Captain America in China
I first heard Captain America when I was still in middle school. Through my uncle’s iPad, I saw this figure: a brave captain fighting the secret army of Nazis and sacrificing himself to save humanity. The power and will of captain America greatly inspired my childhood. Many kids around me were also deeply influenced. I can still recall many of my friends having costumes like Captain America and watching the comics about Captain America in a foreign language called English. My fondness for Captain America persisted until the end of my high school. Many things happened at that time. China had a trade war with America. As my study in the cold war progressed, the United States as the world’s savior gradually faded into my mind. I watched an old movie in China during that time. It was about the story that happened to a company in the Sino-Vietnamese War. The collective spirit at that time inspired me: why films like that are no longer popular among filmmakers and audiences? Some would say that this is because the times are changing, and those old themes are outdated. New heroes that represent globalization, like Captain America, should be the icon. I argue that figures like captain America are so popular in China due to China’s reintegration into the world market and admitting the US as the leading figure in the global market.
Readers might argue that China’s entrance into the world market is a vague term. In this passage, I will define China’s reintegration into the world market as a period from the 1980s till now when the old Chinese planned economy transferred into a government-controlled market economy with a great percentage of the world economy. Many cultural norms and living standards have changed during this period, forcing “old heroes” to quit. People might be confused about what the old heroes in China look like. The old heroes of China are usually common people that took part in the war or construction of the country, expressing concern for their class or communities and using cooperation as the main tool in solving the problem. Since the old heroes are from the communist era of China, they would often express the superiority of socialist ideals, calling for others to join them. These figures resemble the film figures in the era of the early Soviet Union. What interests me is the antagonists in the story. The antagonists are figures that stop the main character’s goal in the story. In Captain America, they are the evil transformed super mutant Nazi officer and the evil technology of the Soviet Union. In the old Chinese films, they were usually the bourgeois. The bourgeois in the old Chinese films also has an iconic form: landlords.
Some may question why is Captain America an individualistic hero? In Captain America, the protagonist is clear. Instead of using the common people, captain America is a gene-modified warrior. A more individualistic value of one against the world was expressed in the movie. I would further explain this using an example from the first Captain America movie. In the final part, the evil Nazi plane will destroy humanity. In the old Chinese movie, you would expect a battalion of normal soldiers going into the plane, using cooperation to solve the problem. This kind of “cooperation” does not exist in Captain America. What happens in the movie is: Captain America takes care of the villain all by himself and sacrifices himself to destroy the plane. The market transformation was a huge thing in China at the time. Before that, people work in state-owned companies and do not need to worry about switching jobs. Since the jobs don’t change very often, people would be working with a relatively stable staff, creating a collective environment. However, as the market transformation began, many state-owned properties were being privatized. The market transition introduced more fluidity into the job market as many new firms emerged and old corporations became bankrupt. China’s entrance into WTO in 2001 added further acceleration to this process. In this new environment, workers become more fluid and individualized. What’s important is that the workers were also the consumers. To cope with such a culture, movies and figures like captain America became more popular.
People also may ask: why the figure has to be superheroes like captain America that possessed a heavy influence from the United States? The figure of Captain America is deeply related to the culture and strength of the United States. The background of captain America and the villains that have relations with Nazi Germany and the USSR all prove this connection. The popularity of Captain America is indeed related to China’s entrance into the world market. The popularity expressed the Chinese people’s will at that time to incorporate the global market order made by the United States and the culture and military might of the United States. After the marketization in China, the advanced technology and commodities caused a great number of Chinese people to admire the strength of America. In the 90s, people are proud of wearing Nike shoes and having a Western lifestyle. This kind of spirit continued, creating a great audience base for captain America.
In a classic scene, captain America defeated a Nazi villain. The experience of the United States fighting Nazi villains is quite unfamiliar in the memory of the Chinese audience. I think it is important that the film depicts him as an invincible figure. Although the Chinese audience may not be from the same historical background as the American audience, The handsome figure of Captain America, the US figure on his shield, and the excellent power captain America exemplified all proved himself as a figure capable of protecting and leading.
We can also sense the acceptance of the power of the US from the villains. Interestingly, we can discover that a large proportion of villains are from the countries the United States has defeated. Despite the evil Nazi officer mentioned before, the USSR also took a great proportion. In Captain America: Cold War, the villain used many technologies from the Soviet Union to brainwash one of Captain America’s dearest friends, a soldier in WW2, and turned him into a killing machine. This transition from ally to the US to the enemy of the US suggested the relationship change between the USSR and the US. At the end of the cold war. As Captain America protected his friend and revived his friend’s memory of being an American soldier, the movie ended successfully. Some people might ask why this ending is important. I think that if captain America represents the individualistic value, like saving the world with little teamwork, this kind of subordination, combined with the great amount of Chinese audience, suggests the Chinese audiences’ acceptance of the US as the leader.
So some might wonder, as China is gaining more and more international influences and is having more and more conflict with the United States, would this kind of “subordination” state change? In fact, China’s own “superheroes” are also emerging. There was a 2017 movie called Wolf Warrior 2 that reached its peak at the Chinese box office, gaining roughly 6 billion. The movie tells a story of a punished former special force soldier trying to save a group of Chinese citizens from the warzone. The movie is still “lone-ranger” like captain America. Interestingly, though the movie presents a strong individualistic value, it also combines a great amount of nationalistic and patriotism elements. From here, we can also sense the change in the Chinese audience’s taste. Would the Marvel studio cope with such a change to stable their audience base? That would be a difficult question for Disney to decide.
