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Culture clash of cinematic proportions

A video from a mysterious organization decrying a “communist” nation. Footage of the Tiananmen Square massacre, digitally altered to remove the famous “tank man.” A booming voice declares: “China Owns Us.”

If this sounds like something out of a geopolitical disaster movie — it isn’t. The video is real, and so is the rhetoric involved. Yet  in our current globalized landscape, the fears come off as overzealous and anachronistic.

As American media becomes more consolidated — think to this weekend’s $85 billion proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger, giving the telecom operator control of the media conglomerate — it’s no surprise that foreign countries are looking to get in on a uniquely American tradition: the big-budget Hollywood blockbuster, which touches everything from Hollywood studios to the local multiplex. It’s a unique business model that provides remarkable revenue internationally.

And so came the purchase by China’s largest cinema operator, Dailan Wanda Group, of the AMC theatre chain in 2012 and Legendary Entertainment, the production-finance company behind big-budget epics “Godzilla” and “Pacific Rim,” in 2016.

For some in Hollywood, this consolidation of power hits too close to home, and “China Owns Us,” the aforementioned shrouded-in-mystery organization targeted toward Wanda’s purchases, is born. For an industry so open to allowing Chinese acquisitions, it’s inevitable that the situation would have its detractors, but the extreme xenophobia expressed by China Owns Us is unfathomable in 2016.

It’s the mysterious group that could use some investigating. According to a New York Times article by Eric Lipton entitled “Hard-nosed Advice From Veteran Lobbyist: ‘Win Ugly or Lose Pretty,’” China Owns Us’ backer, the Enterprise Freedom Action Committee, is owned by campaigner Richard Berman, who bragged about the “total anonymity” his many nonprofit groups receive, such as his anti-union interest group Center for Union Facts.

The main problem with China Owns Us’ arguments is that they’re too speculative to be taken seriously. “What if there were script messages … developed into film?” one of the group’s videos, entitled “China Owns Us,” asks, referring to hidden pro-China propaganda that could be embedded into American films as a result of the purchase. Not only does this harken back to harmful xenophobic stereotypes of an ultra-dominant China, the accusation is baseless and overzealous since there’s no proof that such an agreement would come to light.

The group couldn’t be further from the truth. In an Oct. 18 address in Los Angeles, Wanda’s CEO Wang Jianlin unveiled a “movie metropolis” and studio headquarters in China’s Qingdao region to film upcoming movies, an agreement that many American studios (including Lionsgate, where — full disclosure — this writer interned) have already cosigned.

China Owns Us seems to be coming too late to the globalization party. Already, several other major American studios have seen an influx of Chinese funds for financing or production, with STX Entertainment’s (“The Gift,” “Bad Moms”) agreement with Chinese financier Hyuai Bros. one of the more notable agreements. These agreements merely represent the increasing influence of a globalized world, and as China becomes an important source of Hollywood revenue — almost half of a film’s gross comes internationally — they aren’t surprising.

Berman also tipped his hand in a recent press release announcing a protest in front of Times Square’s AMC location against the Chinese merger and his fears of communist takeover.

Berman acknowledged that he has no examples of such [Chinese] influence since Wanda Group’s purchase of AMC in 2012,” according to the press release entitled “AMC Theater in Times Square Will See Protest Over Carmike Merger,” referencing AMC’s potential acquisition of competitor Carmike Cinemas, which would create the nation’s largest theater chain.  The fact that this acknowledgement exists in a press release promoting fears of such influence should be enough to discredit it.

Other non-Berman accusations continue to sprout, especially those concerning China’s use of “soft power” in cultural or foreign policy influence as opposed to forceful and coercive “hard power”. “Expanding China’s cultural influence and cultural soft power around the world is a goal of the party,” journalist Michael Forsythe is quoted as saying in a Guardian article entitled “Wang Jianlin: Does China’s richest man have a plan to take over Hollywood?” by Nigel M. Smith.  

However, it’s not in Jianlin’s interest to insert supposed subtle propagandistic material in American blockbusters. How could he, especially when the terms of the Wanda-Legendary agreement stipulate that Wanda will have no creative control over output, according to a Hollywood Reporter article titled “It’s Official: China’s Wanda Acquires Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 Billion” by Patrick Brzeski or that AMC released a statement in response to Berman’s Times Square protest saying “Wanda does not participate in the day-to-day running of AMC?”

As American media becomes more globalized, it’s tempting to become hysterical at the potential for cataclysmic dealings among foreign nations. Trends come and go, and China’s acquisition spree is a new trend that’s just beginning to make waves. It’s too soon to jump to conclusions.

However, know that if you head down to Long Beach’s local AMC chain at the Marina Pacifica and indulge in a Legendary film, you’ll be participating in a fully Chinese experience due to the nation’s ownership of both companies.

If that thought sends chills down your spine, you may have seen too many movies.

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