Hollywood has been expanding its market into China to increase box office revenue for well over a decade, but it’s come with a price: kowtowing to the Chinese Communist Party. But, after years of participating in “anticipatory self censorship,” U.S. movies are being limited by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China has no formal ratings system. Instead, movies are approved by the Censorship board, which judges whether the product breaks such vague rules as “propagating cults and superstition” or “disrupting public order and undermining social stability.” Any film that criticizes the CCP will be banned. Failure to participate in China’s alternate reality, such as acknowledging Taiwan’s independence or their alleged human rights abuses will also lead to refusal.
Even if a movie successfully makes it through all of the hoops, negative comments in an interview can sink it.
Chloe Zhao was once hailed as a great example of female filmmakers by China but after an interview from 2013 resurfaced the CCP removed all mentions of her from social media, canceled the scheduled release of her 2020 film Nomadland, and censored news about the Academy Award she won for Best Director. In the 2013 interview Zhao described the country as a place “where there are lies everywhere.” That interview sank her career in China and turned many patriotic netizens against her.
This reaction by state media divided the Chinese people. While there was some backlash over Zhao’s comments, many users of Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, offered praise for her victory and complained about the censorship. (CCP censorship is an open secret that Chinese citizens sometimes push back against. These criticisms are, naturally, deleted.) Zhao’s following film, Marvel’s The Eternals, was also banned from release in China.
In this climate of censorship, Hollywood has been happy to do whatever is needed to please China if it means higher earnings. Celebrities like John Cena are quick to issue public apologies when committing infractions, as he did when he once referred to Taiwan as an independent country, which contradicts CCP propaganda.
Disney’s 2020 Mulan thanked Xinjiang province in the closing credits, ignoring allegations that 1 million Uighur Muslims are being detained in internment camps there. (China denies these claims.) International public outcry shed light on the situation and mainstreamed the knowledge, angering the CCP. This was an unintended consequence as Disney has been trying to play nice with China for decades.
Sometimes, China just isn’t willing to play at all. U.S. based Netflix was, according to C.E.O. Reed Hastings, “turned down” by Chinese censors and, unlike many in Hollywood, the company has given up trying to please them, instead focusing on other less strict markets in Asia.
It’s been China’s long term strategy to rival, if not outright dethrone, American moviemaking, but President Xi’s recent campaign to return to traditional Chinese values in art warns creators to avoid imitating Hollywood.
In early 2020, China’s “Detailed Rules for Reviewing Internet Variety Program Content,” forbade the “inappropriate use” of foreign actors, inspiring some celebrities to renounce their dual citizenships as a display of loyalty. (China does not allow or recognize foreign passports, but until recently stars were given a pass and only “pressured” to abandon them.)
Later in 2020, taking advantage of limited attendance in the U.S. due to the Coronavirus pandemic, China surpassed North America as the largest movie market.
Aiming to change the narrative in a post-COVID world, the CCP is perpetuating the idea that their practices are superior to those of the West. This continued increase in nationalism manifests as an allergy to foreign influences, resulting in the number of imported movies falling from 45 in 2019 to 25 in 2021.
The Chinese production Hi, Mom was the third highest grossing movie of 2021 worldwide, earning $848 million along with critical acclaim and positive word of mouth from audiences. A project not just popular but uniquely Chinese in spirit and culture; its time-travel plot generated a feeling of nostalgia for 1980s China and even increased tourism to locations used in the film.
Now that China sees that it can participate in the global movie market, it is even more likely to reject American movies. Hollywood, increasingly dependent on China for its box office grosses, will have to reevaluate its reliance on the China market.
