Transcultural Issues in Asian Films and Controversies Associated with the Asian Films - Term Paper Example

Asian Film Asian Films Introduction The term “Asian Films” is a colloquial insinuation of movies produced and acted inAsian countries. The most common types of films in the world all over are the American Hollywood Films. However, Asian films are also gaining track considering the number of new fans they attract each year. Over the years, the commonest theme in many Asian Films was love. However, in the recent time most of the film directors focus on many other subjects including war, betrayal with much drama in them. The development shows the major steps taken by the Asian film industry in producing better and internationally appealing films. Recently, the international community has put great emphasis on gay rights and the emancipation of women rights. Such themes are slowly creeping in the Asian films although Asia is majorly a conservative society. With a focus on love, the Asian films demonstrate a significant change in the present time with countries such as India, Philippine and China taking the lead as other issues of transcultural are emerging. Films in China began in the 1930’s when it was still linked to Taiwan (infoplease.com, 2015). Before the split, there were many conflicts involving the Chinese and Taiwan. Most of the films were sentimental and based majorly on the conflict between the two nations. However, a film known as Peach Girl was quite different from the rest because it was about a peasant girl who fell in love with a rich boy. Afterward, the film industry was filled with short comedies and familial dramas. However, nobody dared to produce a film that would seem to criticize the communist regime. In 1949, the Chinese film industry produced its first film that touched on real-life issues (infoplease.com, 2015). The film called The Bridge, touched on challenges that poor Chinese encountered in the rural areas. The release of this film marked a major step in the Asian film-making. It proved, to many, that film could also be a good tool for articulating real issues affecting the community. Film production started at relatively the same in other countries of Asia such as India, Japan, Philippines, and Korea. The essay discusses film in the Asian continent. This piece of writing provides more information to otherwise a little-known subject, Asian films. The essay tackles the following topics chronologically. The Asian countries that are form part of the big film producers, all- time popular actors of the Asian films, transcultural issues in Asian Films and controversies associated with the Asian films Asian countries that form part of the big film producers. China is the most populated country in the world; hence, the home of many undiscovered and discovered talents. According to Lim and Ward (2011), the People’s Republic of China produces over 200,000 films in a year. The book further accounts that most of the Chinese films have attained the cinema status, but some are still at the amateur level. The most popular theme in these films is love. The Chinese producers are fond of incorporating martial arts into these films hence the stereotype that all Chinese people are conversant with Kung Fu. The films are also action-based majorly in a rural village setting. Globally, the popularity of the films grew after the year 2000 when the Post Office was born. The Office made it possible for many people to access Chinese Films unlike before when they were only known to the Chinese people. An example of a Chinese film made popular by the Office is Shaolin Soccer (IMDb.com, n.d). The fiction film incorporates martial arts into soccer to create supernormal characters. Through determination and hard work, the best team won the Shaolin Soccer tournament. Many people all over the world embraced Chinese films because they had immense originality. Consequently, many individuals were able to learn about the Chinese culture hence opening the country for tourism and international trade. India’s is a country found in the Southern part of the Asian continent. India’s film industry is informally called Bollywood, a name derived from America’s mega film industry (Hollywood). The world’s biggest film industry is found in India because it hires the largest number of people and produces the highest number of films in a year (Punathambekar, 2013). India has produced some of the highest paid actors in the world beating most of their American counterparts. The basic characteristic of Indian films is songs in the middle of the plot. At some point in the film, the characters break into a synchronized dance accompanied with a matching song. The setting of most of these films is in prestigious houses and the overcrowded Indian streets. The most popular theme is love. More often than not, the love birds end up marrying each other and living happily ever after at the end of the plot. Worth acknowledging, is the fact that the producers are slowly shifting from simple themes, such as love, to more demanding ones like science fiction. This development has in turn broadened the fan base of Indian films and the consequent increase in the number sales. The most common theme of most Philippine films is love. Just like Mexico, Philippines is a top producer of soap operas. These kinds of films mainly exploit the concept of love to attract its viewers, especially women. Quite often, the main male character is a rich, handsome young man. The female characters are very pretty and seemingly perfect than the average human being. The plot does not lack villain characters that are abnormally evil. For instance, a jealousy mother-in-law will hire the house help to seduce her son with the aim of breaking his current marriage. The Philippine films are also not entirely about love and related issues. In some productions, the theme is usually about current issues affecting the country such as poverty, crime, poor leadership and corruption. This shows that films are not for entertainment only. Films can be a tool to articulate real issues and enlighten the masses about poor governance and misuse of public funds (Temple, 2013). Filipino films have topped charts in the USA and other countries. The Filipino films in the international arena have been a tool for marketing Philippines’ beauty to the world. It is in this regard that some Hollywood directors chose to shoot their films in Philippine. Smith (2012) gives a list of Oscar award-winning movies whose shooting took place in Philippine. Some of them are Broken Down Palace by Jonathan Kaplan and Amigo by John Sayles. The sandy beaches and numerous beautiful scenes in Philippine attracted the directors to shoot their films in this country. All- time popular actors of the Asian films. Jackie Chan Jackie Chan was born in Hong- Kong in 1954 (Biography.com, 2015). He began to practice martial arts, acting and singing, at the age of seven. Unlike many children of his age, Jackie Chan did not have the privilege of staying with his parents. His parents immigrated to Australia leaving Jackie with his grandparents. When Chan graduate from college, he ventured into theatre before getting in the film industry. In his first commercial film, he played the role of an acrobat and stuntman in a movie called Fist of Fury in 1972 (Biography.com, 2015). Since then, Jackie Chan has directed, acted and produced numerous films. His style of acting is a combination of martial arts and screwball Physical comedy. His style of comedy made him popular in China and overseas, including the USA. Chan has also collaborated with international companies to produce movies such as Rush Hour where he co-starred with American actor Chris Tucker in 1998 (IMDb.com, 1998). In his forthcoming movie, The Expandables, Chan has featured both American and Chinese actors. In 2015, Forbes magazine named Jackie Chan among the top ten highest paid actors in the world. Salman Khan Salman Khan featured in many American and European films (Child, 2015). He burst into the Indian movie scenes in the 1980’s as a handsome young man with the qualities of being a star. He has starred in many Indian movies including The Bodyguard where he plays the role of a bodyguard to a politician’s daughter. As its common with Bollywood film plots, the bodyguard fell in love with the VIP’s daughter. He has also played major roles in international movies that later on topped the charts. In 2015, Forbes Magazine named him as the fifth highest paid actor in the world (France, 2015). However, Salman Khan, like most of his Hollywood counterparts, is not without controversy. In 2002, he drove into a group of homeless men in Mumbai killing three of them. He was later charged with homicide, but the jury suspended his conviction until the hearing of his appeal. Grapevines also portray him as a bad boy with multiple casual relationships with top models. Transcultural issues in Asian Films As it is the trend all over the world, globalization has influenced Asian films. In a society that was previously considered as conservative, it is now commonplace to see kissing scenes in Asian films (Desser, 2003). The Western culture is slowly creeping in the Asian Film scene. Nowadays, most Chinese actors prefer to speak in English unlike before when movies were done in Mandarin and then translated into English using subtitles. Alcohol and tobacco have also found their way into Asian Films. Despite these substances being vices in Asia, most movies have club scenes where characters go to have a good time. Adoption of different cultures in the Asian Films has made them internationally appealing. Unlike before when the films caught the attention of Asians only, many people in the world can now relate to these films. Globalization has also ensured that Asian films meet the international standards. Asian Films are now adopting different themes from love. An increase in the diversity of themes has broadened their fan bases thus leading to increased sales. Controversies associated with Asian film industry Haygood (2007) highlights the biggest controversy in the Asian Films as too much borrowing from Hollywood movies. The movies lack originality because they are a different version of Western movies. Haygood (2007) also notes the overuse of the theme of love and sex appeal. Women rights activist are always talking against the use of semi-nude women to create a sexual aura in movies. However, the fact that producers are not willing to do away with nudity means that the target market enjoys it. Reports of exploitation of amateur actors have also reached the Asian Media houses. The production companies make much money from the films yet they pay their amateur actors meager wages. In India, the average pay for amateur actors is $10 per cast. This is a small amount considering that some Indian films can make up to $150 million during their premiere (France, 2015). Conclusion In conclusion, the Asian films are fast rising and soon, they might overtake the Western films in terms of popularity. The actors are exploiting new concepts to make the films more appealing to the whole world. With cultural features such as Martial arts (China and Japan) and dance (India), people in the world such films interesting. The directors need to do little improvements, and soon the films will be topping the charts in other sections of the world such as Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Bibliography Biography.com, 2015, [Online]. Available at < http://www.biography.com/people/jackie-chan-9542080#early-life > (accessed July 10, 2015). Child, B., 2015, Robert Downey Jr still worlds best-paid actor as Bollywood stars crowd top 10. The Guardian. [Online]. Available at < http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/04/robert-downey-jr-best-paid-actor-forbes-jackie-chan-amitabh-bachchan > (accessed July 10, 2015) Desser, D., 2003, "Consuming Asia: Chinese and Japanese Popular Culture and the American Philadelphia, PA: Temple. France, L. H, 2015, Who is Salman Khan? Only one of the worlds biggest stars. CNN. [Online]. Available at < http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/06/entertainment/salman-khan-feat/ > (accessed July 10, 2015). Haygood, A., 2007, The Climb of Controversial Film Content. 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