Recently, I went to see the movie Avatar. I wanted to see it when I was in China, but the opening day was delayed and I had to come back to the US before enjoying the film. Anyway, CHCH natural club afforded me the opportunity to watch this great film in IMAX. It was truly impressive, and I heard the same comments from my friends in China. Surprisingly, Chinese government pulled the 2D version of Avatar off the screen for the opening of Confucius.
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Personally, I love that film and I have heard about its popularity in China. Check out this video clip and see how popular avatar is in China. I also read this article on The New York Times. This article is quite comprehensive: it includes a lot of information from many ways. First, it concludes briefly the popularity of Avatar in China, then the author start to write about the decision made by Chinese authorities to shorten the planned schedule for Avatar. This current event has brought up active discussions in the country. Not hard to imagine, most of common Chinese people were not happy with this interference of government. The author gives some idea from Chinese educators, officials, and then he tries to understand the reason for which Chinese government restricts the movie. The main reason, according to the article is that China is trying to favor its own film industry; however, this decision is considered stupid and ineffective. The article then shows the explanation of state film bureau which argues that 2D version was not as popular as 3D and IMAX versions are. The author immediately retorts his arguments by giving convincing data that shows the landslide victory of Avatar over Confucius. This makes the actor of Confucius’s prediction, which says the Confucius movie will challenge Avatar, seem to be very ridiculous. Additionally, the article ends with another anecdote of Avatar: in Hunan Province, people were so touched by the film that they renamed mountain peaks using the name of “Hallelujah” mountains in Avatar. This instance shows another aspect of the impact that Avatar has in China.
I totally agree with the article. It is quite objective about this move. I consent about the opinion that government should not interfere with the cinema only because of marketing preference and educational purpose instead of the quality of the restricted film itself. This is not a good reason and it is not going to work. I particularly agree that the decision will not reduce Avatar fan, and it will not increase people’s interest in Confucius, neither. People who bought the ticket ahead for Avatar would need to give them back to the cinema and get their money back. This is very disappointing and it will probably stir up the negative attitude toward the propaganda for traditional studies. Especially, since that movie is about Confucius, which is favored by monarchs over the Chinese history because of its feudal thoughts, this government’s decision will not help the propaganda at all; on the contrary, it is more likely to set off people’s repugnance.
In conclusion, I don’t think this is a wise implement. What I think they should do is to delay the opening of Confucius, instead of arbitrarily pull Avatar off the screen. The government is taking too much control over national media: it tries hard to confine foreign programs. However, this limitation is already making people frustrated. The government should improve our own national products in order to attract more spectators, instead of simply block our vision, hoping nobody would pay attention to our media products, which have relatively poor quality and which are full of imitations.
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