The New York Times reported yesterday that the Chinese government has unexpectedly decided to pull James Cameron’s new blockbuster “Avatar” from theaters, an unusual move considering the tremendous excitement (and revenue) the film has generated among Chinese audiences. While the Times quotes experts who say this was “a purely commercial” move undertaken to make room for homegrown films, I think they shied away from a much more interesting read on the situation. China’s rulers were almost certainly caught off guard by how many moviegoers interpreted the film as a parable for injustices in Chinese society; combine this with the film’s the runaway popularity in China and, in my opinion, you have a fair amount of circumstantial evidence that the movie was yanked for political motivations.
As many China observers have pointed out, Avatar’s depiction of one alien tribe’s righteous struggle to resist eviction from their home resonated with a large number of Chinese, who drew a parallel to the too common real life plight of average Chinese forcibly evicted from their home to make room for new real estate developments. While the idle thoughts of even a great number of Chinese do not pose any danger to the country’s authoritarian ruling party, recent reports underscore how in capturing the imagination of the Chinese public, “Avatar” might be harmful to social stability, at least as the term is conceived by the Party. Exhibit A is the headline ran by Southern Metropolis Daily on January 13: “In a Real Life Version of ‘Avatar,’ 500 Homeowners Successfully Resist Demolition” (in Chinese). While apparently the homeowners’ initiative actually began several months before the film’s release, according to the article a few organizers celebrated the news of the successful scrapping of demolitions plans by taking to the street and “dramatically claiming they had staged their own real-life version of ‘Avatar.'” When Chinese people invoke popular foreign films as they organize themselves in large numbers in opposition to the Party-state, you can bet it catches the attention of China’s huge and highly-attuned censorship apparatus.
If political considerations played a major or even partial role in the decision to order the canceling of the film, I think it becomes a pretty startling indication of the depth of the Chinese Communist Party’s determination to control the flow of information and ideas into China, as well as their vigilance in monitoring how foreign ideas play out within their own society. Taken together with the recent Google flap, the canceling of “Avatar”suggests Party leaders will not blink if they feel it is necessary to gradually insulate and isolate Chinese society from the rest of the world.
UPDATE 1/21:
The WSJ’s China Journal blog has a bit of evidence corroborating this theory:
Major publications and news portals in China were said to have received orders from government authorities to downplay discussion about nail houses related to the movie. [“Nail houses” is Chinese internet slang for homeowners who go to great lengths to resist demolition of their homes – more explanation here]
This at least confirms that China’s censors were aware of the phenomenon and alarmed at the prospect that this interpretation of Avatar could be popularized.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
