Foreign Media: Panda’s Kung Fu Used for ‘Cultural Invasion’

On June 18, the “Lianhe Zaobao” published an article entitled “Kung Fu + Panda = ?” According to the author, kung fu is the quintessence of the Chinese people, and the panda is a totem symbol of China (just like the dragon). The only common point these two creatures share is that they are characteristic of China. But, no matter what, the two can’t be combined. Nevertheless, American movies do put them together. They insisted on making a commercial movie called “Kung Fu Panda,” which has become, as the Chinese tradition says, a “Fortune Cat.”*

Kung Fu + Panda = What? Answer: a kung fu panda! That’s the right answer, and also the wrong answer.

Kung fu is the quintessence of the Chinese people, and the panda is a totem symbol of China (just like the dragon).

　　

The only common point these two kinds of things share is that they are characteristic of China, but, no matter what, these two can’t be combined. Nevertheless, American movie producers dared to recklessly put them together, insisting on making this commercial freak of a movie called “Kung Fu Panda,” which has become a Fortune Cat.

　　

On the June 17, I heard a BBC news broadcast report which said that the “Kung Fu Panda 2” cartoon movie was a hot seller in China, and that the Hollywood movie tycoons were ecstatic again. The Chinese movie market, which has a population of 1.3 billion, gave Hollywood another spring. The article also said that if “each Chinese person could spend just one dollar to see a Hollywood movie” that would be tremendous. So making movies that have Chinese cultural elements has already become a successful model for entering the Chinese market. In the future, Hollywood movies will use more Chinese actors and technicians to cater to the Chinese. The Chinese movie market hasn’t yet been fully opened. Each year, only 20 foreign movies are allowed to be shown publicly, so, although the Chinese movie market is gigantic, the Hollywood movie industry continues to stand there and drool over it.

When “Kung Fu Panda” hit the market several years ago, it was said to have “gotten away” with ¥180 million in the Chinese market. This is a large number in itself, but in relation to the immensity of the Chinese market, this number didn’t come close to satisfying the appetites of American movie producers.

“Kung Fu Panda 2” is even stronger. It’s estimated that box office sales will reach ¥1 billion.

This cartoon movie is a hot seller in China and, of course, it has also attracted a lot of controversy on the Chinese Internet. Most of the controversy can be divided into two groups: One group believes that this is an American movie that misappropriates Chinese culture to implement a “cultural invasion.” This group is calling for boycotts of the movie. However, the other group believes the use of Chinese elements in American movies is a victory for Chinese culture. It’s a successful case of “exports being sold in the home country.” It isn’t strange for Chinese audiences to have these two opposing points of view. If they see it as cultural invasion, it’s not just “Kung Fu Panda” but all Hollywood movies. That Chinese people love to watch Hollywood movies is an undisputed fact and is a universal phenomenon throughout the whole world. The “misappropriation of Chinese culture” statement is also worth debating. If the Chinese believe that in China there is no such thing as a “kung fu panda,” then it’s not necessary to consider it Chinese culture in the first place.

　　

Shanghai went through many years of struggle and yet has already announced that it wants to build a Disneyland. Now that is truly moving American culture right to our own front door. From a nationalist perspective, this is exactly what ”opening the door to a dangerous enemy” means. Twenty or thirty years ago, when the Paris, France Disneyland had just been completed, well-educated, haughty France had plenty of visionaries who issued their fare share of sharp-tongued discussions, calling the park an American cultural invasion. It seems that we actually haven’t heard any cultural invasion arguments about Shanghai wanting to build a Disneyland. Maybe it’s because the Hong Kong Disneyland has already shown Chinese people what Disneyland is like. If Chinese tourists hadn’t liked it, then the Hong Kong Disneyland would have closed down a long time ago. Disneyland is certainly one of American’s soft powers, and a symbol of America’s recreational culture. If the future Shanghai Disneyland brings in too many Chinese cultural characteristics in order to cater to the Chinese people, the Chinese may claim that this, too, isn’t right — just like when Starbucks sold the Longjing and Biluochun green tea, Starbucks destroyed its own reputation.

As for regarding “Kung Fu Panda,” which combines various Chinese characteristics, as a Chinese cultural “export being sold in the home country,” it has already been rejected by some as belonging to the Ah Q mentality.† Yet, as long as it’s not deliberately disgraceful or shameful, things made by the American Hollywood movie apparatus using Chinese elements to its advantage could help to popularize Chinese culture to some degree — much like when the Hua Mulan story was made into a cartoon motion picture several years ago. After Miss Hua Mulan was transformed into Mulan, the cartoon, more people in every part of the world learned this ancient Chinese story.

The fact is that things concocted by Americans using other people’s cultural elements will always deviate from the originals. The way the Chinese think, if you want to make a cartoon movie with a panda as the leading role, you absolutely cannot turn the panda into a martial arts champion because this has nothing whatsoever to do with the panda’s image or what the panda represents culturally; there are no relating factors between the two. Yet, Americans are able to make a movie such as “Kung Fu Panda” precisely because Americans aren’t confined to the cultural implications behind the panda. Nor are they limited by the image of the panda. They are able to let their imaginations run wild. We can see the shadow of champions, of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, in the kung fu panda. Some of the Chinese feel that it’s ridiculous, but some feel that it’s novel and amusing.

If someday Hollywood were to make “Journey to the West,” and “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” into cartoon movies, and if they were popular in China and around the world, the Chinese would like it on one hand but would dislike it on the other hand. The good thing would be that Chinese culture would be popularized to the world, thanks to American soft power. On the other hand, the question would have to be asked: Why can’t China popularize its own true original Chinese characteristics?

　　

Two or three years ago I was just curious to see if “Kung Fu Panda” would be any good, so I went to see it. Although I didn’t feel repulsed after I saw it, I’m also not interested in going to see the sequel because, for me, kung fu is kung fu. Pandas are pandas. You can’t add kung fu to a panda, and a panda can’t be mixed in with kung fu.

　　

So, the answer is Kung Fu + Panda = renminbi.

*In mainland China, the word for panda is literally translated as “bear cat.” In Taiwan, the panda is considered more a cat with bear like features and is called the opposite, a “cat bear.”

†An Ah Q mentality is one of willful delusion, specifically, a reluctance to admit defeat.