The Appeal of Western Action Movies in China

-
Two movies my students are talking about right now: Star Trek and Transformers 2. I missed Star Trek, but hoping to catch Transformers 2 later this month, just to have the experience of going to the movies in China. (A theater near my house shows them in English with Chinese subtitles.) And I love how the names are translated: Star Trek becomes Star Boundary Lost Ship, and Transformers is Change Shape Metal Strong. Translating movie titles must be a fun gig.

Actions movies are definitely the most popular cultural crossovers here; North American humor just doesn't translate well at all. Irony and subtle sarcasm? No dice. (I've said ironic and/or sarcastic things to my students that are SO FUNNY, and I get stone faces in return. Oops.) The Office, Arrested Development, 30 Rock etc.? Not funny here; the Chinese prefer physical and visual humor.

Then again, Chinese action movies seem to be the most popular crossovers in the West, as well. Of course, this means they think all Americans are whipping out guns at every moment to deal with all problems, and we think all Chinese know martial arts, but that is another story.

Comments

Busy Bee Suz said…
Very funny. I would not have one friend in China if they don't get sarcasm. :)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Technodoll said…
I love renting asian movies, the subtitles are hysterical! well, in the cheap kung-fu movies, not the big blockbusters.

Is Jackie Chan popular in China?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
yrautca said…
Interesting.

Why do the Chinese love the song Hotel California so much?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Stephanie said…
Hi just stopped over from Busy Bee Suz.
I love the translations of those movie titles, I can only imagine what the rest of the movie would be like!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Bingham's said…
Too bad you missed Star Trek, very good movie. I love the translation of the movies, very funny. By the way, love all the tv shows you suggested, all my favorites!! we must be related some how. :)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Rebecca Foster said…
BBS, luckily I have other American peace corps volunteers, or I might explode. Sarcasm is deeply ingrained in my family.

Techno, yes, VERY popular. They are very proud that he is so successful. He shills for various products here (frozen dumplings and male hair dye are two examples) so you see his face all over.

yrautca, I have no idea, but you are absolutely right. I get asked to sing that song by my students. I should write a post about that.

MM, so glad to see you here. I love the translations here, it is a lot of fun for me figuring them out.

Trina, haha, we must! I wish I could buy cheap DVDs of those shows while I am here. Alas.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Katie said…
Change Shape Metal Strong should be the title here. That is awesome!

I loved Star Trek, but I'm a baby trekkie nerd.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Anonymous said…
Hello everybody, I found this good cite for cheap chinese mobile phone
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Notes

-
I cut my hair today, it now looks like Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. It took two hours, it was the most meticulous haircut I have ever received. He was amazing. I wish I could take him with me to Chongqing. Tomorrow I move into a hotel with the other volunteers in downtown Chengdu. We have a few days of meetings and then I move to Chongqing on Wednesday. It's about 4 hours away by train. Our new school helps us move, I am crossing my fingers they bring a car or some strong men to help! My suitcases are hella heavy. We had a banquet last night for our host families. The power went out so we ate in the dark, and then we decided to move to a restaurant next door where dinner started all over again. It was a very China evening. I will post pics asap.
Read more

This One Time I Thought I Was Really Hot (But It Was Just The HVAC Talking)

-
Back in San Antonio, my friend Stacey had asked me to pick her up from the airport. It was full summer, and for those of you who haven't been in San Antonio in the summertime, you know that expression 'hot as an oven'? Well, I like to say San Antonio summers are 'hot as downwind from an exhaust pipe.' (Which means when you actually are downwind from an exhaust pipe, things get really unpleasant.) It's quite common for there to be a temperature difference of 35-40 degrees between indoor and outdoor air during a San Antonio summer. True story: I had a small heater at my work desk and turned it on in the summer, not winter, because the air conditioning was on so high in our building I froze to death at my desk. So anyway, I go straight from the gym to the airport to pick up Stacey. It's 10 pm but still around 100 degrees outside. Inside, it's a balmy 60 or so. Gotta give those tourists a false sense of comfort! I'm pacing a bit in the baggage area wa...
Read more

Really?!?? AKA, Cultural Mishaps in China, They Will Happen

-
After judging a speech competition all morning at a school that is not my own, I was asked to hand out the second place prizes. They also asked some other teachers, but I missed the details because they only gave them in Chinese and I didn’t understand everything. I was only supposed to hand out 4 of 12 prizes. But the prize girl kept handing me certificates, so I kept handing them out, while the audience laughed at me. I didn’t know what was going on, so I just kept going until someone stopped me. Later, I was interviewed for the school news, on video, and the girl interviewing me asked me this question: Random Girl: “When you made the mistake and everyone was laughing at you, what did you feel inside?” Really, random girl? Really? On camera you ask me this? Really? Two years ago, this would have devastated me. Now, I just have to laugh and say, “Oh well! Such is life in China.” Cultural mistakes will be made. It happens. For the record, I told her I felt that it is maybe go...
Read more