90
The CFEIC's policy of selecting films which show unflattering sides of American life is motivated by ideological reasons. It can be seen as an expression of the ideological antagonism China has maintained toward capitalist countries. Though the pitch of such antagonism has been lowered since 1978, its impact has not been wiped out completely. As films can reflect social life very closely, and as they are very popular among the Chinese population, the depiction of American life in American movies, once they reach the Chinese audiences, can largely determine what the people think the United States is like. A positive image of the United States in films can possibly contradict the image of capitalist societies which have been portrayed in China as inferior to socialist societies. Besides, motivations to balance the positive image the United States government created through other channels also played a role in such a policy.
Aside from political considerations, the state of the art of Chinese movie making also loomed large in choosing particular American movies. As the Cultural Revolution caused a serious setback in movie making, it was not possible to import foreign movies too much ahead of what the Chinese audiences could accept or the established conception of what movies should be. For example, a picture of two people kissing in an English movie which appeared on the back of the fifth issue of Popular Films in 1979 caused a six-month long debate in that magazine. Most of the people who were for it said that kissing was a natural expression of the love between the characters. Therefore, the magazine should not be blamed for printing that picture. Though it ended with an apparent victory by the more liberal-minded, the debate shows careful treatment of the importation of movies was by no means unnecessary. Out of the same considerations, movies with explicit sexual scenes are not imported.
34
The last consideration influencing which movies are chosen for import is the popularity of the movies. As young people make up the major part of the movie audiences, efforts were made to meet their taste. In this case, First Blood is a good example. With its scenes of conflict in American society, and being free from sex scenes, (plus a temporary consideration, the negative image of the Vietnamese depicted), its violence would suit the young audiences, and therefore bring profits, also a consideration of increasing importance, though the CFEIC admitted it was a poor movie. Conversely, the film Miracle Worker, a much more highly regarded movie, without scenes of violence and much suspense, was not nearly as popular as First Blood. As a result, the CFEIC had
90
The CFEIC's policy of selecting films which show unflattering sides of American life is motivated by ideological reasons. It can be seen as an expression of the ideological antagonism China has maintained toward capitalist countries. Though the pitch of such antagonism has been lowered since 1978, its impact has not been wiped out completely. As films can reflect social life very closely, and as they are very popular among the Chinese population, the depiction of American life in American movies, once they reach the Chinese audiences, can largely determine what the people think the United States is like. A positive image of the United States in films can possibly contradict the image of capitalist societies which have been protrayed in China as inferior to socialist societies. Besides, motivations to balance the positive image the United States government created through other channels also played a role in such a policy.
Aside from political considerations, the state of the art of Chinese movie making also loomed large in choosing particular American movies. As the Cultural Revolution caused a serious setback in movie making, it was not possible to import foreign movies too much ahead of what the Chinese audiences could accept or the established conception of what movies should be. For example, a picture of two people kissing in an English movie which appeared on the back of the fifth issue of Popular Films in 1979 caused a six-month long debate in that magazine. Most of the people who were for it said that kissing was a natural expression of the love between the characters. Therefore, the magazine should not be blamed for printing that picture. Though it ended with an apparent victory by the more liberal-minded, the debate shows careful treatment of the importation of movies was by no means unnecessary. Out of the same considerations, movies with explicit sexual scenes are not imported.
34
The last consideration influencing which movies are chosen for import is the popularity of the movies. As young people make up the major part of the movie audiences, efforts were made to meet their taste. In this case, First Blood is a good example. With its scenes of conflict in American society, and being free from sex scenes, (plus a temporary consideration, the negative image of the Vietnamese depicted), its violence would suit the young audiences, and therefore bring profits, also a consideration of increasing importance, though the CFEIC admitted it was a poor movie. Conversely, the film Miracle Worker, a much more highly regarded moive, without scenes of violence and much suspense, was not nearly as popular as First Blood. As a result, the CFEIC had
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