BOOK REVIEW #49: RED CARPET: HOLLYWOOD, CHINA AND THE GLOBAL BATTLE FOR CULTURAL SUPREMACY Book Review

Eric Schwartzel’s mouthful Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy effortlessly combines entertainment with politics. Focusing on both China presence in Hollywood movies and the latter appetite for Chinese money, the book is a delicious read and analysis of events happening from the 90s to the present. As such, it’s not just a book for academics but also for the masses who are keen on pop culture.

It all started with then Shanghai mayor Zhu Rongji when he proposed to Disney to build a theme park back in 1990. But it was not the right time given the Chinese lack of knowledge of the Disney brand let alone visiting an expensive theme park filled with expensive stuff toys and food. Then things got a bit tricky when Disney released Kundan, the Martin Scorsese film about the 14th Dalai Lamai which no one watches except the touchy fact that the topic of Dalai Lamai and China don’t mix well together.

The first chapter also delves into Hollywood’s earlier brushes with China and also tiny success in the Chinese box-office with the release of The Fugitive and Titanic. Then came the issue of censorship in which according to Schwartzel, censorship was a prerequisite to doing business in China. For example, three minutes of Bohemian Rhapsody was removed and also a naked scene in the award-winning Green Book.

The following chapter continues Hollywood’s ridiculous way of pleasing China including drastically altering the enemy of Red Dawn via special effects or casting Chinese stars in Transformers: Age of Extinction and Chinese heroes saving the day trope since China is saving the box-office as well where movies liked Pacific Rim bombed in North America but did a recording-breaking run in China. Famous business magnate, Wang Jianlin of the Wanda Group gets a mention as well given his well-documented purchase of AMC Entertainment and unsuccessful venture into setting up a mini Hollywood in Qingdao.

Wall Street Journal reporter Schwartzel drives home a captivating narrative about the importance message of “Cash is King” mentality in the mindsets of American studios. Despite some happenings being first widely reported in the press, the book is highly enjoyable as it contained fascinating details behind the reliance between two superpowers over the decades with Hollywood losing the race in the later stage as China’s own movie industry has taken off after the explosive success of Wolf Warrior 2.

No one is spared in the book. Not even President Xi Jinping who is supposedly the overall mastermind of censorship and protector of the Chinese culture and people. There’s also pages dedicated to China’s alarming reachout to Kenya where Chinese propaganda and action movies are shown via cheap Chinese satellite TV subscriptions.

Red Carpet details an alarming changing landscape whereby Hollywood is no longer the dominating presence on the big and small screen. Things have remarkably transformed in China since the early days of Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening up policy. This book marks a turn of tide whereby Marvel superheroes are no longer a demand for the Chinese but a more grounded hero in the form of Wu Jing as we speak. Ironic but true.

Review by Linus Tee

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