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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 2014)
ASIA / PACIFIC Page 4 n THE ASIAN REPORTER July 7, 2014 ‘Transformers’ tries for delicate U.S.-China balance By Louise Watt The Associated Press EIJING — Dazzling special effects, Optimus Prime ... and Beijing. The latest “Transfor- mers” movie has all three, mixing Texas-based action with scenes in China’s capital and a heavy dose of Hong Kong in an attempt to straddle the world’s two biggest movie-going audiences. The fourth installment of the Michael Bay-directed franchise has gone all-out to woo China’s audience with Chinese locations, talent, and even a reality television show. Transformers: Age of Extinction illustrates the delicate balancing game of Hollywood studios trying to work out what the Chinese market wants while simultaneously catering to Americans. If such films aren’t handled properly, they risk alienating both audiences, said Michael Keane, an expert on China’s creative industries at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. In China, the core movie-going group of 19-to-25-year-olds already like wes- tern films, he said. “They would like ‘Transformers,’ and as soon as you start stuffing in Chinese elements, they can see through it, and you may shoot yourself in the foot by doing it,” Keane said. Western studios are adding Chinese elements to increase their appeal in China, where films earned $3.6 billion in ticket sales last year. Skyfall was partly set in Shanghai and Macau. Chinese actress Fan Bingbing played one of the mutant superheroes in X-Men: Day of Future Past, which has earned $114 million in China — almost a quarter of the movie’s total international box office. But the sprinkling of Chinese elements in Transformers: Age of Extinction, which opened in China and North America last month, has gone further than many recent Hollywood movies. More than a half-hour of its action takes place in Hong Kong and the crew filmed in three other Chinese cities. Chinese star Li Bingbing has a fairly major role and boy band singer- turned-actor Han Geng has a one- liner. A reality TV show was held a year before the movie’s debut to B TAKING AIM AT TERRORISM. In this photo posted on Insta- gram and released by Ai Weiwei, Ai holds and aims his leg as a rifle in Beijing. Photos he posted to Instagram with people holding their legs that sparked an internet meme was a reference to power being overused in the name of fighting terrorism, according to Ai. (AP Photo/Ai Weiwei) Kicking heat: Chinese artist prompts leg-gun meme BEIJING (AP) — Days after sparking an internet meme with photos of people brandishing their legs as guns, Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei said his original posting on Instagram was a statement about the overuse of power in fighting terrorism. China is in the midst of an anti-terror campaign prompted by several high-profile attacks on civilians over the past year blamed on Muslim militants from the country’s far western Xinjiang region. Scores of people have been arrested in Xinjiang, security on subways in cities throughout the country has been tightened, and many local police are now carrying guns for the first time. “People from all over the world have been experiencing panic because of terrorist attacks such as 9/11 and problems such as the existence of weapons,” Ai said in an interview. “Power is being overused in the name of counterterrorism,” he said. Last month, the artist began posting photos of himself, ballet dancers, and others on Instagram in poses interpreted as legs being held as guns. Within days, they spawned hundreds of imitators on the photo-sharing website, including poses in bedrooms, on sidewalks, and up a tree, featuring individuals, groups, children, and even Kermit the frog. But there was no consensus on what the images were meant to say. Ai said a caption reading “Beijing anti-terrorism series,” which accompanied one of his originals, was a reference to anti-terror campaigns that are a “ubiquitous phenomenon,” not just in China. “Power is being used in the name of protecting you,” Ai said. “But what they are actually doing is something which deserves a lot of discussion. And what is terrorism doing to you? It is hurting lives? Or is it putting a huge burden on everybody?” Ai cautioned against over-interpreting the slew of online leg-gun photos, which he said were unexpected and coming from “all social strata.” “The internet is flowing. You come up with something basic, and everybody will find it easy to express themselves based on that,” he said. CHINA CONNECTION. Chinese fans wait to see movie stars during the premiere of Trans- formers: Age of Extinction at a theatre in Beijing, China. Dazzling special effects, Optimus Prime ... and Beijing. The latest “Transformers” movie has all three, mixing Texas-based action with scenes in China’s capital and a heavy dose of Hong Kong in an attempt to straddle the world’s two biggest movie-going audiences. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan) ties, at least a third of their main choose four people to play roles. In one scene, a billboard stretches creative talent must be Chinese, 30 across most of the screen, advertising percent of its film budget must come a Chinese liquor. In another product from China, some production must placement, Stanley Tucci’s character take place in China, and the film takes a break on a roof and drinks must include a certain amount of undefined Chinese elements. from a carton of Chinese milk. Officially designated co-produc- Online film critic Zheng Kunjie said the number of Chinese elements tions benefit both sides. For Holly- in the film was “unprecedented” in a wood, they earn an automatic Hollywood import. The familiar exemption from China’s quota on scenes and brands make the foreign movies and allow a larger Transformers movie more realistic to share of the country’s box office. filmmaking industry, a Chinese audience than one that China’s employs a western stereotype of “a meanwhile, is keen to acquire more classically beautiful China” like in skills and technological know-how. Last year, there were 49 official Skyfall, she said. While these will make Chinese moviegoers amused co-productions in China, the majority and interested in the film, the of which were with Hong Kong and Chinese elements don’t affect the Taiwanese companies, according to leading entertainment consultancy development of the story, she said. Florian Fettweis of Beijing-based EntGroup. China counts productions media consultancy CMM-I said too in the self-governing island of Taiwan many Chinese elements could dilute as being Chinese. There were three China-U.S. co- the appeal to U.S. moviegoers. Western movies that have con- productions, including Cloud Atlas. A flurry of recent cooperation tained a more China-specific narra- tive have tended to fare badly at the agreements between Hollywood box office, such as last year’s direc- studios and Chinese players suggests torial debut by Keanu Reeves, Man of more co-productions are on the way. In April, Paramount and state- Tai Chi, set in Beijing and centering owned China Film Group signed a around Chinese martial arts. Unlike the latest Transformers deal to co-produce fantasy-action movie, Man of Tai Chi had official co- movie Marco Polo based on the 14th- production status in China. To be century European explorer who trav- classed as such by Chinese authori- Continued on page 7 China dog-eaters dodge activists with early feast BEIJING (AP) — Residents in a southern Chinese city that has come under fire for an annual summer solstice festival in which thousands of dogs are slaughtered for food held their feasts early to avoid attention. In mid-June, some residents of Yulin started gathering and eating dog meat and lychees to celebrate the longest day of the year, ahead of the actual solstice, state media reported. The residents wanted to avoid protests by animal-rights activists. In recent years, the festival was targeted by activists who have drummed up public awareness of the event with posts on social media and online petitions, and descended on the city to protest outside slaughterhouses or markets where the dogs are sold. The public uproar reflects the increasing affluence of ordinary Chinese, who keep pets, travel overseas, and are changing attitudes about traditions they may not have questioned before. Photos on state media showed groups of Yulin city residents tucking into plates of meat and vegetables around dining tables strewn with lychees. Other photos, which circulated widely on Chinese microblogs, were of skinned, cooked dogs hanging from hooks at street stalls or piled on tables. Under the Yulin tradition, eating dog and lychee and drinking liquor on the solstice is supposed to make people stay healthy during winter. It is unclear if the supposed health benefits diminish if the feast occurs before the actual solstice. Animal-rights activists say the event is a public health risk because the dogs undergo no quarantine to ensure they are free of disease, and that they are strays grabbed off streets around the country, as well as allegedly stolen from pet owners. The dogs are often poisoned with toxic chemicals that could be harmful to humans, they say. Deng Yidan, an activist with Animals Asia, said the FURTIVE FEASTING. A dog waits to be sold for meat at a market in Yulin, in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Resi- dents in the southern Chinese city that has come under fire for an annual summer solstice festival in which thousands of dogs are slaughtered for food, held their feasts early to avoid attention. (AP Photo/Humane Society International, File) public backlash hurts the image of Yulin and China. “Negative coverage is growing — dog theft, criminal activities, food hygiene issues, and rabies fears — not to mention the division in society between those for and against the festival — together these have brought significantly more negative publicity to Yulin than economic benefits,” Deng said in a statement. The Yulin government has sought to distance itself from the feasting, saying it is not officially endorsed. State media reports say the government told restaurants to remove references to dog meat from their menus and signboards — though it did not bar the sale and consumption of the meat, which is not illegal in China. The government has denied the formal existence of such a festival, saying it is a culinary habit practiced only by some businesses and people. Public pressure stopped another dog meat festival in eastern Zhejiang province, which was cancelled in 2011 despite dating back hundreds of years.
