Kung fu panda faces new battle
Source: Xinhua |
May 29, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A Hollywood movie was met with an awkward situation yesterday in China. While fans are standing in long queues to watch the first show, others are advocating a boycott of the American movie with Chinese story elements.
After "Kung Fu Panda," a cartoon movie telling the story of a panda's journey to become a kung fu master, hit China's screens in 2008, its sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, was released in China just ahead of International Children's Day, adding more Chinese elements such as shadow play and lion dancing.
However, some Chinese artists and scholars argue that the movie, produced by DreamWorks, has twisted Chinese culture and serves as a tool to "kidnap" the minds of the Chinese people.
"Children's Day should be pure. Don't turn it into a money-making day for Hollywood, and don't fool our next generation with American 'fast food'," said an open letter to Chinese cinema managers written by Zhao Bandi, an avant-garde artist hoping to boycott the "Americanized" movie.
Over the past two weeks, Zhao has used his own money to pay to publish circulars in newspapers in Beijing and Guangzhou, urging fans not to watch the movie. "This is a battle," he said.
In 2008, Zhao initiated similar campaigns to boycott the first movie, which later set the country's cartoon box-office record, taking 180 million yuan (US$27.7 billion).
His move is backed by Kong Qingdong, a renowned professor of the Chinese language with the Peking University, who said Chinese elements have become advertising products to advocate American culture. "It is a cultural invasion," said Kong.
In the movie, the main character called "Po," a panda which remains a unique animal species in China, is talkative, humorous, lovely and charmingly naive, and is widely believed to be a typical American figure.
However, the panda has won millions of fans in China. On China's most popular microblog website, comments on the movie reached nearly 270 million entries, and the number is still rising. Most of the netizens post questions such as "Why can't we produce such brilliant movies ourselves?"
"I won't call it a cultural invasion," said Li Jiayi, a Beijing university student. "I see nothing bad for others to use our cultural elements to make a movie."
After "Kung Fu Panda," a cartoon movie telling the story of a panda's journey to become a kung fu master, hit China's screens in 2008, its sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, was released in China just ahead of International Children's Day, adding more Chinese elements such as shadow play and lion dancing.
However, some Chinese artists and scholars argue that the movie, produced by DreamWorks, has twisted Chinese culture and serves as a tool to "kidnap" the minds of the Chinese people.
"Children's Day should be pure. Don't turn it into a money-making day for Hollywood, and don't fool our next generation with American 'fast food'," said an open letter to Chinese cinema managers written by Zhao Bandi, an avant-garde artist hoping to boycott the "Americanized" movie.
Over the past two weeks, Zhao has used his own money to pay to publish circulars in newspapers in Beijing and Guangzhou, urging fans not to watch the movie. "This is a battle," he said.
In 2008, Zhao initiated similar campaigns to boycott the first movie, which later set the country's cartoon box-office record, taking 180 million yuan (US$27.7 billion).
His move is backed by Kong Qingdong, a renowned professor of the Chinese language with the Peking University, who said Chinese elements have become advertising products to advocate American culture. "It is a cultural invasion," said Kong.
In the movie, the main character called "Po," a panda which remains a unique animal species in China, is talkative, humorous, lovely and charmingly naive, and is widely believed to be a typical American figure.
However, the panda has won millions of fans in China. On China's most popular microblog website, comments on the movie reached nearly 270 million entries, and the number is still rising. Most of the netizens post questions such as "Why can't we produce such brilliant movies ourselves?"
"I won't call it a cultural invasion," said Li Jiayi, a Beijing university student. "I see nothing bad for others to use our cultural elements to make a movie."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
