The Movie the World by Jia Zhangke - Essay Example

The Movie the World by Jia Zhangke The movie “Shijie” translated as “The World” in English is the product of the mind of one Jia Zhangke who is the director as well as the writer of this piece. He is known for making films which have intelligent and thought provoking content; the plots of his movies contain the political, social as well as cultural issues that the people of his country have to face but that no one seems to want to bring out in the public. Often, his stories depict such an unflattering view of the country that the government bans the films; however, that was not the case with this one. In this movie, the man portrays life of the Chinese as victims of globalization, their lives and culture having being completely affected by the influences of the world beyond, resulting in them living a life that is more made-up than real. The story is set in the capital of China, filmed in the Beijing World Park which is an actual theme park that “presents famous sites from five continents” [Jia04]. It displays “scale models of famous sites from around the world, including the Eiffel Tower and Egyptian pyramids” [Sze09]. Over here, “copies have become counterfeits and distortions while, ironically, the original no longer exists” which is the case with America’s Twin Towers that due to unfortunate circumstances no longer exist in the United States but their replica can be seen at the Park [Blo091]. It allows the visitors to take a virtual world tour within a limited area and in a particular span of time, spending the minimum budget. The people who want to experience such places but are unable to see the real thing are content enough to bask under the fake replicas for the time being. Let it also be mentioned that most of the replicas in the Park are of places in the West including the Big Ben in London with only a paltry total of two Eastern sites being considered to be important enough to be rebuilt over here, one of which is the Taj Mahal of India. Thus showing the discrimination between the different places, globalization was in effect but it was mostly the West that had the greater effect on China. This Park is the most blatant example in the movie of “deterritorialization – the dislocation of ‘authentic’ culture, identity, and meaning from place – wrought by these global processes” [Gae09]. Everyone wants to travel to other lands and see the structures that are so talked about. Even though China itself is a country that can boast of having one of the Seven Wonders of the World that is the Great Wall of China, the people are more interested in all that the other countries have to offer rather than being proud of what is present in their own country. They so want to believe in them having visited these places that they refer to them as if they were the real deal. In the movie, the main female protagonist who goes by the name of Tao is on the phone when she says “I’m going to India” as if she is just about to walk into the plane that is flying to India instead of just being driven from one part of the Park to another [Jia04]. The people are accustomed to believing that everything that is foreign is better so the manager of the Park hires some “new performers from Russia” to raise the hype of the place and all that it has to offer to the visitors [Jia04]. To ensure that the women do not run away to work at other places which may offer better salary or just fly back home, he asks them for their passports stating that he would keep them safe when, in fact, it is just a way to keep them trapped in a foreign land. Their presence is what makes him earn more profits and all he wants is more money and fame even if it is at the cost of the freedom of others. Morals do not count for anything anymore when the chance of a profitable business is in the equation. Over here, Zhangke shows “the underside of economic reform” [Sze09]. Tao and her boyfriend Taisheng, too, work at the Park along with their other colleagues. A place that is as big as this and as popular leads to a lot of job opportunities for the people. Taisheng is one of the “rural migrants from Shanxi”, representing “the social and human costs of China’s rapid economic transformation” as he gets a job in the Park where he is a part of the security team [Gae09]. Tao and her girlfriends’ job is to appear “in fashion shows dressed in various ethnic and national costumes” and dance whilst they are at it [Sze09]. They are paid for their looks and how well their bodies move instead of something as generic as their mind or any special talents that they might have honed over time. It “indicate(s) how women function as sexual commodities in the highly globalized regions of China’s national economy, such as in Beijing” [Sze09]. For years they girls continue to dance and model in front of the crowds for their entertainment and get paid for it. They have the freedom of adapting themselves and act like they are from a foreign country. The idea in itself is quite freeing but it is also quite true that they are all trapped in the same environment day in and day out where do not get the chance to learn anything new. However, the beauty of Zhangke’s writing is that he manages to flesh out his characters really well and shows the different sides of a person. The employees of the Park may easily blend in amongst everything that is not real but their life continues to remind them of how harsh the world can get. “Tao’s love relationship with Taisheng, a security guard at the park, is no panacea”, the man is doubtful about the girl’s love for him [Sze09]. He consistently tries to convince her to take their relationship to the next level even to the point of blaming her for “playing the virgin” despite her obvious reluctance for further intimacy [Jia04]. When he realizes that Tao is not willing to open up to him any time soon, he “meets a dressmaker, Liao (…) they begin to have an affair” which implies that he does not truly love Tao, at least not enough to put off his needs for a while and not force her into anything that she does not want to do [Sze09]. Also, obviously he is not enough of a gentleman to not cheat on someone that he is in a relationship with even if it is not serious. Thus, the level of commitment between the two is faked as well even if it is only so from one side. He places himself on such a high pedestal that he does not realize that what he is doing is wrong to the woman in his life; his actions seem to be ruled by his body and not his heart. The characters paste a smile on their face when they are breaking apart inside. Anna – one of the Russian immigrants who becomes close to Tao – wants to earn enough so that she can visit her sister who lives in another city but she cannot save up the required sum of money. She has left everything that she was familiar with behind and still the sacrifice is of no real use, she is back at where she was in Russia. Eventually, she gets so desperate that she is willing to give up her body to strangers which shows that though “these women are ostensibly empowered through employment but (in) actually (they) are marginalized and victimized by a sexually commercialized society” [Sze09]. Tao, too, had been propositioned for a similar employment earlier – “a little bit of styling and (she’d) be a knockout” – but she had managed to escape [Jia04]. Anna, however, does not have much of a choice given the limited resources that she has. In return for the sexual favors that she performs for them, she gets a lot of money. She does not like this work which is confirmed by the scene where Tao and Anna are shown trying to mask their sadness and helplessness, trying to keep up appearances instead of breaking down completely. Again, this shows how the people have adapted to showing themselves off as immaculate figures who are fazed by nothing otherwise the rest of the world would easily walk over them. The Chinese are up-to-date with the latest news about the Americans be they the type of clothes that they wear or the latest gossips about the celebrities. The movie “emphasize(s) the urban, where commercialized popular culture is omnipresent in such forms as films, radio programs, dance halls, karaoke bars, advertisements, pop songs and trendy consumer items” [Sze09]. During the wedding celebration of one of Tao’s colleagues, the girls are shown giving a toast, part of which is them honoring “History’s great beauties … Yang Guifei, Pan Jinlian, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna” [Jia04]. They do not forget their own country’s ladies but they also remember to include the beauties of the West. The girls wear glittery clothes but they are only copies of the original. The woman called Qun makes a living by making duplicates of the clothes of which she gets ideas from “foreign magazine(s) ... fashion catalogue(s)” [Jia04]. She has clients who pick out a particular dress that they may like so that she “can copy it” for a specific sum of money [Jia04]. They now prefer wearing clothes that are not a part of their culture even though they may cost a lot. Throughout the movie the repeated use of the cellphone is showed to celebrate “the ensuing acceleration of urbanization and globalization efforts”, the device has completely taken over their life [Sze09]. Tao is often shown to be on the phone with her various friends and boyfriend. It is an important piece of technology but it seems to have affected the level of communication between the different characters. One of Tao’s colleague Wei has an extremely over protective boyfriend who brings her to task whenever “(her) cellphone (is) off”, telling her to “keep (her) phone on” at all times [Jia04]. The device is used for interaction amongst many other characters especially of the more important subjects that should only be talked about face to face. In fact, it is because of a text message that Tao reads on her boyfriend’s cellphone that she starts doubting her relationship with him thinking that he had cheated on her. It is their separation that leads to their death, which is also thought to be suicide. Their closing comments where one asks “Are we dead?” and the other replies with “No. This is just the beginning” implies how the attack of the West on the Chinese culture has only just started and there is more to bear through ahead [Jia04]. This ending shows “how China’s 30 years of radical socioeconomic change have deeply affected ordinary people on so many levels, including their material, emotional and family lives” [Sze09]. This was, in fact, just the beginning, the first two of the many lives affected by the cultural change and there was more to come in the future. This movie portrays the different aspects of life that change due to foreign influence. China is losing its culture – traditions that had been followed for so long by the natives – to the West. The people have allowed themselves to change to keep up with the latest happenings of the world or, in some cases, they simply do not have a choice but to adapt themselves so that they would fit and survive in the ever changing society. Even if the people are aware of how they are losing touch with their history, they do not want to – or cannot – do anything about it. Certainly, globalization also means that the world is progressing, but the latest technology and advances are only beneficial for a select class of people. Those who are rich are getting richer by supplying the commodities that the world wants but the group of people who play an important role in making sure that the particular good or service is produced so that it can be offered to the community, are ignored and continue to live in poverty. Bibliography Jia04: , (Zhangke), Sze09: , (Szeto 102), Blo091: , (Bloom 216), Gae09: , (Gaetano 26), Sze09: , (Szeto 96), Gae09: , (Gaetano 25 - 26), Sze09: , (Szeto 103), Sze09: , (Szeto 105), Read More