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Ethnic-Chinese Ang Lee, a Taiwanese, wins the Best Director Oscar

for Life of Pi: Why do people pay so much attention to the Oscars,

and so little to the Golden Rooster? It may have to do with Beijing's

influence over China's film industry.

 

 

Why Chinese Like the Oscars and Ignore their Own Movie Awards (China Daily, People's Republic of China)

 

Why don't people pay as much attention to China's Golden Rooster Awards as they do to America's Academy Awards? For China's state-run China Daily, Wang Hongqiang suggests that it might have to do with 'the policy orientation of our state.' After this breakthrough admission about censorship, Mr. Wang backs off quickly, yet proving his point by saying, 'As a layman and amateur movie critic, on this point I'm not sure.'

 

By Wang Hongqiang

                                   http://worldmeets.us/images/Wang-Hongqiang-micro_pic.png

 

March 5, 2013

 

People’s Republic of China - China Daily – Original Article (English)

The Golden Rooster Awards, China's equivalent of the Academy Awards, was named for 1981 - the Year of the Rooster and first year the awards were handed out. Why is it that so few people pay attention to them?

 

CCTV CHINA VIDEO [STATE-RUN]: A look at last year's Golden Rooster Awards nominees, Sept. 10, 2011, 00:24:58RealVideo

When it comes to the Academy Awards, I’ve got little to say. They mean little except for pointing me toward which Western movies are worth watching. The Award has directed me toward dozens of great films sure to be at the top of the field in terms of their artistic expression and subject matter, such as Forrest Gump, Titanic and The Silence of Lambs. But that’s about all.

 

I don't excitingly watch its annual awards process. Neither would I yell "bingo" for Ang Lee, who won the Best Director Oscar for his adventure film Life of Pi. Nor am I likely to gossip about amusing anecdotes about what happened behind the glittering awards stage.

 

I'd rather scout the Web for whatever version of Argo is available and digest it by myself one night, much like I have with other movies that won various movie-competitions.

Posted By Worldmeets.US

 

Part of the reason I'm not crazy about Oscar is that it isn't Chinese. Don’t get me wrong. I’m no xenophobe. I am a patriot! We've got our own movie awards, the leading three being the Golden Rooster Awards [China's Academy Awards], the Hundred Flowers Awards [China's Golden Globes], and the Ornamental Column Awards. To my disappointment, neither at home or abroad do these top Oscar in terms of popularity or influence. Particularly in recent years, Chinese seem less and less interested in them. Our talented filmmakers produce about 500 movies a year, some of which failed to make even a ripple.

 

But there's little doubt that many do pop-out of obscurity, such as Lost on Journey (人在囧途, 2010), which is widely known among China's natives. So at one end of the spectrum is our flourishing movie industry, and at the other, our unpopular, even isolated, movie awards. What’s the problem with our awards? Why can’t they catch the eyes of movie fans here and abroad like Oscar?

 

First of all, the phenomenon is closely ties to soft state power. As the sole superpower, the influence of the United States manifests itself in every aspect of our lives - movie awards being no exemption. But that cannot explain why our awards were so popular in 80s and 90s, when the power of our state didn't compare to that of today.

 

It follows from there, that the reason for the unpopularity of our awards likely lies in the policy orientation of our state and in the awards themselves. Generally speaking, our awards, more than artistic beauty or plot, tend to take political correctness more into account. With Oscar and similar Western awards, meanwhile, it is just the opposite.

 

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SEE ALSO ON THIS:  

Rzeczpospolita, Poland: Academy Awards Show America's Got its Groove Back  

NZZ, Switzerland: Europe Cleans Up - and Weighs in - at 2013 Oscars  

Kayhan, Iran: 'Politicized Hollywood' Gives Film Argo 'Best Picture'  

Jerusalem Post: Seth MacFarlane's 'Inglorious Oscars'  

Guardian Unlimted, U.K.: Oscars 'Snub' British Director Michael Winner  

Global Montreal, Canada : Canada Shines on Oscar Night  

Cinematório, Brazil: Oscar Turns its Back on American Film  

Le Monde, France: '300' Unites Iranians Like Nothing Has in Years  

Zaman, Turkey: Lessons on 'Freedom' from Spartan Babykillers

Delito de Opinião, Portugal: 2011 Oscars: When Film Fell Short of Reality

Vedomosti, Russia: Avatar's Appeal: We've Been Bad, But Want to Be Good

De Standaard, Belgium: What Does Avatar Mean to You?

Die Welt, Germany: Tom Cruise's Valkyrie: 'Intimidated By History'

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany: Valkyrie Not Your 'Typical Hollywood Tale'

Le Monde, France: Oscar for Best Foreign Film Should Be Scrapped

 

 

As a layman and amateur movie critic, on this point I'm not sure. So I would like to stop there. What I am sure of is that we can learn a lot from Oscar and other prestigious Western Awards by examining their evaluation criteria, their propaganda, and more importantly, their professional spirit.

 

The fact that Oscar exceeds our awards lessens my enthusiasm about the world-famous celebration. The same is true with World Cup football. It may sound unreasonable and a little populist, but I can't help myself or be any other way.

 

Yes - Argo beckons me.

 

But first it is time for me to play some knife and fork.

 

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Posted By Worldmeets.US Mar. 5, 2013, 4:29am