How do you feel about films like Dreamworks' Abominable? (AKA Chinese influence in cinema)

[Boogiepop]

Edit: This thread was based on poor, shallow thinking on my part. I apologize, but I'll leave this post as is, so as not to simply try to erase the mistake.

So right now, Chinese influence on American companies is a hot topic thanks to South Park and the Blizzard incident, which brought this movie I saw a little bit ago back to the forefront of my mind for a second there: Abominable from Dreamworks.

Now, when I saw it, the whole group I was with found it highly enjoyable, and I also found it easily on the upper tier of Dreamworks movies... but I didn't know how to feel about the fact that it had Chinese influence all over it, and the journey undertaken by the characters is in a lot of ways like a tourism ad for China, showing off the beauty and wonder of the country and like. That's not all the movie is, of course, and my first reaction was actually some serious appreciation for the minority cast breaking free of Hollywood bs... but as it went along, there was more and more of that feeling of "this feels like it's really pandering to China."

And I guess my question is, is a movie going "wow, look how wonderous China can be?" really acceptable when considering the Chinese regime and the horrible things they do?

 

[It’s Time To Go]

I saw the trailer for it in the cinema and didn't think it was particularly influenced by China.

 

[dancingphlower]

I just thought it was a cute movie that happened to feature a Chinese protagonist tbh

 

[WillyFive]

This is a common thing that happens with any big budget movie that will depend on China to make up its money. The latest Transformers movies did the same thing, not to mention stuff like Pacific Rim 2, the Meg, and others.

 

[J-Tier]

The yeti is kind of a Himalayan thing yeah? Though I haven't seen the movie. But I'm sure they're catering to the Chinese market to a degree.

 

[mjc]

There's been a steady Chinese influence on a lot of big Hollywood studio movies recently, and it likely won't stop.

In light of events in HK, it certainly takes on a different light. I'm not exactly sure how to feel about about atm.

 

[Deleted member 4614]

Listen, movies about America abound. They're not explicit endorsements of American government..

 

[Teenage Fansub]

You don't have to go to something that obvious to see China's influence. I'd estimate a third of American movies I've seen in the last few years had Chinese production company logos at the top.

The most surprising one was this modest thriller called The Gift.

edit: To be fair, some of those were probably HK companies. Not sure which are which.

 

[Chairmanchuck (另一个我)]

I think it depends on how its done.

If someone really wants to show China and their culture, its fine, as long as it wont feature political content/propaganda.

 

[Gentlemen]

Isn't this film mostly driven by a message of moderately anti-corporate wildlife conservation? That's the vibe the trailers give.
Unless the text of the film is explicitly invoking CPC propaganda this seems like nothing at all to be worried about.

 

[Violet]

Not gonna lie some of the anti-Chinese paranoia in threads like these (and holy shit every Epic thread) really borders on weird racism.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

You can just use your fucking brain. You know what kind of Chinese influence is obviously bad? Pressuring companies to remove people for criticizing the Chinese government. You know what kind of Chinese influence is innocuous? An animated film about Chinese family life.

Some of you are starting to sound like McCarthyites.

 

[Potterson]

Unfortunately nothing can be done about it because most people don't and won't care. Many TV/movie/game companies will want to appeal to Chinese market in that way. Hell, look how great it worked for Total War: Three Kingdoms. Look at all the GaaS titles having events based on Chinese holidays etc. But yeah, it's more noticable in Hollywood right now. Remember The Great Wall?

It wouldn't be a bad thing if China wasn't an authoritarian country...

And is it really "not at all bad thing"? It is after all trying to show one country only from the good sides and not even mention the horrible stuff. We will never get a movie about Tibet anymore. Or Muslim treatment in China. Some Taiwanese game was pulled of Steam last year cause it had Winnie the Pooh meme in it ffs.

 

[Deleted member 135]

I haven't seen the film myself but I've hated the trend of many films in the last decade to randomly set a pivotal scene in China, lionizing the Chinese government and military, or avoiding taking stances on social issues to ensure that they can be distributed in the PRC.

 

[FernandoRocker]

Not gonna lie some of the anti-Chinese paranoia in threads like these (and holy shit every Epic thread) really borders on weird racism.

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Seriously. Era's attitude towards China is borderline racist.

 

[AlteredBeast]

Not gonna lie some of the anti-Chinese paranoia in threads like these (and holy shit every Epic thread) really borders on weird racism.

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???

China is one of the worst offenders of human rights violations on the planet right now.

 

[Violet]

???

China is one of the worst offenders of human rights violations on the planet right now.

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So is Israel, it doesn't mean that you should be looking for secret Jewish messages in Children's movies.

 

[Teenage Fansub]

If you want to see a great Chinese/Hollywood co-produced movie that is all the way humanist and not really complimentary of the country, see The Farewell.


Of course it's not the highest profile thing, so probably isn't under all that much political scrutiny.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

???

China is one of the worst offenders of human rights violations on the planet right now.

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Yes, and you can acknowledge and criticize that without handwringing about an animated movie set in China.

 

[Deleted member 6263]

You can just use your fucking brain.

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Fair point, and a good reminder for outside the context of this thread.

 

[SweetVermouth]

I hate it.
Three movies come to my mind immediately:

The Meg, which was the least offensive still and I mildly enjoyed it.
Skyscraper, which was so bad I turned it off right before the climax of the movie.
And Escape Plan 2 which... ah just fuck this movie. I would have actually maybe enjoyed it if it was a 100% chinese film, but I was in because I wanted a sequel to the original and not this.

 

[Deleted member 11413]

So is Israel, it doesn't mean that you should be looking for secret Jewish messages in Children's movies.

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Seriously, wtf is even going on here. the entire premise of this thread is baffling.

 

[LosDaddie]

Was it as blatant as The Great Wall?

I had to turn the movie off due to the blatant propaganda.

 

[Doctoglethorpe]

Listen, movies about America abound. They're not explicit endorsements of American government..

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The difference being America doesn't ban movies like China does. Hollywood appeals to American people, not government. In China they appeal to the government not the people.

 

[Van Bur3n]

Things can be Chinese and not relate back to the glorification of the Chinese government. This stigma towards everything Chinese is starting to get out of hand.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Movies have always been influenced by state actors.

 

[Deleted member 2761]

Haha, oh wow.

Up next: does the existence of people of Chinese descent in our gaming forum really acceptable when considering the Chinese regime and the horrible things they do?

 

[Finale Fireworker]

This question doesn't make any sense.

China is the most populous country in the world with centuries of traditions and history. Its people and its culture are worth celebrating. "China" is not the problem. Chinese people, Chinese culture, and Chinese stories are not a problem. You are conflating the actions of an oppressive government regime, whose greatest victims are its own people, with the entirety of China's culture and population. This is preposterous.

This sort of scaremongering and obfuscation of what people actually have a problem with (re: an oppressive and authoritarian regime) is not insightful. I imagine it is also very hurtful to Chinese people, or people of Chinese descent, to have to contend with concerns of "Chinese influence" because somebody made a well-received movie about people from their region.

This sort of paranoia is really unflattering. Chinese people are victims, survivors, and protestors, dude, not enemies. Let them have a nice movie.

 

[kvetcha]

If you want to see a great Chinese/Hollywood co-produced movie that is all the way humanist and not really complimentary of the country, see The Farewell.


Of course it's not the highest profile thing, so probably isn't under all that much political scrutiny.

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(really great movie)

 

[dancingphlower]

If you want to see a great Chinese/Hollywood co-produced movie that is all the way humanist and not really complimentary of the country, see The Farewell.


Of course it's not the highest profile thing, so probably isn't under all that much political scrutiny.

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More people need to see The Farewell! One of the best movies of the year.

 

[meowdi gras]

Gotta admit, I had that thought when that Karate Kid remake with Jackie Chan came out several years ago. After watching it, my stepdaughter was all like "I so wanna go to China!" Lol

 

[Violet]

The difference being America doesn't ban movies like China does. Hollywood appeals to American people, not government. In China they appeal to the government not the people.

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You're really posting about some shit you don't really understand man.

 

[Teenage Fansub]

There are those in the Chinese film making industry who are able to get critical films out, even if they may not get past the local censors.

 

[Javier23]

???

China is one of the worst offenders of human rights violations on the planet right now.

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And the American government just enabled the genocide of one of its most reliable allies in the fight against their prime foreign enemy. Not to mention the concentration camps in the southern border. And I'm not starting threads about the cliché of how like half of Hollywood's output is pro-American jingoistic bullshit.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

It's nothing new. Iron Man 3 had an extended cut only for China. It's unfortunate and I hope there's some mounting pressure for it to stop, but money talks.

 

[Jroc]

Worst pandering by far has to be Transformers Age of Extinction.

Movie randomly jumps to Hong Kong in the final act and has random cuts to government people in Beijing saying how the mainland will defend them.

 

[Doctoglethorpe]

You're really posting about some shit you don't really understand man.

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Ok then explain it to me

 

[Chairmanchuck (另一个我)]

There are those in the Chinese film making industry who are able to get critical films out, even if they may not get past the local censors.

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For some reason most of Han Hans movies are really popular in China and also run there and are really anti-government for the most part.

 

[Javier23]

Ok then explain it to me

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Or maybe help yourself develop some critical sense and do the research yourself.

 

[FernandoRocker]

???

China is one of the worst offenders of human rights violations on the planet right now.

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But when America does it, it's freedom*, right?
*Restrictions apply.

 

[Toxi]

...You're worried an animated movie about the fucking yeti is set in Tibet.

 

[Illusion]

I just thought it was a cute movie that happened to feature a Chinese protagonist tbh

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That's what I thought.

 

[Teenage Fansub]

For some reason most of Han Hans movies are really popular in China and also run there and are really anti-government for the most part.

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Ah. Okay. I thought I saw articles about it being denied release at the time.

 

[Doctoglethorpe]

Or maybe help yourself develop some critical sense and do the research yourself.

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If your gonna tell someone they are wrong it's on you to tell them why.

 

[Chairmanchuck (另一个我)]

Ah. Okay. I thought I saw articles about it being denied release at the time.

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It was denied at first but a few years later found its way on Tencent Video etc:

https://baike.baidu.com/item/天注定/1095784?fr=aladdin

 

[Violet]

Ok then explain it to me

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China has the biggest film audience in the world. Even a cursory glance at what movies do well in China are specifically geared towards movie-going audiences in the same way American films do. Comedies, crime movies, thrillers, action, sci-fi, fantasy....... there are tons of popcorn flicks coming out every year. There are certainly concessions to censorship in some films at some levels, but the idea that the biggest film industry on Earth is catering only to the government and not uhhhhhhh a billion people who live there and actually see them is completely absurd.

And the idea that America is completely free of that type of censorship is complete bullshit, the American government throws around it's influence in Hollywood all the time. Films like Zero Dark Thirty and Captain Marvel traded resources for a positive portrayal of the US military. X-Men First Class ran a co-opted campaign with the Army. Top Gun was co-produced by The Pentagon!


From a WaPo article about Top Gun's influence on modern American cinema:

As Mace Neufeld, the producer of the 1990 film "The Hunt for Red October," later recounted to Variety, studios in the post-"Top Gun" era instituted an unstated rule telling screenwriters and directors to get military cooperation "or forget about making the picture." Economics drives that directive, Time magazine reported in 1986. "Without such billion-dollar props, producers [have to] spend an inordinate amount of time and money searching for substitutes" and therefore might not be able to make the movie at all, the magazine noted.


Emboldened by Hollywood's obsequiousness, military officials became increasingly blunt about how they deploy the carrot of subsidized hardware and the stick of denied access to get what they want. Strub described the approval process to Variety in 1994: "The main criteria we use is . . . how could the proposed production benefit the military . . . could it help in recruiting [and] is it in sync with present policy?"

Robert Anderson, the Navy's Hollywood point person, put it even more clearly to PBS in 2006: "If you want full cooperation from the Navy, we have a considerable amount of power, because it's our ships, it's our cooperation, and until the script is in a form that we can approve, then the production doesn't go forward."

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[DorkLord54]

Not gonna lie some of the anti-Chinese paranoia in threads like these (and holy shit every Epic thread) really borders on weird racism.

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This. What the Chinese does and has done in a whole range of topics - namely its treatment of Uighyurs, political dissidents, and HK - can and should be openly criticised, and the Chinese influence on Hollywood can be a negative in some regards (namely due to their stance on displaying certain things - namely LGBTQ themes - in media, but - like with manufacturing and IP theft - these companies do so because they find the Chinese market a more lucrative endeavour than meaningful social justice stances, and could easily just not try and get their films shown in China, so the problem is more on the studios' end than China's), but this is weirdly paranoid. I'm also going to guess that - like with the old Soviet and Eastern Bloc film industries - most Chinese films aren't propaganda.

Things can be Chinese and not relate back to the glorification of the Chinese government. This stigma towards everything Chinese is starting to get out of hand.

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Bruh, the US military literally helped fund the Transformers films, and has had a hand in advising the CoD games. American entertainment is seen as just as much a vector for propaganda by the US govt as it is by any govt.

 

[Deleted member 4452]

This is borderline yellow peril

 

[Elfotografoalocado]

Maybe we should go back to representing China and Chinese people like this.

China is a (very) big country with an authoritarian government. It's not the only country with an authoritarian government in the world where atrocities happen, but this kind of paranoia and downright racism only happens with China.

 

[Grouch Douglass]

This is not a big deal, China is a beautiful country. What would be a big deal is if LGBT characters start getting wrote out of films that show in China. Right now they edit a lot of that stuff out, but China could take the stance that they don't want these characters shown across the whole world and some studios may comply.