Manifestation of the PRC’s Soft Power Policy in Finding Mr. Right

MANIFESTATION OF THE PRC SOFT POWER POLICY IN FINDING MR. RIGHT By Course Name Professor’s Name University City, State Date of Submission Manifestation of the PRC’s Soft Power Policy in Finding Mr. Right The Chinese film industry has undergone various changes over the years. Though the world cinema generally refers to the cinema of the world, the conflict between national and transnational cinemas has persisted for a long time in China (Hui 2017, p. 165). The transnational cinema has historically faced resistance either in terms of a refusal or through imitation. The period between 1949 and 1994 was particularly harsh for transnational cinema such as the US films. Early in this period, US films were outrightly rejected for fear of cultural contamination and due to challenges in revenue sharing. A quota system was introduced towards the end of the period that aimed at importing 10 foreign films every year. This move was aimed at using Hollywood for a national chain, but it marked the shift in the industry, which ultimately led to the acceptance of transnational cinema. This acceptance hurts the local film industry. 70% of the locally made films did not break even. However, this led to the improvement of the subsequent films, which led to better figures at the box office. Hero, released in 2002 was among the first Chinese films to record massive success at the box office. The film had all the features of a blockbuster; large budget, cast in spectacular locations, used special effects, cast popular characters, and had a large size of the cast including extras. As the Chinese film industry grew, themes that seem to spread China’s soft power got integrated into the films. Through this technique, China used persuasion rather than coercion to strengthen certain values at home and also project them internationally. Film and media became a tool for cultural diplomacy (Su 2014, p. 110). This paper seeks to review the Chinese movie, Finding Mr. Right, and analyze how the People’s Republic of China’s soft power policy is manifested in the film. The role that globalization and Hollywood have had on the Chinese film industry will also be explored. PRC’s Soft Power Policy In international politics, soft power is the ability of a country to get what it wants through persuasion rather than coercion. Persuasion could be in the form of values, culture, and policies (Ipek 2015, p. 190). In its quest to become a global superpower, The People’s Republic of China has been instrumental in changing the world’s view of the country through soft power. In a 2014 speech, Xi Jinping mentioned his country’s quest to disseminate its charming culture to the rest of the world using the soft power policy. The elements that his government intended to project onto the world included its rich history and cultural diversity, cultural and economic development as well as the good governance. This would be key to improving the cultural strength and competitiveness of China (Hall 2016). Participation in peacekeeping missions, giving of financial aid, investing in other countries, as well as educational and cultural exchanges are some of the avenues that the country has used to project its soft power policy onto the world. Starting with South East Asia, The People’s Republic of China has succeeded in building the reputation of a responsible regional powerhouse by providing technological and financial assistance to its neighbors such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, among others (Ali 2016). On top of financial and technological aid, the film and media industry is being used by China as an important tool for spreading the soft power policy. The Chinese film industry has undergone a massive transformation over the years. These transformations culminated with new strategies and trends aimed at propagating the soft power policy. In a speech to the National Congress in 2007, President Hu Jintao stated that the soft power policy was composed of four main aspects; socialist values, harmonious culture built on integrity and honesty, exaltation of the traditional culture, as well as the innovation and liberalization of culture (Su 2010, p. 317). These aspects emphasize the importance of culture as a tool for national strength and cohesion as well as its ability to increase the attractiveness of a country to the outsiders. To spread the soft power policy through the media, the Chinese government adopted various strategies (Su 2010, p. 317). The government kicked off its agenda by redefining the function and nature of the film industry. For the better part of the 20th century, China’s film industry had been vague. For instance, in the period between 1950 to the 1970s, the industry was used by the state to spread propaganda. The vagueness surrounding the industry began to clear in 1997 when China’s Communist Party (CCP) embarked on a cultural marketization of the sector. Due to the growing understanding of the roles and values of the cultural industry, the idea of the formation of cultural industries was put forward during the party’s congress in 2002. However, though the government fully supported the establishment of the industry, the strict censorship, as well as the political structure, was a barrier that the filmmakers had to cautiously navigate (Su 2010, p. 319). Humanization and commercialization of the propagandist movies are one example of how the film industry managed to strike the delicate balance. These movies downplayed political conflicts while bringing to the fore the people’s sufferings and destiny. This approach created a neutral and humanistic feature which served all the parties right. The themes in these movies such as in The Knot incorporated themes that traversed China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States. The movies also used characters from all both mainland China and Taiwan, making them acceptable to larger audiences. The Chinese also started borrowing heavily from Hollywood. Bloody and brutal scenes that were more common in Hollywood films were incorporated, marking the shift to humanistic approach found in Western films. This move by the Chinese filmmakers to push the boundaries and compromise the existing political principles was a good trend that improved the marketability of Chinese films (Su 2010, p. 320). Though the exotic Chinese films such as the Kung Fu movies had infiltrated the Western market for a long time, it is in 2000 after Bruce Lee’s film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, got an Oscar award that the Chinese movie makers realized the secret to selling the Kung Fu movies in the Western market. The secret was to integrate exotic Chinese culture and history with various Hollywood techniques. Chinese cultural values and practices such as brotherhood, loyalty, family ties, perseverance, and martial arts were sold to the Western world in a way that they appreciated more. Through the intentional implementation of these strategies, the Chinese government got a global tool to exercise the soft power policy. This approach has helped to counter the Western influence, maintain the legitimacy of the ruling party, consolidate its power, as well as to impose various ideologies over the audience (Su 2010, p. 319). Finding Mr. Right Finding Mr. Right is a 122-minute Chinese romantic/comedy film that was released in 2013. The film uses both the English and Mandarin languages. It was written and directed by Xue Xiaolu. It was a box office success amassing close to US$ 85 million in China. The success prompted the release of a sequel film in 2016 by the name, Finding Mr. Right 2. Big names such as Tang Wei and Wu Xiubo were cast in the movie. Jiajia is a mistress to a corrupt Beijing businessman, Mr. Zhong, whose child she is carrying. To avoid scandals at home, she flies to Seattle in the United States to give birth to her child in an illegal maternity establishment. She hopes that her son will help win the rich boyfriend. Giving birth in the United States would also ensure that the child gets American citizenship (Li and Luo 2017, p. 40). With the man’s credit card, Jiajia is ready to experience the American life in its entirety and bring back home an American child at the end of it all. She is picked at the airport by a taxi driver, Frank, who was a doctor in China before immigrating to the United States. When his wife got a job at a top pharmaceutical company in Seattle, Frank had to migrate in order to be near his daughter. As a doctor in China, Frank had treated Jiajia’s mother. Though they do not get along well at first, they gradually start seeing the good in each other and become close. Unfortunately, her plans for her stay in Seattle are disrupted in a way she did not expect. She has to share a house with two other Chinese ladies, Chen Yue and Zhou Yi, at the illegal establishment where she is to give birth. The two other women are having their children in the United States for different personal reasons. Zhou Yi is a lesbian and is worried about having a child without being married. Chen Ye wants to have a second child, which is against the Chinese laws. The quarreling and comradeship between these...