“FromFuManchutoKungFuPandachroniclesthestrugglewithinHollywoodfilmtocometogripswithAmericanambivalencetowardChinaasanationagainstthebackdropofitscurrenteconomicandgeopoliticalascendancyontheworldstage.ReachingbacktoearlyfilmportrayalsofChinatown,Christianmissionaries,warlords,andperversevillainsbentonworlddomination,Greenemovesfromthe‘yellowperil’tothe‘redmenace’assheexaminesWWIIandColdWarcinema.Shealsoexplorestherangeoffilmfantasiescirculatingtoday,fromfilmsaboutTibettoChineseAmericanindependentfeaturesandtheglobalpopularityofkungfucartoons.Thisaccessiblebookallowsthesefilmstospeaktothepost9-11/OccupyWallStreetgenerationandmakesawelcomecontributiontodebatesaboutHollywoodOrientalismandtransnationalChinesefilmconnections.”
—GinaMarchetti,authorofTheChineseDiasporaonAmericanScreens:Race,Sex,andCinema
“Asignificantworkoffilmography,NaomiGreene’sbookexplorestheexotic,attimesmenacing,butalwaysfantasticimagesofChinaflickeringonthesilverscreenoftheAmericanimagination.Theauthorwriteslucidly,jargon-free,andwiththesure-footednessofaseasonedscholar.”
—YunteHuang,authorofCharlieChan:TheUntoldStoryoftheHonorableDetectiveandHisRendezvouswithAmericanHistory
Throughoutthetwentiethcentury,AmericanfilmmakershaveembracedcinematicrepresentationsofChina.BeginningwithD.W.Griffith’ssilentclassicBrokenBlossoms(1919)andendingwiththecomputer-animatedKungFuPanda(2008),thisbookexploresChina’schangingroleintheAmericanimagination.Takingviewersintozonesthatfrequentlyresistlogicalexpressionormoreorthodoxhistoricalinvestigation,thefilmssuggestthewelterofintenseandconflictingimpulsesthathavesurroundedChina.TheymakeclearthatChinahasoftenservedastheveryembodimentof“otherness”—akindofyardstickorcloudymirrorofAmericaitself.ItisamirrorthatreflectsnotonlyhowAmericansseetheracial“other”butalsoalargerlandscapeofracial,sexual,andpoliticalperceptionsthattouchonthewaysinwhichthenationenvisionsitselfanditsroleintheworld.
IntheUnitedStates,theexceptionalemotionalchargethatimbuesimagesofChinahastendedtoswingviolentlyfrompositivetonegativeandbackagain:Chinahasbeenlovedand—asisgenerallythecasetoday—feared.Usingfilmtotracethesedramaticfluctuations,authorNaomiGreenerelatesthemtothelargerarcofhistoricalandpoliticalchange.Suggestingthatfilmicimagesbothreflectandfuelbroadersocialandculturalimpulses,shearguesthattheyrevealaconstanttensionordialecticbetweenthe“self”andthe“other.”Significantly,withtheimportantexceptionoffilmsmadebyChineseorChineseAmericandirectors,theChineseotherisalmostinvariablyportrayedintermsoftheAmericanself.Placedinabroadercontext,thisethnocentrismisrelatedbothtoanever-presentsenseofAmericanexceptionalismandtoaManicheanworldviewthatperceivesothercountriesasfriendsorenemies
PANDA RACE GRIFFITH IMAGES Sex AMERICAN CHINA FILM FREE
