MCLC: Olivers Stone slams Chinese film industry (2,3)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Rujie Wang <RWANG at wooster.edu>
Subject: Oliver Stone slams Chinese film industry (2)
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Actually Stone could and perhaps should be more careful before he lashes
out; films such as To Live, Peacock, Hibiscus Town, Blue Kite, Farewell My
Concubine, Aftershock, etc. (and many novels) have already begun to call
into question the figure of Mao and significantly discredited the ideals
of Cultural Revolution. If Mao is left standing, he stands on shaky
grounds at best. It takes time to rewrite history; think of how long or
how much effort and imagination it took U.S. directors and novelists to
address issues such as McCarthyism and the encampment of Japanese
Americans during the WWII. Mississippi Burning, The Crucibles, Come to see
the paradise, Snow falling on Cedars, etc.

It would not take too long before it's on-limits to recast or even
demonize Mao in art and literature, especially when big money is to be
made by doing that. The current economic transformation in China will
inevitably lead to political change, which then will in turn further free
the fields of art and literature. What Stone does not understand when he
blames Chinese directors for not daring to remake history and Mao through
films is this: it is not a question of daring; it's a question of the
speed of economic growth and development for which there has to be
accompanying ideological narratives. China's planned economy, as opposed
to the free market economy, still occupies over 50% of the total national
economy. The debate between China's neoliberalism and the New Left will go
on for a while.

Rujie

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From: Bruce Robinson <brucecr at att.net>
Subject: Oliver Stone slams Chinese film industry (3)

I think it's a rhetorical "we," Sean. "We" are not obliged to lift up his
banner, and we don't have to like his movies. On the other hand, he says
nothing particularly wrong, does he? He is repeating the generic criticism,
a sentiment shared by many of his Chinese counterparts, and there is some
value in high profile repetitions of the "slam," is there not?

--Bruce R.