Star Wars and China
“To rebel is justified”. Mao Ze Dong
Almost every geek in the Western hemisphere, and many on the other side, have anticipated the release of the Star Wars spin off film “Rogue One”. I managed to see it last week, and was impressed with it. I loved how it filled the narrative between Episodes 3 and 4 of the saga, without making itself a necessity, how it tied in very snuggly with animated series “Star Wars Rebels”, which I have also been following, and how, despite its gritty tone, was ultimately uplifting. There is something eternally gratifying about seeing a small, unlikely band of outlaws with more guts than ammo railing against the dread powers that be. What I most loved though, was seeing actors from my home country, Donnie Yen and Jiang Wu, in a movie that is part of a new, sprawling global mythology.
Posted in Culture and tagged china, Chinese, culture, Donnie Yen, film, Geek, Jiang Wu, Rebels, review, Rogue One, Star Wars
On Chinese Geek Part 1
From the outside, China has a unified people. It presents itself as a united country when dealing with any outsiders, though internally, they are proud of the 56 ethnic groups which make up the whole. Each region having its own customs and rich history.
These days, with the increasingly widespread presence of mobile phones, wifi and other communication channels, new communities spring up, and new tribal lines are drawn. One of the nascent new people of China, are a community whose mythic stories star giant robots, whose traditional dress is Cosplay, and whose folk dances consist of spinning leeks.
Posted in Culture and tagged anime, Bienshen, china, Chinese, cosplay, culture, doujinshi, Geek, Henshin, maid cafe, MMORPG, moe, mung, pop culture, tongren, Transformers, Zhai