coursework essay for mr h!
From ‘Hero to villain’ in Hollywood marital arts movies using Jet Li as the focus.
In Chinese cinema with his debut ‘Shaolin Temple’ (item one) Jet Li was seen as an influential star, role model and national hero. However, Hollywood has constructed a persona for Jet Li that has altered him from icon to the ‘other’, in effect creating an ideological shift this obviously effected his fan following and also how he was /is used to represent ‘oriental’ culture. I am also going to explore the strands of stardom that made his transitions successful into Western film, even with the racial difficulties he faced.
When watching Jet Li transform into a ‘star’, the biggest question for me is, was Hollywood really a promotional step in his career? The reason that this question occurred to me was because compared to his debut in the Chinese film ‘Shaolin Temple’ (item one) where he would be described as a ‘national hero’ at 17, “His name was everywhere posters of him, every one knew of the film making him the new star of Chinese cinema” (item two). In contrast to this stardom and elevated position in the film industry in China, he was immediately cast as the ‘other’ – Villain by Hollywood, a role that would follow him throughout the beginning of his Hollywood venture.
Jet Li’s breakthrough into American cinema began with ‘Lethal weapon 4’ (item three.) In the text he is shown to be defeated by the use of weapons, this could be a subtle message of western technology and capitalist ideology coming through with the use of Li’s representation in the film, also how it can overcome any ‘evil’. This also interlinks with the aspect of conformity that Hollywood portrays in its films, an example of this would be Bonnie and Clyde (item four) as the characters are portrayed as everyday people for the audience to connect with but are ultimately punished by death at the end of the text, evil receiving justice.
However, contrasting this with Jet Li’s ‘Once upon a time in China’ (item five) Jet Li is shown to overcome the Western invaders with the use of communist oriental discipline and the training of the body, suggesting that this community does not need to result to the level of violence that the invaders impose on the Chinese, displaying conflicting opinions on how violence should be dealt with and what is considered to be ‘evil’. This shift between the texts that Li has appeared in could be a representation of how Western capitalist and stereotypical views are imposed on Li’s characters and how it symbolises their opinions of the Oriental. This for Li was a significant shift in his transformation of ‘Hero to Villain’. It also reinforces negative representations of Orientalism as labelled by Western society. I believe this view of ‘body over technology’ suggests that American ideology of ‘force’ includes using weapons; this creates the impression of dominance and control. This can also be argued to be an example of why America decides to create ‘the other’ through multi-media uses; mainly film. If they create ‘the other’ through the Oriental then they can influence this dominate ideology in younger generations influencing the idea of being above or better, when the representation of the oriental using the ‘body’ to overcome technology suggests that the more forceful is not always the most powerful; their cultures contrasting with one another.
This representation of Li enraged his earlier fan base in China as he was continuously cast as the stereotypical triad member, the mise – en – scene of dark costumes also causing him to seem a villain in most of his early American films; creating a negative image around his persona. “At recent National Association of Asian American professionals 8th annual leadership conference in Seattle, Asian American working professionals in mainstream media decried with frustration that Hollywood is still portraying Asians in degrading and one- dimensional roles”. (item six) I tend to agree with the Chinese critics as this shift in his career and the roles given to him by Hollywood has deemed him as a ‘villain’ along with his culture. The Chinese see this as racist and stereotypical and I would agree that it would actively construct him as the ‘other’ and continue to perpetuate hegemonic constructions of the ‘oriental’ and allow the continuation of stereotypical and pre- conceived notions of Asian-ness. An equivalent for an English audience would be if someone who was respected as a actor and symbol of our country transferred to Hollywood cinema and was continuously cast as a thuggish football hooligan, this representation would offend audiences and fans. This has shifted many Chinese citizens views of Hollywood as negative to see their national hero portrayed in this way. However, Jason Statham has often been represented in the US as a villain; this is not seen as much as a racial issue at the present time as it is an outdated view of Englishness; audiences not taking as much attention to the stereotypical undercurrent.
In the text ‘Romeo must die’ (item seven) racial issues are explored further through the use of proxemics when involving character relationships, an example of this is a scene in which Jet Li is playing basketball, him and Trisha are seen to try and flirt with one another, however he is then tackled by one of her bodyguards. This gives the impression that inter racial relationships are wrong and influence violence, therefor should be avoided. Surprisingly the text represents Li as a heroic figure, this is shown with his easy going body language when being in scenes with Trisha suggesting that he is kind hearted and wants to have fun with her. He is also shown as a heroic figure when he confronts his father in the end of the text; revealing the audience that he went to prison for him and did nothing wrong. Contrasting this construction that he is heroic he is told of his brothers death whilst in prison, and he then escapes prison injuring men of the law. This could be interpreted that he will never be constructed as a completely innocent protagonist in Hollywood as he still uses violence as a way of his escape which shows what he is capable of, even though later on in the text he is represented as the good guy. This gives the audience the impression that even if ‘the other’ can be seen as the innocent they are still dangerous and should not be completely trusted.
Romeo must die blogspot (item eight) by an Asian- American also supports this idea as she states, “the kiss between Trisha and Han was changed to a hug”. This change was due to the reaction of the audience during the preview screening; they were outraged by the mixing of racial relationships. This shows how some hegemonic views can effect how audience’s view certain things and also how they react to things that are perfectly normal. The change of proxemics between the main characters shows a raising issue in America of interracial couples, as it shows how it was still unacceptable even to the point that audiences would refuse to watch the film if this was one of the factors of the text; this shows the extent to underlying problems in American society as they carry on the build this view of the ‘other’. The writer of the blog also has become aware of this. I feel that this attitude towards the mixing of cultures is outdated and should no longer be frowned upon, America being the country of ‘freedom’ and being whoever you want to be would be the first expected to have stripped this fascist view instead of agreeing with it in their film. If we also consider the contextual factors of the time the film was created, “As a percentage of the US population, immigrants have more than doubled, from 4.7 per-cent in 1970 to 10.4 per-cent in 2000.” (item nine) It becomes apparent that the dominant ideology is negative portrayal; this becomes worrying as the text was created in 2000, and this would bring audience to expect a more modern accepted approach towards racial issues providing the multi-cultural society we have in the UK. This makes the ideals shown in the text hard to comprehend.
Interestingly, Dyer’s ‘stars’ (Item ten) he suggests that when a star construction is shifted and altered too much in a extreme fashion audiences do not accept this and are not in tuned with the new construction of their ‘star’. However, in this case audiences in America who were unfamiliar of him before accepted this pre-conceived form when he shifted; whereas Chinese audiences did not accept this shift for their national hero. They may also not accept him ‘selling out’ to Hollywood. This pre – conceived negative view of the oriental is supported by Li’s shift within America to the ‘other’ which is shown in texts such as ‘Kiss of the dragon’ (item elven) in which he is shown to still be wanted; this is contrasted with his Chinese produced films, as Li is shown as the heroic warrior, representing the pride of China as a nation. An example of this portrayal is shown in films such as, ‘The evil cult’ (item twelve) where he is shown to respect women and be a family man whilst trying to protect his loved ones and country from any form of evil. I feel that Li’s construction in Chinese cinema is more similar to his real personality as he stated in an interview, (item thirteen) “I’ve become Buddhist, I don’t want violence to solve things.” By him stating this it shows the Western construction of Shaolin and oriental to be wrong, as it is not intended to be for fighting but instead for the exercise of the body and mind, this shows the Chinese perspective. (item 13) in chapter 14 there is a quote from Li stating ‘Li was feeling professionally burned out. ‘do right by my mother, my family and provide for my children’’. To me this shows that Li felt America would give him the opportunity to do this for his family, even through his struggles with the English language and adapting to the vast new culture of Hollywood; the English being a must as western audiences seem to not want to view foreign language films, this is demonstrated with the vast market of re-makes of foreign features such as the Korean film ‘a tale of two sisters’(item 14) which has now been remade into the Hollywood ‘the uninvited’.(item 15)\ This could be an example of why Li allowed to be represented in this way by Hollywood.
He also states (item 16) - “Money isn’t that important right now, especially in Buddhist culture. You can’t take the money with you, or the house, or anything. I feel like I have responsibility. I don’t want little kids watching films like “Kiss of the Dragon.” I don’t want five-year-olds walking around saying, “I’m going to kick your ass.” I want to broadcast a positive message that there are solutions other than violence. Of course one needs to make money for a studio first, then you can do what you want.” - This completely shows how aware Jet is of his construction in his American films, and how he doesn’t want it to have a negative impact on his personal image as he feels that now he is a Buddhist he has to set a example and not make young children think that it is what it means to do martial arts, he also promoted shaolin with “shaolin temple” and by his name standing near this martial art I feel that he would not want it to have a negative name and for westerners wanting to learn the art to be able to “kick someone’s ass” but to promote health and to be able to gain discipline - the whole point of martial arts.
Interestingly, my primary research in which I conveyed a survey of peoples opinions regarding Jet Li’s representation in the US and his shift from Chinese cinema. The participants in my survey revealed they have viewed more of Jet Li’s American films than his Chinese films. For me this section of my research reveals that he would never have been as well known here in the UK if it was not for Hollywood, this shows how mainstream rarely ventures into foreign continents like China, making constructions in a hegemonic aspect easier to create. A participant in my survey stated a very valid point with regards to construction of the ‘other’, “Jet Li is represented in American films as a negative character, this effects Chinese image in the Western world. The same goes for posh British characters, Chinese guys, Hispanics…And why is the American never the bad guy? Because they are insecure…of their global position as ‘top dawg’” This comment has helped my research as it shows how many fans of foreign actors recognise America’s influence in the shift of persona and the way in which countries and cultures are perceived due to their constructions, but also how not everyone agrees with this view and construction. (item 17) ‘And in the inter-war period they further consolidated their power.’ This shows that even in war time America tried to use cinema as their way to become a dominant force this also displays the collective view over the world of America’s growing power through force mainly with Hollywood. This could depend on location as all participants of my survey had a European background and have all lived in the UK the majority of their life, changing their conditions of spectatorship as we can view the subject away from America without the influence of the media and England’s more accepting view of multi- culture and portray less stereotypical representations, even though our society has it’s own opinions on other races.
Overall, my research would show that Hollywood casted Jet Li in order to portray Western capitalist, pre-conceived ideology with regards to the ‘oriental’ as they establish Li quite clearly as ‘the other’ – not just for social and political reasoning.
Charlotte Mackenzie
