Role of intelligentsia needs to be redefined
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About 10 years ago, I was talking with a textile merchant about the Chinese movie industry. He asked how much the annual revenue was, and was astonished when I told him it was "about 500 million to 800 million yuan ($72-116 million)".
It was less than the turnover of his company alone.
There is probably no better illustration of the sorry state of the movie industry at that time.
However, things have been looking up since then: Last year, the turnover was 6 billion yuan ($879 million).
This industry always has its high points at the beginning of new years, for example, this year. The audience seems to care little about the quality of movies as the new year approaches: All kinds of movies are welcome, never mind the quality.
The Chinese audience requires little more than humour and fun from movies, merely escapist fare, and that's partly the reason why the movie industry is booming today.
The Chinese movie industry gives us the feeling that booming box-office receipts have become its sole pursuits. A movie should not be burdened by confessions or ideas; fun has become its only function.
However, should it be so? Take Avatar, for example. Even commercial successes of Hollywood have their own values and philosophy. Of course, Hollywood ideals are expressed with mass appeal.
From this point of view, our standards are too low. The problem is, there are always voices insisting Chinese movies should be seen on the world stage. Therefore, every year large amounts of money is spent to show Chinese movies abroad, with the aim of exporting Chinese values and Chinese culture. However, the question about the essence of our values is still not answered. Since there is still a need for a clear definition of our shared values, their export can only be an illusion.
The day after US President Barack Obama took office, I read his inauguration address in the newspaper. Tears welled in my eyes. It was not what he said that moved me - he was just stating universally shared values, namely liberty, equality, human rights, justice, environment, and help for those in need - it was the fact that he listed them in the inauguration address, and state the spirit and values of a society that aroused my tears.
However, in our culture, it is different. The official values that have dominated for long are vague, and at odds with those we accept. The result is a fear and lack of understanding of China, which is a rapidly developing economy.
Our shared values have never been clearly defined: Movies, writings, essays are all found wanting in describing the face of the rising China. Therefore, the image we project to the world is nothing but vagueness, preventing the outside world from having a clear view of us.
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