From 2010 to 2013, there were several foreign movies containing Chinese elements (story, set in China or Chinese actors); representative ones include Iron Man 3 (Beijing Yongding Gate Tower, Fan Bingbing, Wang Xuexqin), 007: Skyfall (Shanghai and Macau), Looper (Xuqing and Shanghai), Cloud Atlas (Zhou Xun), Transformers 2 (Chinese milk), Resident Evil (Li Bingbing), My Way (Fan Bing Bing), Kung Fu Panda 2, Avatar (Zhangjiajie landscape). This does not even include Mission Impossible 3 being set in Shanghai and the ancient town of Xitang, plus the movie 2012 shot in the year 2009 proclaims the last safe place after the apocalypse to be Snow Mountain in Tibet and the earth quakes of Lama and Wenchuan. Apart from these examples, Hollywood bestseller Transformers 4 is set to be filmed in China and intends to star a number of Chinese cast members. To enter the Chinese market and to score higher on box office sales, an increasing number of overseas movies are including Chinese elements, going so far as to produce two different versions tailored for the foreign and Chinese markets. Recently the cinematic release of Iron Man 3 received criticism due to containing Chinese elements that felt unnatural to a Chinese audience.
Actually, the background of these Chinese elements and higher box office sales is a new type of Orientalism. It differs from the classic theory of Orientalism by Edward Said, since following the economic rise of the East, the contradiction of exoticism (where people are attracted by Qipaos, harems, veils, geishas, the idea of exoticism based on Eastern women) and hostility (focusing on its threat and disgust, such as tyrants, fundamentalism, terrorists, vilifying Eastern men) has decreased. In this process the hostile element has disappeared,has created an impression of China in the minds of people, that is based on kindness, depoliticized and increasingly positive. In the end, there is only one reason for this; the Chinese market.
Collision: Eastern women as sexual objects
After the kungfu generation of Bruce Li, Chou Yun-Fat, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, the Chinese elements in foreign movies, especially Hollywood movies, were mainly objectified Chinese women, presenting them as sex objects, thereby returning to a pre-1949 image of Chinese Qipaos-wearing delicate Eastern women with fans. From Kong Li, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, to Xu Qing, Fan Bingbing, Li Bingbing, Zhou Xun, their bodies satisfy the imagination of an Eastern beauty ideal of gracel and modesty, just like the expectations of Eastern men towards Western women’s loose attitude towards nakedness based on covers of Playboy. However, the essence of both can be described by one word: lust.
The image of China in Hollywood movies may very well reflect the way they imagine China. Scholar Sun Meng, in his article “To see and to be seen: Chinese women and peeping pleasures”, relies on colonial theory and power analysis to point out that, in Hollywood movies, Chinese women are represented as having infinite diversity and generic similarity. But these images are generated from an idea of the Orient held within collective imagination. She says that, in the cultural field, femininity, women’s faces and bodies, have always held strategic value. Because of geopolitical factors, oriental femininity in Hollywood movies is often codified, and is seen as symbolic. In the movies, the feminine body, 她的任意一个部位, is already the text itself. 在这里，我们不仅看到了一中作为生产与再生产的文化的表象化发展趋势，而且，我们还看到了一种建立在视觉经验上的文化、知识及其实践。
Of course, over the foundations of Oriental Aesthetics, Hollywood has added a layer of imagination and consumerism. Zhang Ziyi’s Oscar winning movie ‘Crouching dragon hidden tiger’ is a typical example: in the imagination of Oriental women as constructed by Western media, there is generally a dichotomy between physical weakness and hot-temperedness. The actress, Yu Jiaolong, is strong, martially accomplished, and sexy, but ‘as the plot develops, she often loses her original vitality, and is depicted on the screen as defeated or weak’. This seriously aligns with the Western imagination of Chinese women, and reflects the way Western male gaze looks at Oriental femininity: gentle graciousness and sexual charm are in contradiction with each other, and coexist. The former is particularly manifest in Xu Qing’s performance in ‘The Ring Messenger’: in particular, the role played by Xu Qing becomes that of a gentle counterpart to the character played by Bruce Willis in the movie, speaking in quiet, comforting ways, and always wearing a smile on her face, she fully represents the soft Oriental woman imagined by Western males. In “Resident Evil 5: punishment”, Li Bingbing plays the mysterious Ada Wang. With a sexy red dress and clean-cut short hair, she looks amazing in the film, but more importantly, her spicy body and quick-witted spirit make her the embodiment of the sexy Oriental woman as imagined by the West.
The Depression of Old Imperialism and the Image of China
007: Skyfall, which was screened in cineas last year (beginning of this year on the Chinese mainland), is a profoundly English movie. Apart from showing a country nostalgic for their past as a great empire and initiators of the industrial revolution, the movie contains an important image of China, subconsciously exaggerating China’s uprising and its challenge to the current structure of the world. The brilliant lights of Shanghai by night and the splendour of Macau astounds viewers, presenting them with a Shanghai that is seemingly more beautiful than London. Especially the part set in Macau’s casinos, is brimming with splendid China red and Chinese dragons. In the movie, Bond crosses the river on a dragon boat traveling between casinos. The reflection of red lanterns is truly beautiful, representing the mysterious atmosphere of the East (actually these scenes were not filmed in Macau at all, but rather in the film studios near London, UK). In addition, even though French Bond Girl Berenice Marlohe is not an Eastern girl, as she appears in a Qipao-type dress in the Chinese-style casino, she strongly evokes images of Eastern feminine radiance and lingering charm.
Amidst all this brilliance, there is terror and death. In Shanghai it is the life-threateningly tall skyscrapers where one could fall to one’s death, in Macau it is two scary Komodo dragons, that are waiting to devour anyone who falls from the bridge (a metaphorical nod to Chinese dragons). Bevor Javier Bardem turns into a villain, he was a member of MI:6 working in Hong Kong under British rule. He even played a part in the peaceful return of Hong Kong to the Chinese administration. In this movie Bond prefers old-fashioned cars over latest technology, and believes that flying knives and boxing are more useful than guns, even using his father’s old shotgun from their countryside home to beat the enemy. All these images and an elderly couple that saves his life correspond with the theme of the movie, Skyfall, and speak of endless nostalgia for the previous grand empire. While the English people live in the hell of a crumbling empire, China on the other hand resembles heaven on earth.
This is the China presented in Hollywood movies. In Looper Shanghai is a wonderful place where the main character can find peace, an image of a great China,with an Oriental Pearl Tower that reaches the clouds, many modern buildings, a picturesque Huangpu river, ancient alleyways and the fashionable Bund. The director Ryan Johnson speaks highly of Shanghai: “Shanghai’s unqiue characteristic is its open-mindedness, its sci-fi architecture, which gives the movie a special Eastern taste, and corresponds with the Eastern philosophy of the movie, giving it a refreshing element.” This is the China represented in only a few Hollywood movies, a China that is the centre of the world and an influential country, making it the primary focus of an entire movie. The entire movie seems to be sending the same message as Skyfall, the English live in a crumbling hell, while the Chinese live in heaven. American Imperialism has no future and is already failing, while China is a heaven filled with happy female entertainers, who do not see the fall of their country.
《钢铁侠3》则来得最为直截了当，甚至都不用端着装着了。片中中国元素的四分钟被内地观众戏称为“中国特供”：王学圻饰演的吴医生在中国版里有三场戏，一场是他在电话里警告托尼的助手要注意他的病情，背后的电视里钢铁侠在北京前门接受中国少年儿童热情欢呼；一场是他为托尼施心脏手术；一场是他与范冰冰饰演的护士讨论托尼的手术情况，范冰冰的角色甚至没有名字。有观众与影片北美版做了一番比较，得出的结论是北美版王学圻也只是跟主角托尼打了个“你好”的招呼、还有一场群戏被放在背景，范冰冰则彻底消失在国际版里，而保留最多的中国元素是“大彩电和手机广告”。看来，比中国演员要拉风的“中国元素”，大概就是就是几个中国品牌的植入了。中联重科的挖掘机出现在拯救钢铁侠宅邸废墟的现场，吴医生桌上的“谷粒多”（在国际版里被删除，据悉，该奶品的植入合约中明确要求需要以角色饮用、正面展示包装的形式露出，但好莱坞电影公司并不允许在美国没有上市出售的饮品出现在主角手上，但华人例外，因此《变形金刚2》里华裔演员手中有舒化奶）。
但正如上文所讲述到的，中国的崛起，很大程度上还是器物上的，无论是让西方流连忘返的建筑与自然风光，还是强势插入的中国品牌，其实缺乏文化上（特别是1949年以后的文化）的真正感召。这不仅仅是西方人的偏见，更是自身软实力的不过硬。难怪2009年的《2012》会在片中插入那一句逗乐全场中国人的 “这样的（造诺亚方舟）任务只有交给中国才能完成”“表扬”语。
The rise of a ‘New Orientalism’
1984年，米高梅MGM公司拍摄的战争片《赤色黎明》(Red Dawn),假想前苏联共产主义军队入侵美国。时隔15年的今天，MGM又重拍《赤色黎明》，前“苏联红军”，更替为“人民解放军”。引发了一片争议与关注，被华人群体严正抗议，从而将这次的入侵美国的国家替换成北朝鲜。还有2012年《黑衣人3》在全球公映。该片在中国国内上映时，反面角色中国人和主人公在纽约唐人街枪战的情节被删除。可见，对中国的形象塑造，已经不得不转变思路与作风了，连一些细枝末节也被处理得干干净净，比如《碟中谍3》上海、西塘民居窗前的晾衣杆上的衣服、西塘居民搓麻将的镜头等，都被删减。
一个庞大的中国电影市场，成为人人虎视眈眈香饽饽，对于海外片商特别是好莱坞片商来说，宁可被本国的观众看不起，也不敢得罪中国市场，和大把大把的人民币过不去。票房成为指挥棒，在逼迫片商们正视东方，国家关系间的“政治正确”大行其道，其他的一切靠边站。当然，大量的中国元素在海外电影中出现，出了中国经济上的崛起与电影市场的吸引力，也与政策有关。2012年8月，国家广电总局副局长张丕民在光明日报社举行的“电影频道电影研讨会”上表示：“现在有很多国外电影，一个完全的外国故事，（中国方面）投点小钱，加上点中国元素，带上个中国演员，就叫‘合拍片’了，其实这只能算是‘贴拍片’”，他指出“合拍片”新政策要求：“中方出资比例一般不少于三分之一；必须有中国演员担任主要角色；需要在中国取景。”这个政策的限定加上经济和市场的三元素，将来必然会有越来越多的中国元素片子出现。
于是，曾经很多人忧心忡忡“文化入侵”，或者学术意义上葛兰西所谓的文化霸权，正在发生着吊诡的变化。意识形态上差异被文化全球化的同化，泛政治化成为主流，“文化入侵”与“文化霸权”事实上在电影的表现越来越少彰显了。相反，对中国及中国文化示好，展露无遗，甚至示好得有些驴唇不对马嘴，反而倒令中国观众不满了，如《钢铁侠3》与《环形使者》的中国特供版刻意穿插中国元素，观众就不买账。在大部分的电影中，中国的反派角色越来越少，中国负面的形象展示也日渐减少，在剧本或后期剪辑中，为了顺利进入中国市场，也会主动做各种挥刀自宫。
但尽管如此，这种示好与中外有别的差异电影版本，都在说明一个十分明显的问题：一种新的东方主义正在电影与电影之外形成，印度则有《贫民窟里的百万富翁》作为案例。赛义德还在《东方主义》中说：东方几乎是被欧洲人凭空创造出来的地方，自古以来就代表着罗曼蒂克、异国情调、美丽的风景、难忘的回忆、非凡的经历（可以归结为异域：关注他者具有吸引力的一面，如闺房、面纱、艺妓等，东方女性被描绘成为放荡、被动且颇具异域风情）。但在近代以来，这种东方被帝国主义的坚船利炮撕毁，一个积贫积弱的东方形象被塑成。在《文化与帝国主义》中，赛义德认为它是一种西方人藐视东方文化，并任意虚构“东方文化”的一种偏见性的思维方式或认识体系。他以为这种东方主义的目的是顺应西方对东方进行殖民扩张的需要，进而制造出西方全面优于东方的神话，为西方侮辱、侵略、征服东方提供相应的理论依据，以使西方对东方的罪行披上一层合理化、正义化的外衣。
但到了21世纪的今天，这种东方主义已经销声匿迹了，至少在“敌视”（专注于他者的威胁性和可憎性如暴君、原教旨主义、恐怖主义等，东方男性成为堕落无耻且被妖魔化的对象）方面削弱了。在政治与意识形态让位之后，是经济与市场的风光无限，随之而来新的东方主义却冉冉升起。在很多的海外电影中，一起构筑了这样的一个新东方主义的形态：东方尤其是中国，富裕但不一定文明、美丽但并非美好。新的一种东方形象构建了，它不再是贫困落后愚昧之地，而是像暴发户式的让西方人又爱又恨，同时，这些富起来的东方人敏感而易于歇斯底里。因此，他们就刻意营造一副东方人喜欢的东方形象，展示给东方人观看，然后让他们能够兴高采烈地走入电影院，贡献数以亿计的票房。
于是，尽管各个电影的文本上明显的意识形态已经被掩盖了，但电影的幕后，依然在喃喃细语着“意识形态的腹语术”。让•路易•博德里认为：意识形态腹语术是指意识形态并不直接言说或强制，但它不断地讲述和言说，只不过是成功地隐藏起其言说的机制和行为，成为某种不被感知的言说。这在《007：大破天幕杀机》、《环形使者》中有意有无地能够闪现。这种暗藏意识形态的腹语术与新的东方主义，让每一部刻意凸显“中国元素”的电影背后，都似乎在赌气式地说：现在你们总满意了吧？
刊2013年第12期《南风窗》“文化”栏目，题为《另一种“东方主义”——好莱坞电影的中国元素》，刊发有删改，此为原稿。
http://www.nfcmag.com/article/4112.html
Editor: He Yunqi.
