Beyond Kung-Fu and Violence
Beyond Kung-Fu and Violence
Locating East Asian Cinema Fandom
In 2005, for the first time in history, the Venice Film Festival both opened and closed with Chinese-language films, Tsui Hark’s martial arts epic, Seven Swords, and Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s musical, Perhaps Love, respectively. Meanwhile, a number of major American and European cities each have annual film festivals dedicated to showcasing talents from East Asian countries like Hong Kong, China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, providing fans with a variety of genres apart from martial arts (wuxia) and gangster films popularized by the likes of Tsui Hark and John Woo in the eighties, and a string of horror films marked by the onset of the release of Hideo Nakata’s Ringu (1998) to Western audiences. Festival billings aside, Chinese-language films like In The Mood for Love (2000, dir. Wong Kar Wai), Hero (2002, dir. Zhang Yimou), 2046 (2004, dir. Wong Kar Wai), and most recently Kung Fu Hustle (2004, dir. Stephen Chow) have been made widely available for Western audiences.
These films, screened outside the periphery of film festivals, suggest that there are demands for Asian-language films—often considered as cult cinema due to the film genres that are exported overseas—among Western viewers. Matt Hills argues that the “distinctiveness required for cult status is […] partly based on such films’ cultural-textual differences from the ‘mainstream’ of Hollywood productions, given that a sense of what is marginal often has a national-contextual specificity, with the ‘foreignness’ of some […] film genres rendering them marginal [and cultish] in markets outside of their country of production” (2005c: 161). As Jancovich et al. add, this “supposed difference from the ‘mainstream’ (although they may in fact be the mainstream of their own culture) […] often involves an exoticization of other cultures” (2003: 4).
There has been plenty of academic work surrounding fan cultures that has offered us a glimpse into American and British fans’ social and cultural world, and many such studies are conducted within the context of the Internet, where fans have been congregating to conduct their activities. However, work surrounding the reception of East Asian popular culture by Western audiences or Asian migrants located in the United States, United Kingdom, or Australia is limited. As Darling-Wolf suggests, “few analyses have focused on texts produced and/or consumed outside the US. Even fewer have considered the significance of fan culture on an increasingly global scene, fostered in particular by the advent of the internet as a tool for intercultural, and potentially worldwide, fan activity” (2004: 507).
My curiosity regarding this topic stems from ongoing research on fan fiction fandom and my personal interest in East Asian cinema, especially Hong Kong (HK) cinema (which will be used as the main example here), and its reception and treatment as cult cinema in Western countries. When I was growing up in Malaysia, these films were marketed and treated as “mainstream” along with major Hollywood productions, unlike the cult status they achieved in the United States as early as 1973, when three HK martial arts films topped the U.S. box office chart. The minimal fanfare those films provoked led Desser to conclude that those films appealed “not to mainstream audiences struggling with the legacy of the Vietnam War, but precisely to those subcultural, disillusioned, disaffected audiences who had opposed the war or who were more radically and generally alienated from much of mainstream culture” (2003: 186).
At the same time, being a Malaysian-born Chinese educated mostly in Australia and the United Kingdom, and having minimal comprehension of the Chinese language, not to mention other East Asian languages, limits me to fan sites and Web forums where English is the preferred, and main, language used. This leads me to wonder if, first, fan cultural theory is transferable between cultures when the object of fandom is produced in a different cultural and national context; second, if East Asian cinema is consumed the same way by fans in Asia and in the West (or if this is possible to determine at all with the Internet blurring national boundaries); and third, if cultural identity in any way determines the performance of fan identities.
This chapter, though a largely experimental and introductory endeavor, is an attempt to “de-Westernize” fan studies by shifting the emphasis away from American and European popular cultural texts and focusing on texts produced in East Asia. Within the scope of this chapter, however, I am interested in the reception of East Asian cinema within a Western context, specifically the question of whether its classification as cult cinema leaves it “vulnerable,” as Jancovich et al. point out, to “exoticization,” especially when these films are discussed (in English) and viewed within the cultural context that may be “foreign” to the culture within which the films were produced. What I am also interested in exploring here is whether fan cultural theory creates, and assumes, a homogenous fan culture, so much so that it might not necessarily allow us to explore the possibility that other (fan) identities exist, influenced by the social, cultural, and national contexts in which the objects of fandom are produced. These questions will be examined in relation to existing work on East Asian fandom, but I will also make use of some fan data from an ongoing project for illustrative purposes.
Fandom in an East Asian Context
Current fan cultural theory such as that offered by Jenkins (1992) and Baym (2000) presents a complex social network of fans who not only exhaustively discuss the texts and the meanings they might derive from the characters and the texts but also go on to make use of these texts creatively, participating in what Fiske terms fan “textual productivity” (1992: 37). Some of these fans write fan fiction and poetry, make music videos and fan films, and circulate the finished products for review and consumption within the fan interpretive community.
However, with the rising popularity of East Asian popular culture, non-media scholars are also showing an interest in what has preoccupied fan scholars for the last two decades. As Kelly states, “we now recognize that the forms and practices of music, sports, comics, film, fashion and other areas of leisure and consumer culture are just as essential to fully understanding Japan as its factories, schools and politics” (2004: 2)—an observation that undoubtedly resonates with other East Asian countries as well.
Most fan studies conducted within an East Asian context are concentrated on fans of Japanese popular culture. For instance, the popularity of Japanese manga and its fandom has introduced readers to terms such as yaoi, “an acronym for the phrase ‘Yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi’ (No Climax, No Resolution, No Meaning)” (Thorn 2004: 171), coined in the eighties within the specificity of Japanese comic/manga conventions to define a range of amateur manga that shares some similarities to the largely textual slash fiction.1 This particular fan practice has extended from manga to include anime texts in recent years, and has spread to fans outside of Japan too.
Rather than working through the angle of fan resistance favored by some Western scholars (Jenkins 1992; Tulloch & Jenkins 1995), these East Asian scholars propose the concept of “intimacy,” which “impels individuals to act in ways that go beyond the bounds of self to seek greater communion with the object of their adoration” (Yano 2004: 44). According to Yano, this drive to seek intimacy revolves around knowledge of mundane details about the stars that only fans would know; a relationship with the star as well as with other fans; and the experience of meeting the star, or otherwise physically expressing their adoration, which results in “pounding heart, loss of consciousness, or tears[. …] This bodily engagement authenticates the fan-star relationship as real by virtue of those tears and cheers” (2004: 45). This sense of intimacy is centered on the fan relationship to the star rather than a specific cultural text or event, and this intimacy “informs future decisions of consumption so that each decision is made within the framework of fandom” (2004: 48).
On the other hand, Kim Hyun Mee argues that fans are “trained” through their actions and languages: “they must wear the same clothes, shout the same slogans, and show contained passion[. …] They try to maintain ‘grace’ as fans that are worthy of the star’s status by abstaining from talking back or cursing when attacked by rival fan clubs, upholding order and calm, and cleaning up after events” (2004: 44). Through their “selfless” acts, they gain and retain a sense of intimacy with the stars by upholding the star’s status and reputation in public. Kim’s exploration was of the world of female soccer fandom, but again, the emphasis appears to be on stars rather than cultural texts or events. Despite the fact that these female soccer fans were attending a public event such as the 2002 World Cup, their responsibility was to the star and by extension, the star’s fan club. A similar trend can be observed in fans’ review of pop star Leon Lai’s recent concert in HK, where they discuss upholding Lai’s reputation as a top Asian entertainer and philanthropist by being on their best behavior and respecting guest performers at his concert (i.e., not walking out during the guest performances and shaking hands with guest performers even if fans would rather experience that physical contact with Lai himself).2
Even when fans are part of a mass audience—the comic convention, the soccer stadium, the rock/pop concert—the emphasis is on fans’ “personal” relationship with the star. Most scholarly work on fans that has emerged from the West stresses the active participation of fans in production and consumption, suggesting that there is a resistance of sorts to the official culture. Recent works on fans within an East Asian context, however, seem to depict different approaches to the concept of fandom and celebritydom, suggesting that the national and cultural context within which texts or objects of fandom are produced may be an important factor to consider.
HK Cinema in a Western Context
Leon Hunt wrote that “HK cinema has largely been theorized in terms of the hybrid, the transnational, the postmodern and the postcolonial” (2003: 157–58). While film production in the former British colony has been on the decline due to threats from rampant piracy and competition from other East Asian countries, the 2005 Venice Film Festival’s choice of book-end films confirms the contribution of HK filmmakers to the world of international cinema, which has been exporting home-grown talent to Hollywood since the emergence of a new HK cinema in 1982 that saw the premiere of internationally recognizable names like Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, and Stanley Kwan (Abbas 1997). Action superstars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, and directors and martial arts choreographers such as John Woo and Yuen Wo-Ping are no longer the only household names, as more and more stars and films are “brought over” from underground cult status to the mainstream. Their collaborations with Hollywood have also made their previous work, made in their country of origin, easily available to admirers in the West. Just as a successful Hollywood remake of East Asian films will provide “a platform for the cult text’s wider availability” (Hills 2005c: 164), the success of a star or a director will provide similar opportunities for his or her previous work to become more accessible to fans internationally.
“With few exceptions, films made in HK are all part of the mainstream; all make use, to the full extent that their budgets allow, of established stars, established genres, and spectacle” (Abbas 1997: 20). Even Wong Kar Wai, who makes “superhip movies the international art-house set loves for their languorous rhythms, their gorgeous-garish visual tones, their iconizing of alienation, their pioneering of a sultry cinematic language” (Corliss 2004), makes use of popular genres such as martial arts (Ashes of Time, 1994), the gangster film (Fallen Angels, 1995), and melodrama (In The Mood for Love, 2000) in his films. While action films “are undeniably important for the HK film industry” (Abbas 1997: 19), they only represent one side of HK cinema, albeit a side with which most international fans are comfortable and familiar. However, as Abbas argues, it is undeniable that these action films put the HK film industry on the international film map, resulting in the export of its talents and skills, not to mention securing the cult status of its films among fans worldwide even when it remains part of the mainstream cinema around Asia.
However, unlike American television, where the lifespan of a popular show can last many years and where spin-offs can continue the legacy of a cult show such as Star Trek, films do not possess the same kind of “longevity.” Characters rarely last beyond one or three films, at the most. The absence of a weekly or daily serial means that character and plot development occurs over the length of the film—an average period of two hours—as opposed to the character and plot development in a TV show, which can continue over years, making it easier for fans to become emotionally attached to the show’s characters and their relationships. For fans who are involved in textual production such as fan fiction writing, this longevity allows them to build a meta-text of background information for the plots and characters.
On the other hand, general fan fiction sites like Fanfiction.net frequently offer stories based on film characters.3 If there are any instances of fan fiction to be found based on HK productions (whether film or TV dramas), they are usually “real actor” or “actor-centric” fictions. “Actor-centric” fictions are, not unlike some form of “real actor fiction,” popular and widely accepted among some fan fiction circles. In these “actor-centric” fictions, actors or pop idols are positioned in a fictional universe created by fans, playing original characters that may be based on an amalgamation of characters from their past or latest films and TV dramas.
The “actor-centric” fictions and the range of scholarly work that emphasizes East Asian stars suggest that the climate of fandom in East Asia is particularly idol-driven rather than character-driven. Just as their television dramas, often “young people’s stories of love, work, friendship and consumerism [in East Asian cities]” (Hu 2005: 171)—or “trendy dramas” as they are mostly known, a cultural form that has no Western equivalent, according to Darling-Wolf (2004: 524, note 6)—feature “multitalents” (Darling-Wolf 2004: 510), stars who juggle a television, film, and music career, the HK film industry is also dependent on these pop idols to sell and promote a film. For example, for nearly two decades, superstar Jackie Chan had to hide the fact that he had fathered a son for fear that the announcement might affect his fame. “Japanese girls, for some reason, are among his (Chan’s) most obsessively loyal fans, and, largely for fear of upsetting them, he keeps quiet about his many romantic involvements” (Dannen & Long 1997: 3). We constantly return to the figure of the star (such as Jackie Chan and Leon Lai) as the object of (Asian) fan adoration rather than a specific filmic text or genre. Even within the space of the Internet, websites and forums are mostly geared towards an actor rather than a film.4
This is not to say that this factor presents a marked difference between East and West. Rather, it is possible that the national and cultural structure of the industries influences the way fans perform their identities (such as maintaining proper conduct to achieve a form of intimacy with the star—a practice that is probably more common in Asia than in the West). While movie stars in Hollywood rarely cross boundaries between films and TV, most stars in Asia are required to sing and act for both film and TV at the same time, even at the height of their careers.5
HK Cinema Fandom in the West
However, does this emphasis shift when East Asian films are discussed in English-language forums and being simultaneously viewed as “foreign cinema” in a cultural and national context that differs from that in which the films were originally produced? In a popular English-language discussion forum dedicated to the HK auteur, Wong Kar Wai,6 for example, discussions were concentrated on the director himself, his various works, his artistic techniques in filmmaking, and his long-time collaborator and cinematographer, Christopher Doyle, rather than the stars and Asian pop idols Wong has a penchant for casting in his films.
Indeed, when questioned about the appeal of East Asian cinema, fans praised the following features:
The variety and originality of many films and stories. It doesn’t seem as overused and dumbed down as so many western media products. Plus, pretty Asian people. (Orca)
I like the realism. Not every movie has a happy ending. I believe there’s often more depth to the characters and their stories. (Rutju)
[A]s a white European, I really enjoy the obvious sense of geographical and cultural distance, because the pleasure is kinda twofold: moments which are very different are enjoyable because I’m learning something new, and moments which are very familiar are enjoyable because that familiarity is surprising and reassuring at the same time. (Seven)
While some audiences based in the United States and United Kingdom are introduced to East Asian cinema through anime fandom—“the language (in anime) struck me, and I found out that […] live action films from the east offered the same intricate, interesting storylines, with innovative effects and ideas” (Orca)—some grew up watching HK films and Sammo Hung’s Martial Law on television, while others stumbled onto the films by accident, or were introduced by friends who were already fans of martial arts or gangster films from HK. The arrival of DVD technology also helped introduce more films to these fans as the technology allowed them to borrow DVDs of East Asian films from friends who have a more extensive collection.
Fans at this forum, however, do not express a feeling of being marginalized as a result of their interest: “[O]riginally, when I first exposed myself to Asian cinema, I felt like I was very different, and nobody knew what on earth I was talking about when they asked me what my favorite films were. But it has grown far more mainstream now, good enough for me to strike up conversations with many people at work” (Orca). Kungfuchemist agreed, stating “now that Hollywood has co-opted the style of Asian films, there seems to be a new interest in where these influences came from. So I see those who were once marginalized becoming the people on the cutting edge, as it were.” Seven similarly argues, “I can still participate in discussions of mainstream culture if I have to, so I think of my ‘extra’ interest in Asian cinema as ‘elite’ rather than ‘marginalized’ knowledge.” Their participation in the fandom and their interest in East Asian cinema create a feeling that they are more “elite,” as Seven testified, than other fans or casual audiences. In a sense, these fans possess “popular cultural capital” (Fiske 1992: 33) that puts them in the forefront of an ongoing trend that is popularizing East Asian cinema in the West, even if these films are considered part of the mainstream in the East Asian region.
Susan Napier has remarked that the cult phenomenon of anime in the West (mostly the United States) has been characterized not so much by the genre’s eroticism but by its exoticism. “The fan’s interaction with the cultural object is deeply engaged, transcending issues of national boundaries, content, style, or ideology, and it cannot be subsumed under any one-note description. The fact that anime is a Japanese, or at least non-American product, is certainly important but largely because this signifies that anime is a form of media entertainment outside the mainstream, something ‘different’” (2001: 242). And fans, as Seven testified above, take their interest, whether in anime or in East Asian cinema, as a sign of “elitist taste” that is different from the norm that the West is familiar with, an accumulation of popular cultural capital that will set them apart from their peers and from “official culture.”
Jancovich et al. have warned of the dangers of “exoticization” when the cultural object, in this case East Asian cinema, is produced within different national and cultural contexts. The fan data provided have certainly touched on the difference East Asian cinema provides to the alternative they are familiar with. But rather than focus on the cultural and geographical distance of the East from the West, fans have instead concentrated on the popular cultural capital they accumulate as a result of their interest, and the sharing of popular cultural capital with their friends. The so-called “exoticism,” as suggested by Napier, is its “un-Americanness,” its difference from the “mainstream,” but for the fans themselves, it is a sign of their “elitist taste.”
As we have also seen briefly in this introductory paper, the concept of celebritydom and fandom appears to work differently in East Asian cultures, where rather than a strong focus on characters from a popular text, the emphasis is on the pop idol. The region’s actors multitask as singers and TV stars, and fans would support the actor’s films, music, or TV serials in order to achieve a form of intimacy with the star. While fan cultural theory thus far provides remarkable insight into fans’ social and cultural worlds, it is still dominated by texts that are produced in the United States and United Kingdom. Furthermore, these explorations are largely of fans of TV texts, and a more extensive look into film fans may be useful in this case. On top of that, the national and cultural contexts within which these texts are produced, and the cultural identities of fans, are also important factors to consider.
The shortcomings of fan cultural theory are revealed in this case, as the current range of work assumes a homogenous fan culture dominated by American and British texts and methods of production and consumption. Work on fans emerging from East Asia provides a different take that might better equip scholars in examining media fans, particularly in the current technologically dependent world.
NOTES
1. On important differences and tensions between yaoi and slash, however, see Thorn (2004).
2. The discussions can be found at http://invisionfree.com/forums/Worldwide_Leon_Fans/index.php?showtopic=829.
3. Obvious examples like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the Lord of the Rings film series aside, Pirates of the Caribbean, which at date of writing is just a single film, has the most fan fiction at 7,012 stories stored on the archive.
4. General Web forums do exist, but many—such as the Asian Cinema Forum (http://www.acfmovies.com/board/index.php)—serve more as a forum for downloading films via peer-to-peer Internet protocols such as BitTorrent than as a space for discussing films.
5. This warrants a further investigation that could combine a more in-depth look into film fans that is, unfortunately, beyond the scope of this paper.
6. The forum can be accessed at http://www.wongkarwai.net.