MCLC: Lei Feng flops at the box office (1,2)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Hongmei Yu <yuho01 at luther.edu>
Subject: Lei Feng flops at the box office (1)
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Many thanks for sharing this.

Since part of my research is related with the Lei Feng spirit, I want to
point out that an important film about Lei Feng is not mentioned in the
news coverage, 离开雷锋的日子 Days without Lei Feng, produced in 1996 as a
government-sponsored main melody film. It speaks directly to the moral
decay in contemporary China. Instead of representing Lei Feng as a cult or
myth that calls for emulation, the main character in this film is Lei
Feng's comrade-in-arms, Qiao Anshan, 乔安山 who accidentally knocked down
Lei 
Feng and caused his death. The box office success of this film actually
reveals that China needs Lei Feng more than ever. However, when the
socialist cliché no longer works, as one of the interviewees said, how to
adopt new propaganda angles to attract audiences is of crucial importance,
and Days without Lei Feng is a telling example.

Hongmei Yu
Luther College

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From: Martin Winter <dujuan99 at gmail.com>
Subject: Lei Feng flops at the box office (2)

The recent reports on Lei Feng and his failure at the box office have not
pointed out the most important context of the Lei Feng story. His army
years coincided with the Great Leap famine. Selfless and unquestioning
devotion was promoted, expected and practiced all through the 1960s and
1970s. Succeeded by disillusionment. Going capitalist. And so on. It's
more than a silly propaganda tale.

Martin