How Movies Influence Peoples Perception on the Chinese Culture - Research Paper Example

How Movies Influence People’s Perception on the Chinese Culture Introduction: Movies play an important role in educating the masses on issues affecting the society. A movie can be referred to as a motion picture that has the capability of creating an illusion of an image that is moving. Movies are important cultural artefacts, and this is because they play a significant role in explaining the cultural values of a particular community, or region that is being depicted in the movies. Take for example, a movie that goes by the name of, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which was directed by Ang Lee in the year 2000. By closely analyzing this movie, it is important to denote that it contains various cultural values of the Chinese. This includes the types of houses they lived in, the kind of behaviours that they valued, and the kind of sports or physical activities that they practised. For instance, Kung Fu is one of the cultural physical practices of the Chinese people. In almost all the major movie productions, whose genre is violence, and touches on the Chinese, Kung Fu is always depicted. In these productions, almost everybody, as long he or she is a Chinese, they are shown practising Kung Fu in one way or another. Take for instance, the Ang Lee moving, Crouching Tiger. Women are shown practising Kung Fu, for purposes of self defence, and even as aggressors. However, it is important to explain that not every body can practice and know Kung Fu, because it is also a sport, just as Judo and Karate (Ye and Yun, 45). This paper therefore takes a stand, that American movies manage to create a perception that the Chinese culture is only about Kung Fu, and this is not true, because there are also some important cultural values of the Chinese people. Background of the Study: Most American movies and productions normally focus on the art of Kung Fu. In nearly any American movie that talks about China they normally depict the Chinese people as practising Kung Fu. These movies do not discriminate on who practices this art. In these movie productions, nearly everybody is practising the art of Kung Fu. This includes men, women, and even children. This has an effect of stereotyping the Chinese people. This is by denoting that Kung Fu is their major cultural practice, and everybody in China knows about it. A movie that better depicts this type of situation is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which is directed by Ang Lee in the year 2000. In this movie, nearly everybody is practising the art of Kung Fu. This includes children, women, men, and even old people. However, it is important to explain that the Chinese culture is not only about Kung Fu, but there are also some other cultural values amongst the Chinese people. An example is the importance of ginseng amongst the Chinese communities. Ginseng is important because it is always used for medicinal purposes. This is better depicted in the movie Drunken Master II, whose directors are, Lau Kar-Leung and Jackie Chan. This movie depicts the importance of ginseng to the Chinese people. This product is so important that even the government is collecting taxes from it. However, such kind of cultural values are always ignored in most American movies, majorly because they focus on the Kung Fu culture. Research Paper: One of the most important contributions, that movies have made, is in making the art of Kung Fu to be very famous, and popular. Take for instance, the movie Rush Hour. Take for instance a movie by the title Rush Hour. This is a movie that depicts detective Lee, a Chinese investigator, who is highly skilled in martial arts, that is Kung Fu (Dir Ratner). Detective Lee uses his skills to fight crime. The use of these skills is important, majorly because they play a role in helping an individual to defend him, or herself against people whose intention is to harm them. This movies, plays a significant role in glorifying martial arts, particularly Kung Fu, and it depicts it as a sport, that can be used for purposes of entertainment. This movie was very popular, and was watched by millions of viewers all over the world. It is therefore possible to denote that this was a positive contribution to the art of Kung Fu, because almost everybody is now aware of Kung Fu and the reasons why it is necessary to learn it. Despite the popularity of these movies, there is a perception that they manage to create. This perception is that the Chinese culture only centres on Kung Fu. This perception is wrong, majorly because not every body knows Kung Fu in China, since it can also be a sport. Take for instance the sports of karate, and judo. These are important sports that are played Americans and other people. They are normally depicted in movies, but this does not mean that everybody in America and Europe can practice karate and Judo. The same applies to Kung Fu. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, one of the major thematic connotations, is the role of women in learning Kung Fu (Dir Lee). For instance, Jade Fox wants to learn Kung Fu so much, that she is forced to kill a Kung Fu master, in order to steal a book that teaches people on how to fight Kung Fu. Other women in this movie who want to learn Kung Fu are, Jen Yu and Yu Shu Lien. These are women who are practising Kung Fu, which is a martial arts skill. The perception that this type of movie creates, is the notion that almost everybody in China knows how to fight Kung Fu. This is because even women are able to learn and fight Kung Fu. Furthermore, when analyzing the plot of this movie, we are able to learn that almost everybody in this movie is engaged in the fight of Kung Fu. It is therefore possible to denote that, the perception that this movie creates is the notion that Kung Fu is a common art in China, and it can be practised by women, children, and men alike. Karate Kid is also an example of a movie production that depicts anybody wishing to learn Karate has to go to China. Karate Kid is a movie directed by Harald Zwart in the year 2010. In this movie production, the young Jaden Smith encounters a Chinese guy, who trains him, in the art of Karate. This movie is very popular, and it helps in advancing the notion that everybody in China has the capability of practising Kung Fu. This is an assertion that is not true. There are so many other cultural values amongst the Chinese that are good, and are not efficiently portrayed in movies (Barrow et al, 56). One such example is the use of ginseng for medical purposes. This is an aspect that is denoted in the movie directed by Jackie Chan, and Lau Kar-Leung, by the title of Drunken Master II. In this movie, Jackie Chan seeks to protect the ginseng, and this is for purposes of using it to make medicine. In fact, Jackie Chan acting as Wong Fei Hung engages in a fight against Lau Kar-Leung, and this is for purposes of protecting the ginseng, and proving that he is patriotic (Dir Chan and Kar-Leung). However, in as much as the depiction of the importance of ginseng amongst the Chinese is depicted in this movie, it is important to explain that majority of the scenes touched on the practice of martial arts, and most specifically, the practice of Kung Fu. This is unacceptable because the producers of this film, should have concentrated on other important cultural values of the Chinese, apart from the use of violence to build the plot of the movies. Some of the factors responsible for the on the genre of violence by movie producers, touches on the inability of these producers to know some aspects of the Chinese culture, and their motivation of getting money, which is derived from the high volume of viewership (Rawnsley, 11). Respect to the rule of law, is one of the another cultural value of the Chinese, and this is one of the major factors that has made China to be prosperous. A movie such as Police Officer II, better explains this notion, that the Chinese people are law abiding, loyal and peaceful. Police Officer II is a story of a young police officer, who is keen to help the society by maintaining peace and order. This is even if, it plays a role in negatively affecting the relationship that he had with the family. This is an aspect of loyalty and nationalism to the state. A better scene, that reflects this notion, is when Jackie Chan was going to a vacation, with his fiancée, but he instead choose to return to the police force, so that he could protect his people from criminal activities and elements. This is an element of patriotism and nationalism that is always depicted in major movies that show the Chinese people. In as much as this is a thematic connotation in these movies, it is important to explain that the depiction of Kung Fu, and violence is always a major theme in majority of them (Chan, 47). This is the reason people believe that Kung Fu, is the major cultural value and practice of the Chinese people (Ye and Yun, 27). This is not true. Every community have their own cultural values and beliefs. For instance in United States, there are many communities that reside in the country. This includes Asians, Africans, Latinos, Caucasians, etc. Each of these communities has their own cultural values and beliefs, which can be portrayed in movies. The manner in which these cultures are portrayed, can lead to a wrong perception or a correct perception. The same has applied to the Kung Fu culture that is applicable to the Chinese people. Culture is an important aspect that defines a society. It is important to explain that because of the concept of diversity, it is necessary for the cultures of people to be depicted in a positive manner. We are living in a society that is culturally diverse, and many business organizations are beginning to embrace cultural diversity amongst its work force (Rawnsley, 23). China is one of the leading economies in the world; therefore, this means that it has attracted a wide variety of international investments. To maintain this momentum and economic development, there is a need of portraying the Chinese cultural values positively. One of the best methods that the government can carry, for purposes of ensuring that it promotes the positive view of the Kung Fu culture, is the use of documentaries to provide information on the historical origin of Kung Fu, and how it has been used in the years past (Rawnsley, 26). The use of documentaries is one of the best public relation activities that the Chinese government can engage in, hence promoting its own cultural values. Another method that is very unpopular is banning movies that are able to depict the Chinese cultural values as negative. This is unpopular because it would amount to curtailing the freedom of information, which is always represented by a free media. Therefore, the government should involve a strategy, where it works with movie producers, with the intention of educating them on the aspects involving the Kung Fu culture, and why it is mis-represented in the Western movies and films. Methodology: The major method used in this research is qualitative research. Under qualitative research, the researcher used both primary and secondary methods of data collection. Under primary research, the research used movies such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Dir Lee), Rush Hour II (Dir Chan), Drunken Master (Dir Chan, and Kar-Leung), etc. The intention of analyzing these movies, was to show the manner which the Kung Fu culture is depicted. These movies helped the researcher to identify some other cultural values amongst the Chinese, in as much as Kung Fu, is the most dominant culture. In the movie directed by Lee, the major bias, is that women are better martial artists than men. This portrays the notion that even women can practice martial arts in China. The movies by Jackie Chan; and Kackie Chan, and Kar-Leung all depict the role of Chinese men in martial arts. The primary sources that have been used include an encyclopaedia from Barrow et al, a book by Ramsey Ming Yeh, Kenneth Chan, Kin Yan Szeto, and Tan Ye and Zhu Yun. Barrow et al, and Ramsey Ming Yeh manages to talks about the cultural diversity, and its importance. The contributions by Barrow et al are very important in this paper, majorly because they are speaking from the point of knowledge of the Chinese culture. These authors agree to the fact that there is a trend in the production of movies depicting issues to deal with China. This is because China is an emerging superpower, and it is playing an important role in the global economy. Ramsey explains the importance of cultural diversity, and the need of people to have an accurate knowledge of the cultural practices of other people. This is because of globalization, which makes it possible for people to interact with each other on a global perspective. Ramsey majorly concerns himself with the theory of culture, and that of globalization. He uses these theoretical frameworks to explain the culture of Wuxia, which can be denoted as the culture of Kung Fu. Ramsey manages to explain that the reason for the heavy presence of Kung Fu in most is the appreciation of the fact that China is an emerging economic and global powerhouse. Therefore, there is a trend of depicting the cultural; values of the Chinese. This is a situation that Kennneth Chan, Kin Yan Szeto, Tan Ye and Zhu Yun agree with. They also explain that because of the importance of the Chinese in the international system, movies producers want to profit from this situation. They have therefore developed movie productions that depict the various cultural practices of the Chinese. However, they agree that the manner in which producers have depicted Kung Fu, has led to a misconceived perception, that everybody in China has the capability of practising Kung Fu. Lessons Learnt: Sub Claim In this research, I found out that the Chinese have many cultural practices, apart from practising the art of Kung Fu. However, most American films concentrate on Kung Fu, making it seem like it is the dominant cultural practice amongst the Chinese. Another lesson learnt, is the notion that most producers are unaware of some of the cultural values of the Chinese people. They only produce movies, because of the need to achieve a record viewership. This would in turn translate to enormous profits made by these producers. To prevent this from happening, there is a need of encouraging producers to do a back ground research on a topic of movie production before producing it. This would help in coming up with an appropriate cultural value, hence avoiding the stereotyping of a particular culture. Based on these facts, my sub claim is that Kung Fu is not the main cultural practice amongst the Chinese, and not all Chinese people can practice it. Conclusion: In conclusion, the American movie industry focuses too much in depicting any Chinese person in their movies as practising the art of Kung Fu. This in turn leads to the creation of a perception that almost everybody in China knows how to engage in the art of Kung Fu. This includes, man, women, the aged and even children. This situation is better depicted in the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In this movie, nearly everybody is practising Kun g Fu. This includes women, men, and children. However, this perception that is created by these movies is wrong. This is majorly because not all Chinese people know how to engage in the style of Kung Fu. Kung Fu is majorly a sport in China, and it is just like Judo and Karate in United States. It is important to explain that these games are not known with everybody in United States, and it is a preserve of a few people who have an interest in them. The same applies to Kung Fu. Not everybody in China knows it, and it depends on the interests that people have. Furthermore, China is not all about Kung Fu, since there are other cultural practices in the country. Works Cited: Barrow, Sarah, Sabine Haenni, and John White. The Routledge Encyclopedia Of Films. Print. Chan, Kenneth. Remade In Hollywood. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2009. Print. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, Directors, Ang Lee, (2000) “Drunken Master II”, Directors, Jackie Chan, and Lau Kar-Leung (1994). “Karate Kid”, Directors, Harald Zwart, (2010) “Police Story 2”, Directors, Jackie Chan, (1988). Rawnsley, Ming Yeh. 'Book Review: Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition (2011)'. Academia.edu. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. “Rush Hour”, Directors, Brett Ratner, (1998) Szeto, Kin-Yan. The Martial Arts Cinema of The Chinese Diaspora. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2011. Print. Ye, Tan, and Yun Zhu. Historical Dictionary Of Chinese Cinema. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2012. Print. Read More