从电影《画皮》和《暮光之城》比较中西方“鬼文化”的异同

李青芮

（四川工商学院外国语学院，四川 眉山 620000）

1 Introduction

In recent years,fantasy films represented by the series of films such as Painted Skin and Twilight have brought a magical trend to the world with their exquisite imagination,grand narrative framework,and visually impactful image features.These films have brought the audience into a world that has never been touched before with their exquisite pictures and lifelike special effects.This article will take these two films as examples to discuss in depth the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western Ghost Culture behind the trend of fantasy films.

1.1 The definition of fantasy films

What kind of movie is a fantasy movie? Does it include cartoons with children’s themes? Is the zombie series of Hong Kong Lam Ching Ying fantasy films? Why can Painted Skin be a typical text of fantasy films? We can generalize it like this.Fantasy films must meet two conditions:Firstly,the story is conceived generally using fantasy techniques,and must be about fantasy,superpowers and other things that do not exist in reality;secondly,big-budget productions are required,such as a strong cast,and the use of computers,stunts,magnificent senses,etc.Fantasy films are also based on imagination and magic,comprehensively using factors such as folklore,myths and legends,and literary allusions.A story that could not happen before,now,and in the future is filmed in the form of roleplaying and using advanced special effects technology[1].

1.2 The characteristics of fantasy films

In the Western language,the word “fantasy” can be tracked back to the Greek word “phantasias”[2],literally refers to the image created.In the Xinhua Dictionary,the word “魔” has two interpretations.The first refers to the ghosts in religion or myths,and also refers to evil people.The other refers to strange and unusual things or phenomena.When the words “魔” and“幻” are combined together,it is to highlight the magical imagination.

Many of the artistic images are processed through people’s artistic imagination.The world in the Magical fantasy should be regarded as an artistic fantasy,which can help people understand the social reality environment more objectively,uniquely,in-depth and comprehensively,and understand the subtle and complex relationships and personalities between the microscopic humans themselves.Sci-fi films,as the name suggests,are “science fiction films”[4].

They are feature films with science fiction as the content.Their basic feature is to start from the scientific principles and scientific achievements known today,and make fantasy about the future world or scenes in the distant past description.Generally speaking,the scenes of fantasy films are relatively grand,and the themes of the stories are generally combined with supernatural and unpredictable things or ideas.Therefore,people often confuse magic with science fiction.However,science fiction films and fantasy films are different forms of expression of film art,and science fiction films and the fantasy films discussed in this article are two completely different concepts.Science fiction films are materialistic,insisting on the primary of matter,imaging from the perspective of science,and discussing the impact of the development of science and technology or unknown things in the universe on human beings and human society.The fantasy films insist on the primary of consciousness.It mostly describes things that are supernatural and invisible in real life.

2 Comparison of Chinese and Western fantasy films

The culture of a country or even a small region will be influenced by its history and other aspects.Conversely,when we deeply study the history and other aspects of a region,we can also infer its cultural differences and similarities from this.When we want to know more about the differences and similarities between Chinese and Western Ghost Cultures,we can often explore from their history.

2.1 Similarities in “Ghost Culture” between China and the West

Culture is a kind of historical phenomenon,which develops along with the development of social material production.Although the main countries of China and the West are located in different regions,their social development processes are roughly the same.They all originated from primitive societies and entered modern society after being baptized by slave society and feudal society.Therefore,they have some cultural similarities.The Chinese and Western ghost culture,which is a shared culture between China and the West,also has its similarities.

(1)Similarities in definition

According to the Chinese Etymology Dictionary and the Longman Dictionary,the Chinese and Westerners’understandings of ghosts are similar,they both refer to the reappearance of the soul after death.Ghost culture mean the culture of ghosts,which refers to the sum of the material and spiritual wealth of ghosts created in the course of human social and historical practice.From the perspective of the origin of the word “ghost”,the interpretations of the word are same both at home and abroad.From the emotional point of view,ghosts represent a kind of good wishes of people to a certain extent,and both Chinese and Western ghosts have good and evil sides.For example,the fox spirit represented by Xiao Wei recorded in The Strange Tales of Liao Zhai,although they are ghosts,some of them are kind-hearted,and they also yearn for beautiful love.There is no lack of such images in Western literary works.For example,in Twilight,the Karen family will also fight with the Volturi family in order to protect Bella.It can be seen that both in China and the West,there are certain similarities in the understanding of the word “ghost”.

(2)Similarities in fear

Whether it is the Chinese nation or the West,people in the past regarded ghosts as horrible things.This is because in the primitive period,people’s productivity level was extremely low,scientific knowledge was lacking,and people in that time were very ignorant.When the primitive people faced the threat of disease and death,they could not make a reasonable explanation,so they naturally believed that these were controlled by a very mysterious and powerful force.For example,the ability of ancient people to transform nature was relatively low.At that time,people had not invented candles or electric bulbs,so people had a fear of darkness.Therefore,people think that ghosts appear at night because there is no light at night.In The Strange Tales of Liao Zhai,people always encounter fox spirits or female ghosts at night.This can also be understood from the side that people are afraid of unknown things,which promotes the emergence of ghost culture.

2.2 Different origins and themes of the two “Ghost Cultures”

The second world created by human fantasy is consistent with culture.When film creators make a fantasy work,no matter how brilliant and imaginative,their work will definitely be affected by the historical origin and the theme of the real environment.If the story core of the novels about gods,demons and monsters constructs the body of Chinese fantasy films,then the story core of Western fantasy films is deeply influenced by the mythology of ancient Greek culture,Nordic culture and religions.

(1)The influence of ancient Chinese tales and novels

The Painted Skin film series were adapted from The Strange Tales of Liao Zhai[5].The original text is less than two thousand words and the story is very simple.It teaches people to see the essence through appearance.The film Painted Skin tells the story of a victim who was saved by a Taoist priest.It was adapted into a story of polyamorous love.Although the story is completely changed,the essence of both the original and the movie is still the same.In addition to the Painted Skin series,the stories of the movies Painted Wall and A Chinese Ghost Story also come from The Strange Tales of Liao Zhai and Nie Xiaoqian respectively.From the above analysis,we can see that the screenwriters of Chinese fantasy films often focus on the familiar stories in their creation,and expand and deepen the plot and character handling.They not only retain the magical elements and social meanings of the novel,but also add some modern ideological connotations.Therefore,Chinese fantasy films cannot be separated from the foundation of the novels of gods and demons,legends and ghosts in the field of ancient literature.

(2)The influence of European literature

From Harry Potter series of movies to Lord of the Rings Trilogy,and The Chronicles of Narnia:The Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe,to Arthur and His Mini Kingdom,these fantasy films have strong Western cultural characteristics,and certain plots of the movies often make the audience feel familiar.First of all,from the point of view of the source of the film,Hollywood’s fantasy films like Harry Potter,The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings are all adapted from novels by European writers,and the British female writer Rowling’s Harry Porter series novels is the blueprint of the Hollywood’s film Harry Potter;the film The Chronicles of Narnia is adapted from the fantasy children’s literature of the same name written by British writer Louis in the era;the Lord of the Rings series of films are adapted from the epic fantasy novel of Tolkien,a professor and linguist at Oxford University in the United Kingdom,the novel is recognized as the originator of modern fantasy literature.

2.3 Different views on death

Chinese people always abstain from the word “death”,and try to avoid even numbers that are homophonic with death,because we believe that the word “death” is bad luck,and we are so taboo about this word alone,let alone facing death itself.In the end,our mentality of facing death is fearful,disgusting and avoiding,but ultimately helpless.Some Chinese are afraid of death and long to live longer.We sometimes worship immortality,even emperor Qin Shi Huang and emperor Han Wu Di are no exception.That’s because we don’t want to let go of the affection,friendship,love,wealth,and honor we have in the world.It can be said that we long for a permanent sense of existence and pleasure.However,death is objectively inevitable,so it becomes eternal helpless[7].

Facing death,the attitude of Westerners is different from ours to some extent,because they have a broader religious foundation,no matter whether they believe in Christianity,Catholicism or Islam,they all have one thing in common,that is,they all believe in God.So they almost instinctively and spontaneously believe in the existence of God.At the same time,they also firmly believe in the corresponding savior,like demon Satan,heaven,hell,angels,etc.This whole system also exists among all things in the universe.God’s religious system tells believers that death is inevitable,but it is an intermediate link in the transition from the real material world to the mysterious future world after the spiritual body is free from the shackles of the physical body.It is the power of this deep-rooted religion that has eased Westerners’ fear of death to a considerable extent.For Westerners,death is not the end of life,because life will continue to exist in another form.Therefore,death for Westerners is like finishing their first job and then doing another job without worrying about the eternal emptiness.In terms of cemetery culture,there is also a sharp contrast between Chinese and Westerners.Moreover,in the eyes of Chinese people,cemeteries are evil places.Even if we bury our closest family members or friends,besides cherishing and thinking,we actually have another emotion,that is,nameless fear.But in the West,people think that the cemetery is the closest place to God.They often use the cemetery as a park,where they can listen to the voice of God and feel the breath of God[8].

2.4 Different views on heroism

Heroism refers to the worship towards heroes.We always long for a great hero to save ourselves or this society or even the entire universe.The heroism temptation has always been the main theme of history.There is no doubt that we worship heroes.In our impression,the heroes are always superior,they represent strength,power and justice.Therefore,the film and television industry are also keen to meet our sensory needs,with the help of visual impact to show us a wonderful heroic face,let us seek heroic dreams in narcissism.Although both China and the West describe heroism,there are huge differences.

(1)National heroic feelings in Chinese fantasy collective heroism

The heroes in Chinese films have different characteristics.Since many heroes in Chinese traditional culture exist in collective form,the heroes in Chinese magic movies often embody a sense of stability and peace in the world.Due to the influence of Confucianism and the historical fact that the Chinese nation has been invaded by foreigners for a long time,the nation itself also has a sense of self-esteem.But this kind of self-esteem is different from the self-esteem of Americans.American self-esteem is innate;while the self-esteem of Chinese people is slowly groped and learned from disasters.This is by no means a kind of pride,but a national spirit of selfimprovement.Behind this sense of self-esteem is the humiliation history of thousands of Chinese descendants of inferiority.Therefore,in the subconscious of every Chinese,we are impulse to fight against foreign enemies,which not only makes us hate the enemies,but also makes us remember the history.Therefore,in Painted Skin,Huo Xin was designed by the director and producer with Huo Qubing as the prototype.He did not fear hardship and made great achievements for the court.This point reflects the patriotic feelings of heroes in Chinese fantasy films.

(2)Individual heroism in Western fantasy films

The two most distinctive Hollywood movies are disaster movies and fantasy films.The bizarre magical world and unbelievable magical displayed in fantasy films often explore the secret connection between man and nature,and life,even the relationship between people.When we carefully compare the heroes in Chinese and Western fantasy films,we can find that due to differences in economy,system,and culture,our descriptions of magic heroes are also very different.Henry Kissinger,the famous American diplomat and former Secretary of State,said,“Americans have a special appreciation for the cowboy who takes the lead in a motorcade,the cowboy who enters a village or town alone.He may not have so much as a pistol,for he went in not for the sake of a flaming man”[9].A very important part of American culture is individualism.Americans’ advocacy of individual existence and development and free space are well known.So Americans weave all kinds of magical hero myths in the Hollywood magic movie kingdom.These all-powerful heroes entrust Americans’ confidence.The various cultural values promoted in the movie reflect the value of Western culture.The concept of cultural value of species propagated in the film sets out the values of Western people,and determines all kinds of desires and needs of people.It advocates a person to fight and to release.

2.5 The dedication of the protagonists to love

It’s not difficult to find that the protagonists’ attitude towards love.Edward and Xiao Wei have a lot in common.They are both supernatural and then fall in love with human beings.In the end of the two films,the fate of the two protagonists are very different:the former obtained a perfect ending of “living a happy life” that Western fairy tales are accustomed to,the latter suffers hardship for love but hardly obtains good fruits and finally sacrifices for love.Although their endings in the movies are not the same,the love stories in the two movies have deeply moved the audience.Xiao Wei and Edward,one is a thousandyear fox spirit,the other is a vampire.Maybe their love paths are different,but they are all eager to get love,and they are also willing to give everything to the person they love.

At the beginning of the film,Xiao Wei dug out a bloody human heart.The scene is so cruel,but she was indifferent and even enjoyed it.This innate demon nature is almost impossible to be tamed.Humans and demons are theoretically incompatible.But the appearance of Wang Sheng changed everything.From the moment she was saved by Wang Sheng,Xiao Wei was deeply attracted by Wang Sheng’s heroism and followed him into human life.Xiao Wei started her new life in the palace.After seeing Wang Sheng’s wife Pei Rong,Xiao Wei could not accept that the person he loved got married,even though the fact is that their love stories happened before she knew him.After seeing the love between Wang Sheng and Pei Rong,Wang Sheng’s thoughtfulness and Pei Rong’s generosity and decency,a strong jealousy made Xiao Wei determined to destroy the lives of Wang Sheng and his wife.She used her beauty and foxspirit charm to get close to Wang Sheng and isolate Pei Rong,creating a gap between them.Then she had a stronger and crazy thought,and that was to replace Pei Rong as Mrs.Wang.Xiao Wei confessed her true feelings to Wang Sheng,but was rejected by him.Even the most emotional tears did not break Wang Sheng’s moral defense and loyalty to love.Out of despair and anger,Xiao Wei’s demon nature was completely released.She framed Pei Rong and forced Pei Rong to go.She had thought that as long as Pei Rong was gone,she would receive Wang Sheng’s love.At this time,Xiao Wei’s view of love is still very simple and straightforward.It is still the view of love in demon’s world.She couldn’t be as good at hiding her thoughts as Pei Rong,nor was she as generous as her.In Painted Skin,in order to be with the one she loves,people do not hesitate to turn into monsters;in order to be a human to smell the fragrance of flowers,the monsters do not hesitate to lose their lives.Whether they are human or Demon,both of them couldn’t get out of the entanglement between love and hatred.But Xiao Wei’s role is the most thought-provoking[10].

3 Phenomenon reflected by different “Ghost Cultures”

Different cultural backgrounds will inevitably lead to cultural differences.When we take Twilight and Painted Skin as representatives of Chinese and Western fantasy films and conduct an in-depth analysis of them,it is not difficult to discover the different cultural phenomena they reflect.

3.1 “Human nature” surpasses “Demonic nature” in Chinese fantasy films

The Painted Skin series films take Pu Songling’s short magical literature into a subversive imagination,and is adapted into a love story that highlights ethics and morality.In the film,the emotional entanglement between Wang Sheng played by Chen Kun,Pei Rong,played by Zhao Wei,and the “Nine Millennium Fox spirit” played by Zhou Xun,is also the game between human relations and human nature.When the real culprit was finally discovered,the remorseful Wang Sheng chose to hug Pei Rong to die,while Xiao Wei sacrificed herself for true love and saved everyone.The director of the film Painted Skin is so cruel to Xiao Wei.Xiao Wei metaphorically represents the marginal people in life to some extent.The prejudice,negligence,and ambiguity of the marginal role in the weak position in the film story setting inadvertently convey to the audience the lack of humanistic spirit of the film.Not surprisingly,in films such as A Chinese Ghost Story,Legend of the White Snake,and Painted Wall,heterogeneous characters such as Nie Xiaoqian and Bai Suzhen can hardly escape the tragic fate of making sacrifices for love,for the overall situation,and for heaven.

In this movie,the role of Xiao Wei is the most thoughtprovoking character.At the beginning,Xiao Wei can’t be called a subject in human society.She is an “outcast” outside the mainstream social ideology.In the film,she does not represent any social ideology.She is completely self-contained,the embodiment of the highest self-conscious spirit.However,Xiao Wei was influenced by the love and ethics of human society and “dedicated herself to love” just like Pei Rong,becoming a great woman.As the heroine in the Painted Skin,Xiao Wei is not a human character,and has also experienced changes in personality from heartless to affectionate to be to give up.No matter Bai Suzhen in Tale of The White Snake or Xiao Wei in Painted Skin,the characters’ personalities presented by these non-human images are not unchanged.With the development of the plot,they are constantly changing to present a more comprehensive and three-dimensional character image,but they all have a common feature.It is that human nature will eventually triumph over the devil.There are too many good monsters in Chinese fantasy films.They are just like ordinary people.They have both evil side and good side.Accordingly,the theme of Chinese fantasy films is not binary opposition,nor the struggle between good and evil.All these convey the theme idea of using the great love of the human world to influence everything in the world.

3.2 The compromise of human nature and demonic nature of Western fantasy films

The love between Edward and Bella is the main thread of Twilight.Edward said to Bella,“When you can live forever,what will you live for? If I want anything in this world,it will only be the same something,that’s you”[11].It can be said that Edward has already possessed immortality,superpowers,wealth,wisdom,and harmonious ethnicity and sense of belonging that ordinary people can hardly possess.Now his ultimate pursuit is Bella.In order to achieve this self-realization need,Edward himself took this approach:like a knight in modern society,he always respects and protects Bella.The Edward family has gone through a battle with the werewolf family,fighting with the stalker James the vampire and the vampire army,and even negotiating and fighting with the royal vampire Volturi family.Their family of vampires is not just a portrayal of characters,they are also a representative of a group.They already have the ability to live forever.Because of their different nature,invisible walls have been blocking between the two protagonists,but mutual attraction makes them finally break through all kinds of obstacles.Family support is also a hidden thread.Finally,Edward and Bella live a happy life together.A compromise point has been reached between humanity and demoniac nature.The protagonist Bella is a calm,quiet,independent middle school student image appears in the story.And the series of behaviors are choices that she makes in her own self-consciousness.First of all,she knows that humans and vampires are not allowed to fall in love with each other,which goes against the social reality.However,because of her pursuit of love,she can’t help leaning to Edward,even though her heart is very painful and tangled.But in the end,she chose to follow her heart and marry Edward.She insists that every life in the world is worth cherishing,so she risk her own life to give birth to her lovely daughter.In this movie,we see people and vampires compromise and sacrifice for each other.

4 Conclusion

By comparing the two films and similar fantasy films in recent years,we found that there are similarities in the definition and fear,also differences in the story source,themes,the local culture behind the magical temperament,death temptation,heroism,etc.If literary works from different sources build the flesh and blood of Chinese and Western fantasy films,then the Chinese and Western culture behind the literary works is its worthy spiritual soul.Chinese traditional culture has always been a relatively broad concept.It is a combination of moral inheritance and cultural spiritual forms in the history of the Chinese nation.Chinese traditional culture,like a gene,is deeply embedded in the hearts of every Chinese people and has become an inseparable part,imperceptibly influencing the way of thinking and behavior of everyone.And heroism,the glory of humanity is always promoted and valued.Therefore,we can usually find that the Chinese fantasy films under the general theme are the triumph of humanity over demons after all.At the same time,the Western fantasy movies also show us the different results of their love across the race.I think the audience’s feeling when watching the two movies should be very different.The different endings may not be completely out of the whim of today’s directors or producers,but they are also deeply influenced by history and culture,which makes these films more charming and thought-provoking.