An Analysis of the Cultural Invasion of American Blockbusters into Chinese Culture in the 21st Century： A Comparative Study

植小芳

【Abstract】In the 21st century， film， is an important carrier of modern art. American blockbusters have exerted far-reaching influence on the development of Chinese film. Some people think that the import of American blockbusters is a kind of cultural invasion against Chinese culture. In this paper， it is concluded that American culture exerts influence on Chinese culture by analyzing how the cultural invasion is processing and the countermeasures taken by Chinese Government.

【Key words】American blockbusters； cultural invasion； countermeasure

1. Introduction

In the 21st century， western countries represented by the United States have been systematically expanding their influences upon the world in the multicultural community（Chen， 1998）. Through the blockbusters， the United States starts its hegemonic culture and communicates its social and political philosophy both visually and invisibly.

This paper， in terms of Chinas national interest mainly discusses the ideology in American movies and analyses the ideological influence on China， especially in the background of the 21st century and gives suggestions of how Chinese government should deal with the ideological impact from America.

2. Literature review

Against the backdrop of accelerated globalization in recent years， studies on the influence of American movies on Chinese culture spring up like mushroom.

The United States set its foot into China with few movies in 1990s， but soon occupied Chinas film market without taking long（Wang， 2005）. This situation provides very detailed information for the further study （Li &Liu， 2005）.

American films is no lack of bright spots， but it lacks a concern of Chinese own culture on the whole after entering Chinese film market.

In general， the studies on American movies re-entering China， especially from the perspective of cultural communication， media and social research， have no monograph about it， in addition to several articles

3. Analysis

In order to figure out the actual influence of American blockbuster culture in China， a questionnaire was given out to some ordinary people around to quantitatively analyze the attractions of American blockbusters as well as the deficiency of Chinese films.

According to the survey， it can be seen that there is a big gap between Chinese films and American blockbusters. When it comes to the theme， the script， the film director and actor of public or application for production， Chinas film industry has a lot to learn from its counterpart.

3.1 Democratic Concept

In American films， from presidency to all levels of parliament memberships， they are often made fun of. This situation which reflects an equal American society in democracy， human rights and other aspects of politics has brought hope for Chinese people who have lived under the heavy pressure for a long time. They worshiped American policies and regarded America as a heaven of “freedom” and “equality”.

3.2 Family

Family is considered very important in Chinese family culture； however， the traditional Chinese concept of being obedient seems to be greatly hit by the plot that most American people are independent from their parents and they like to solve their problems by themselves. Chinese young people begin to pursue independence， but it is followed by the side effects of the expansion of premarital cohabitation. Now， more Chinese young generations do not take the monogamous marriage concept.

3.3 Eroticism and Violence

In American movies， the plot is always filled with a lot of eroticism and violence. Such evil side as violence， incest and crime almost exists in most of the movies. The American sound film classification system can keep teenagers away from these kind movies， but the system is not sound in China. Therefore， teenagers could get to know improper information. And this situation could well account for the increasing rate of Chinese juvenile delinquency.

4. Discussion

4.1 Cultural Industry Chain and Cultural Products Market

The fact that American movies can dominate the whole world is contributed by its mature and special chain operation mode. In order to achieve this goal more effectively， Hollywood has gradually developed a set of effective mechanism for film production， based on the star system with the model of pipeline production while ensuring the quality and the production of a large film to cater to the market requirements.

Cinema is the typical pattern for American blockbusters to release a film showing. Large theatrical companies， such as Regal， AMC， Showcase， United Artists etc， occupy four out of five of the American box office.

4.2 Support from the Government

In 1964， the United States Congress Foreign Affairs Committee published the report To Win the Cold War： the Ideology of US on the Offensive， and the report pointed out that in foreign affairs， some goals could be achieved better through direct contact with foreign people. The US government not only provided political support， but also issued a series of preferential measures in terms of economy， such as lowering taxes and issuing a foreign preferential exchange rate， interfering with the Hollywood commercial negotiations with other countries. Hollywood with the support of the government soon boosted the film industry production， distribution and projection of pool and quickly dominated the film market in other countries.

4.3 Internationalizing Chinese Ethnic Culture

In order to make people all over the world understand the Chinese culture more intuitively and easily， China is supposed to take advantage of this factor to make new interpretations of Chinas cultural products in English. In todays society， traditional image does not suit Chinese peoples increasing sense of national pride and psychological requirements of showing self. While the Hollywood has seized the opportunity and created a new image of the giant panda that is interesting and full of performance consciousness， The Kung Fu Panda has made a blow all over the world. This phenomenon is worth pondering and using for reference.

5. Conclusion

The forms and strategic features of American cultural invasion， which are analyzed above and reflected in American movies， are only the tip of the iceberg. It is necessary to strengthen Chinese cultural transmission for the prosperity of our country. To enhance China's comprehensive national strength and improve the international influence of our country， it is necessary to attach importance to cultural diplomacy and strengthen cultural communication. In foreign exchange， China must keep the right attitude， combine introducing with going out and take correct cultural dissemination strategy to spread Chinese culture. In order to resist invasion of foreign culture in China， make achievements in the cultural spreading is fatal.

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