion that the protagonists actually meet a troop of UN forces.It is spectacularto see the Chinese army isgeared to international standards. Finally， Curtis and his familiesare picked up by Nima and are taken to the arks with his grandparents. With the help of Tenzin， they stow away on one of the arks and finally survived.Although it can hardly say that the Zenism is the theme of the film， whereas the spirit and connotation it expresses are inspiring and enlightening which brings calm and tranquil in this disaster.

（三）The Painted Veil （TimeWarnar， 2006）

The Painted Veil （TimeWarnar， 2006） is a love story of British couples，who come from England to the small town in China to help to cure the epidemic there， and meanwhile to restore their affection for each other.

The main story of The Painted Veil （2006） takes place in the inland China. The story is based and developed on the novel of the British playwriter Maughams novel The Painted Veil in 1925. A heartbroken husband all the way from first Britain then Shanghai， come to the small， disease-flooded Chinese interior town to punish his unfaithful wife， and all the more to himself. The unusual perspective put the young couple into the exotic country， the couple are being watched in the film and the whole scenery of China was narrowed in that town， or to set deeply， in the eyes of Walt and Kitty. Set the whole Chinese land and its people as the background， with the two British as protagonists， the film demonstrates the Chinese culture and society more directly than ever. Through the storyline， the film emerges the image of Chinese society around two main contradictories： the conflicts between different cultural territories and the contrast within the same culture.

Since most of the scenes takes from China， only some selected typical scenes are being collected from the film due to the limited spaces and word counts. The discussion and analysis below are through the comparison between the leading character and the Chinese character in each scene.The film well presented the west “itself”， and the Chinese “otherness”， which is well-matched Said（2003）s definition of Orientalism. The West are the dominate party and has authority over the East in every aspect of the film. The West and the China are contradictory parties， where in this film China behaves as the opposite of the West. In the film， the westerns are rational and scientifical， whereas the East are superstition. Western are civilized and the opposite uncivilized are the Chinese. The images of two leading westerners are selfless， whereas the images of the Chinese characters are rude and barbaric. The West set foot in the industrial society， whereas the East remains in the agrarian society. The Westerner masters the scientific medical and geographical knowledge； while the medical in China are short in supply. The West is the active party to make every effort to stop the epidemic， whereas the Chinese are waiting to be saved by the order of the only specialist in the town. The West is noble and selfless， even regardless of their ownsafetyto save other peoples life； while the Chinese in order to save their own life ignore the potential dangerous of affecting others. The two westerners are the only characters in the films who ride the sedan chairs. Chinese as working classes are who carrying the chair. In short， the film The Painted Veil （2006） presents the contradictive between imperialists andnationalists， class exploitation and racial oppression， western religious against traditional belief： and also the internal struggle among old warlords and the new army leader.

3.Conclusion

The aim of this study is to figure out these research questions： 1） What are the images of China in the eyes of western film makers in the contemporary era？ 2） In what ways are these images being presented？ 3） Why do the film makers present these images of China in these ways？ Through the films we discussed above， it is not hard to find out that the image of China in the eyes of the westerns still remains as traditional as an ancient country staying in the year of Republic of China（1912-1949） with its remote， mystery veils. The traditional custom symbols are still their strangest way to present China. However， there are some critics believes that western filmmakers have the intention to shoot these old and traditional part to present a less development China， so as to highlight its own， the same notation of Said （2003）s self and otherness. Here I maintain that anyone who tries to look down upon its own culture shows itsno confidence and disgrace of their own. Culture is ideological and a preference of choice and film is a show which wants to please the audience and get the money. I believe it is for the love or the curiosity of Chinese culture and history thus promote western filmmakers enjoying to put some Chinese element into their movie. Chinese cultures may not be a dominate culture， not yet， but it is never something can be ignored or replaced， for our deep historical and cultural backgrounds， make it easy to be represented to the viewers say that is China， it is Chinese.

Although the uniqueness of each human being has been widely acknowledged， it is undeniable that individuals sharing same traits can be group together according to different aspects. These different aspects， for instance， race， class， gender， age， form each groups identity and finally simplify and generalize into stereotypes （Benshoff& Griffin， 2009： 7）. Loomba （2005： 55） indicates “Stereotyping involves a reduction of images and ideas to a simple and manageable form； rather than simple ignorance or lack of ‘real knowledge， it is a method of processing information.” Gilman （1985b： 18） cited in Loomba （2005： 55） implies “The function of stereotypes is to perpetuate an artificial sense of difference between ‘self and ‘other”. Whereas， the problem of stereotype is it is often regarded as truth and sometimes is used to compare and demonstrate the inequality of different groups which makes the stereotype the source of erroneous beliefs towards individuals. Those beliefs which shared and believed which is true and acceptable for the groups of people called ideology （Benshoff& Griffin， 2009： 7）. Benshoff& Griffin （2009： 13） further illustrate that cultural ideas and ideologies are influenced by media， for example， no matter what films try to present or express， as an important component of media， it may in most cases， spare no effort to enhance the ideology it represents for. However， dominate culture to great extent have more chances to present themselves， such as making a film than subculture， thus make dominate culture even stranger than ever through its impacts on media than ideology. Those dominate ideologies and following cultures gradually turn into hegemony. When relates to the territory of film， most American films reflects a dominant ideology of “white patriarchal capitalism” （Benshoff& Griffin， 2009： 10）.

Films as one of the cultural artifact and media form are a text that contains ideological messages from its producers： filmmaker and the culture. Therefore， films are representation of “reconstructed” or “mediated” versions of life （Benshoff& Griffin， 2009： 14）. The representation of certain groups or culture can be analyzed by encoding and decoding （During， 2007： 477） which refer to the two processes of making meaning of a text， in this case， messages are encoded between filmmakers and films while decoded between films and viewers. Messages from filmmakers and viewers are connect by its media： film. Apart from this， all those producers， texts， and viewers exist inside the range of culture and ideology. Thus， Benshoff& Griffin （2009： 15） argue that for film makers the main purpose of making films is entertainment and making money， not to consciously embed ideological messages. However， even without intention， the ideology has unconsciously inserted into the producers minds and their further works， because that what makes ideology receive its meaning who has unconscious effect on human thoughts. In addition， the essence of the film， as a media form， is an artistic version of the reality， which might not be far above the understanding of the society we live in. Therefore， it seems meaningless to make a judgment if it is the real intention of the filmmaker， for none of us except the maker will know， and this constitutes the premise of the research， it is unavoidable to be subjective when the author analyzes or discusses others work based on her point of view of her viewing and standing upon her own culture position， whereas， based on the unconscious dominate culture and ideology we both receive， form and affect， the result could not be removed far from the ideas of the origin.

Reference

[1]Benshoff， H. M.， & Griffin， S. （2009）. America on film： Representing race， class， gender， and sexuality at the movies. Oxford： Wiley-Blackwell.

[2]Bernstein， M. （2000）. Controlling Hollywood： Censorship and Regulation in the Studio Area.London： The Athlone Press.

[3]Chan， K. （2009）. Remade in Hollywood： the global Chinese presence in transnational cinemas. Hong Kong： Hong Kong University Press.