Asian-Hollywood

Whenever we think of famous film productions we think of Hollywood, ‘Home of the entertainment industry’. Once a predominant white-based film industry, the market has expanded featuring many films with different multi-cultural influences. In order to cater to a large Asian population, many films have been adapted to suit this target population as well as Asian films being influenced by elements of Hollywood as well.

Klein (2004) suggests that each culture is influencing one another, while “Hollywood is becoming Asianized in diverse ways…[the] Asian film industries are in turn becoming Hollywoodized.” (Klein 2004, pg. 361) The most well-known example of these ‘mixed films’ are evident in many martial art storylines. This is seen in movies such as the Rush hour series, as well as Children films such as The Karate Kid (2010) and Kung Fu Panda (2008). In Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000); which tells the storyline of a warrior and his love for a women as well as a Princess desiring to become a fighter all set in an era where a war has broken out. This film features many ancient Chinese practices such as historical information about various dynasties that existed at the time, the types of weapons and lastly how martial arts was practiced. All of these characteristics have been adapted into Hollywood productions and as a result these two different industries have become more closely related.

Image sourced: Amanda Meade

Critics may say that while introducing Asian influences into a Hollywood production may lead to certain elements of the Asian culture diminishing in order to cater for a wider audience (homogenization). This to a certain extent is true as some meanings were lost in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Pham (2004) analysed that while the film was a major success it was not meant to be an action move (as depicted in the trailer below), but to showcase the artist merits of the storyline as well as the Asian culture not to stereotype the Asian race.

It is clear that living in a globalised world; elements of different cultures are bound to affect one another creating new cultures. While the debate continues whether multi-cultural influences are positive or negative in the filmy industry, one thing is clear; with geographic boundaries no longer becoming a problem it is here to stay and cultivate.

Reference List

Klein, Christina 2004, ‘Martial arts and globalisation of US and Asian film industries’, Comparative America Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-384. 

Pham, M. H. T. 2004, The Asian invasion (of multiculturalism) in Hollywood in Journal of Popular Film and Television, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 121-131.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), YouTube, 29 April, retrieved 26 September 2013,  <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEaGsdiA0y0>