Avatar has become the most popular film released in China ever, even after its cheaper 2D version was banned by the government. While western media has reported the movie's smashing box office success in China, the Chinese blogosphere gradually starts to realize the political undertone of the popularity of Avatar. Some have spoken the unspeakable, that Avatar has become a vehicle of political dissent. The widely distributed and hotly debated slogan is, "in technology Chinese cinema is behind by 50 years; in humanity Chinese cinema is behind by 5000 years." Here "Chinese cinema" is evidently a substitute for something else, the entity that controls and censors the Chinese cinema.
Avatar is no doubt the most commercially successful movie in the history of China. At one Shanghai IMAX theatre, all 18,000 tickets for the whole January were sold out on the first day. Avatar started showing in China later than in the US. But in about half amount of the time, it grossed in China about 20% that in the US. Considering that Chinese GDP is only a quarter of the US, the Chinese are actually spending more percentage wise on Avatar than we are.
Whatever the original intentions of James Cameron, Avatar has been given an entirely Chinese interpretation that is deeply rooted within today's Chinese rapidly changing society. This new interpretation is credited originally to blogger and sports reporter Li Chengpeng, who wrote in his blog "Avatar is an epic nail house textbook." This post has drawn over 300,000 views and 3,000 comments (and overwhelmingly supportive) since it was posted in January.
A nail house is a house that refuses to move out of the way of an impending construction, like a nail that is stuck in wood, and cannot be pounded down with a hammer. This is what a nail house looks like:
Li's interpretation of Avatar as a story of struggle between residents and developers, between the masses and the security force, was quickly picked up by other critics in China and spread like a wildfire. Beijing News described the movie as "Pandora Planet Nail House." A fashion columndescribed Avatar as a story of "strongest ever nail house vs most ever brutal forcible removal team."
The conflict between progress and preservation has led to some very violent episodes recently in China. Last November, one "nail house" resident in Chengdu burnt herself to death when the government sent workers to forcibly tear down her house. Even though most confrontations did not lead to loss of lives, they almost always result in someone being arrested and the house forcibly torn down. The resentment towards the developers, who are generally connected to the local government, runs deep among the population. Once the movie Avatar is given the new, anti-government interpretation, it is quickly picked up by the masses.
The view that Avatar is an expression of political dissent is also re-enforced by the miserable box office failure of the Chinese movie "Confucius." This is a movie that told the story of famous Chinese philosopher Confucius. Its making was supported by the government to promote what it views as the virtuous citizen's behaviors. However, it had the unfortunate fate of competing against Avatar. Even governments intervention of banning 2D version of Avatar to make room for more showings of Confucius didn't help. In contrast to the popular embracing of Avatar, there are indications that the failure of Confucius at least has some element of an intentional boycott. There is a slogan being circulated on the web that says "boycotting Confucius is every citizen's responsibility." Some traditional media even reported on the boycott. Many blogs are eager to explain that they are merely boycotting Confucius the movie, not Confucius the person.
The dual act of embracing Avatar as a Chinese story of people against the government and massive boycott of Confucius, is a covert but yet unmistakable protest against Chinese government's attempt to muffle people's voice.
For those who think I'm making this all up, here are a couple of reports in the English media: "Avatar scares China", and "A Chinese Take on ‘Avatar’", both touched on the angle of Avatar as political protest.