Coco’s Secret of Success
“I just finished watching Coco for the first time and cried for 30 minutes” [BZ1]. When first released in 2017, Coco, this animated fantasy film produced by the famous Pixar Animation Studios, was a true tearjerker. The keyword “cry” has appeared in almost every Coco review in the US. Some critics even claimed that it has been the best Pixar movie in the recent decade. The reason behind its incredible achievement is not fortuitous: beautiful music and lively animations that engage the audience, creative designs that redefine the audience’s perspective towards death… More importantly, the plot has an “accurate portrayal of Mexican culture and Day of the Dead” in the US and conveys the theme that “no matter what happens, part of being in a family is that your family members are always there for you,” which further ensures its promising prospect in US movie theaters.
Similar occasions occurred in the Chinese movie market. By the end of the third week of the release, the box office in the Chinese mainland quickly exceeds a billion RMB. It becomes the first Pixar that breaks the record of a billion RMB box office in China. While Coco’s soaring popularity in the US is somewhat foreseeable, the phenomenal success and huge box office returns in the Chinese movie market are unexpected. What makes this movie a megahit among Chinese audiences?
Some may argue that the value Coco intends to express largely parallels traditional Chinese culture. While the theme of death has been shared across both Día de Muertos portrayed in Coco and Qingming festival in China, the main message about the reunion and harmony of the family largely corresponds with the traditional Confucian belief of filial piety. However, though intuitive, the explanation above fails to consider why this film stands explicitly out. There are countless films with the theme of death and family released every year, but almost none are as successful as Coco. Josh Horwitz states that “China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT)… has long forbidden movies featuring ghosts from reaching Chinese screens.” [BZ2] In other words, regardless of whether it is related to Qingming, movies such as Coco, with themes of death and ghosts, should be prohibited by SAPPRFT. An invisible path must exist to connect the Chinese audience with Coco.
Going beyond the surface, Coco’s struggle in pursuing personal dreams and conforming to family values is similar to the clash between individualistic beliefs, under the influence of western culture, and traditional collectivist values of making sacrifices and contributing to the greater good of the community in China. Specifically, the engaging plot, like the design of the conflict, the portrayal of confidence and hesitation, and the surreal ending profoundly resonate with the younger generation of the Chinese audience.
The western individualistic belief first occurred during the 1990s and later became influential to the younger Chinese generation. During the 1990s, China underwent a dramatic economic transformation referencing the western capitalistic market structure, which also brings in individualism. According to a study conducted by Liza Steele and Scott Lynch, “Chinese are increasingly prioritizing individualist factors in assessments of their own happiness and life satisfaction…[as] collectivist factors have become less important[BZ3]” by 2007. The timing of the trend makes individualism influential to younger generations. In comparison, older generations, whose personal values have fully developed by then, remain traditional. These two opposing beliefs inevitably will cause a gap between children and parents.
Coco’s obstacle is similar to the social dilemma of choosing between personal dreams or conforming to traditional family values, which resonates with the younger Chinese generation. In the film, Miguel, the main protagonist, loves music but lives in a family that prohibits any kinds of music in the house because his great-grandfather ran away from home to pursue his music dream. During Día de Muertos, he wants to sneak away to attend music festivals at Mariachi Plaza but accidentally travels to the Land of the Dead, where he needs a wish of his own relatives to travel back. When his great-great-grandmother Imelda grants him the wish, the scene suddenly zooms into Imelda as she shouts to Miguel to stop playing guitar as an additional condition. Miguel reacts back by curling his lip and lowering his head as if he remains unconvinced but eventually chooses to obey. This scenario is congruent to one of China’s most occurred real-life conflicts. Like the authoritarian parenting style within Chinese families, the prohibition of music, the director’s choice of zooming in, and Imelda’s shout allude to the superiority of elders within the family. While Miguel’s action of curling his lips infers his unwillingness to abandon his pursuit of music, the motion of lowering his head represents the coercive obedience and the inferiority within the family. Like Miguel, though limited by filial piety and relatively inferior position, contemporary Chinese children now with individualistic ideals and personal dreams will inevitably confront conflicts with authoritative parents, who believe kids should stick to the collective family norm of modern Chinese families. According to the study conducted by Jenny Yau and Judith Smetana, “Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong primarily reasoned about conflicts as issues of exercising or maintaining personal jurisdiction… and articulate the same desire for autonomy found in European-American youth”. Admittedly, the study above only investigates families in Hong Kong, where individualistic values are more dominant under the past influence of English culture. However, born and raised in China, I have personal experiences and heard many stories that can also prove clashes between parents and children frequently exist in almost every family. As the desire for autonomy and pursuing personal dreams becomes the primary cause of conflicts, most young Chinese audiences can recognize the conflict in Coco.
As Miguel encountered a significant difficulty, his original confidence was replaced by his hesitation and anxiety towards his family, which strongly appeals to the Chinese audience with a contradicting identity with individualistic and collectivist ideals. After returning from the Land of the Dead, Miguel, though he promised Imelda not to play music, rushed to pick up the guitar near him. Miguel’s laugh, excitement seen through his eyes, and the line “Mariachi Plaza, here I come!” can tell Miguel’s strong confidence and determination in chasing his music dream. Since he broke the promise of not playing music, Miguel is soon transported back to the Land of the Dead. To transport back to the real world without any additional conditions, he decides to find his great-great-grandfather to grant him his wish, whom he doubts is the famous guitarist de la Cruz. However, he encountered a major difficulty when he found out that de la Cruz became famous by improper means and was thrown into the pit. Miguel, lowering his head and soaking wet, grumbles with a sobbing tone: “I should have gone back to my family… [but] I told them I didn’t care”. The change between the two scenes is evident. Now, understanding he is alone and has hurt his family, Miguel turns from confident to guilty and hesitant. He starts to doubt whether his persistence and departure away from his parents is the right choice. Similarly, regardless of how prevalent individualism is in China, the Chinese younger generation still treats collectivist and Confucian culture, the one they grow up in, as part of their identity. Having those two negative values in one’s identity contradicts and becomes one of the most significant concerns among youngsters. Though feeling confident about personal choices after having conflict with parents, one will also worry that they disobey their filial piety toward their parents and violate the Confucian principle of avoiding conflicts. Thus, the detailed and accurate depictional of subtle mental states changes must have touched the audience. Like Miguel, many will resonate as the original determination has now turned into hesitation, swinging between fulfilling personal pursuits and making sacrifices for familial harmony.
The harmonious ending of Coco seems dreamlike to most of the younger Chinese audience. It strongly contrasts with the real-life situation, pushing this film to a whole level above simple resonance. As Miguel travels back to the real world, he sprints to find his great-grandmother Coco, knowing Coco is gradually forgetting her father. Miguel tries to remind her who her father is by showing her the guitar her father used. As the rest of the family comes into the room, Miguel sighs and lowers his head, hugging his father that comes into the room. These actions convey a negative connotation and show that he gives up and is ready to take any punishments for violating the rules. However, a miracle happens as Miguel decides to take the risk and gives another try singing “Remember Me” to Coco. As a result, Coco gradually opens her eyes, filled with tears, as she slowly follows the song’s rhythm. Touched by Coco, the rest of the family recognizes the charm of music and eventually lifts the ban. The movie has a happy reconciliation due to a miracle, as the family finally gets back together while Miguel continues to pursue his music. However, there are not that many miracles that happen in real life. Under pressure from parents, many, like discouraged Miguel before, conceded to reality as they chose to fully embrace their collectivist identities and listened to their parents. When searching “boldly pursue our dreams” in Chinese search engines, the top answers are typically about the advice to insist on pursuing dreams rather than conforming to others’ opinions. According to author “常念CC,” after interviewing terminally ill patients, she states that one of their biggest regrets is “we are always emphasizing being ourselves, but our actions often backfire. Many people often suppress their emotions and keep silent about the thoughts they urgently need… Why didn’t they express their thoughts earlier? Whatever it is, at least you speak your mind, don’t you?” [BZ4] The collectivist ideals make people eventually sacrifice their dreams and live up to the standard of others. As the author states, the journey of exploring personal pursuit becomes the past and a big regret for younger generations who eventually give up on reality. The happy ending in Cocoa, on the other hand, remains a beautiful wish of then: what if my family was more understanding, what if I insisted a bit longer, what if a miracle occurred, what if… In addition to heartwarming content, the stark contrast between the plot and reality will quickly make the audiences recall their past and become sentimental.
The success of Coco in the Chinese market is not occasional. The film stands out from the rest with its excellent depiction of conflict, accurate portrayal of mental states, and powerful ending. Meanwhile, the success of Coco in this foreign market signifies the commonality shared between collectivist culture and the contradictory nature between collectivist and individualist culture. One surprising finding is the striking similarities between Chinese and Mexican culture. From the family structure to traditional beliefs, the Chinese audience’s strong resonance with Coco suffices to prove the commonality between the two cultures. This indicates the universality hidden within the collectivist culture. On the other hand, elements within individualist culture are seemingly unsuitable for some collectivist cultures. Though the development of individualistic beliefs in China symbolizes an incredible achievement accomplished by globalization, the success remains superficial — there are still ongoing conflicts and confusion within China. This indicates the incompatibility between two cultures and shows the incompleteness of this integration process. Thoroughly addressing the problem of incompatibility and contradiction still requires more time and effort in adopting and figuring out the best balance point. We still have a long way to go.
[BZ1]https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/ei5g15/i_just_finished_watching_coco_for_the_first_time/
[BZ2]https://qz.com/1139304/pixars-coco-looks-like-a-surprise-hit-in-China-where-it-technically-should-be-banned/
[BZ3]https://www.jstor.org/stable/1131891?seq=10
[BZ4] https://www.jianshu.com/p/80c0752ee630
我们总是在强调要做自己，可是我们的行为往往事与愿违…很多人经常压抑自己难以承受的情绪，闭口不言自己迫切需要的想法…为什么不早一点表达自己的想法呢? 无论它有什么内容，至少你吐露了自己的心声，不是吗？
