China’s Image in U.S.-China Films through the Lens of Orientalism

Yu-Liang Chang, Du Sheng Tsung, Chen Ying Hsuan

Abstract

Recent U.S.-China films have found mutual interests in the Chinese billion-dollar box office market. However, the inherited ideology and value in the films often represent an extended diplomatic battle for hegemony between the U.S. and China. This study investigates eight U.S.-China films that embody the battle for hegemony between western and eastern cultures. Behind the large amount of Chinese elements and symbols, a traditional imagination of “The Other” as influenced by traditional Hollywood movies, which negatively depicts China’s image through the lens of orientalism, persists.

 

Keywords: China’s Image, Hollywood Movies, Orientalism, U.S.-China Films

 


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