7 ms·
I work in publishing, and tangentially with children's books published inside and outside of China. My main observation is that the Chinese market for children'
by girzel 9y ago
I work in publishing, and tangentially with children's books published inside and outside of China. My main observation is that the Chinese market for children's books (read: parents) is totally uninterested in books produced in China. 99% of children's books published in China are imported and translated from other countries, mostly the US.
In other words, the (politically-influenced) Chinese publishing industry is producing didactic children's books, but Chinese consumers are not interested in those books at all.
- Animats 9y agoWhat's published in China is amusing. Current events are touchy politically, so there's a vast amount of wuxia. See any Chinese drama site. Novels about business success are popular. China has explicit political movie censorship. The golden dragon logo at the beginning is the "passed by censor" label. The Chinese army even produces an occasional feature film. "Sky Fighters", is a ripoff of "Top Gun", but worse. The USAF, especially the Strategic Air Command, used to do stuff like that in the 1950s. See "Strategic Air Command"[1], with Jimmie Stuart (considered good) or "Bombers B-52" (not so good). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGjyH2ulsCk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGjyH2ulsCk
- whooshee 9y agoThere are always a tons of fans for Wuxia in China for probably hundreds years. Supply follows demand. And Internet-literature is a big thing in China. There are also a lot of Wuxia or quasi-wuxia published online. I wonder which country don't censor movies? China actually has quite a few political-metaphor movies up. Not to mention recently one filmed by Feng XiaoGang. I am not saying China bureau of movies production are doing a good job. In fact they have been complained quite a a lot. China still hasn't implement a good classification system. Quite a few films got cut because it has to suit majority(including children) which really annoys people. As your last film example, many Chinese viewers don't think that film is good.
- QAPereo 9y agoThat’s a literal Gish Gallop of propaganda, especially: I wonder which country don't censor movies? Tu Quoque is boring.
- whooshee 9y agoOkay, Sorry for my `Gish Gallop`. I am not trying to deny the censorship, in fact it's to blame. And there are better examples to follow. many people dislike that and I pointed out problems in censorship and regulations of movies production in China. But I have seen quite a few directors in China who can't produce great films then just blame the system while others successfully put political metaphors in films which is more artful than name-calling.
- astebbin 9y ago> I wonder which country don't censor movies? The USA, for one. The MPAA does rate movies, and most theater chains choose not to run movies rated to contain extreme violence or sexuality, but anyone can privately film and distribute a political (for example) film that might embarrass the US government. Many such movies also run in theaters- see Fahrenheit 9/11, Citizenfour, All the President’s Men, etc.
- jlarocco 9y agoI've been thinking about this lately. Even though our government doesn't censor us, our society does censor a lot of unpopular opinions. For example, the neo-Nazis who were publicly shamed and then subsequently lost their jobs. And the Google employee who was fired after writing that email about sexual harassment. I've seen other cases, too, but can't think of them off hand. And I should point out that I'm not defending those views (I think they're shameful), I'm pointing out that they were publicly humiliated and punished for sharing them. Practically speaking, is there much difference between government backed censorship and online mob justice censorship? Each one will ruin your life, just in a different way.
- 9y ago
- jordanb 9y agoStrategic Air Command's cold war propaganda is pretty campy but the porn shots of the B-36 and B-47 are an aviation buff's wet dream. That youtube video is just a small taste. Also that movie taught me the proper pronunciation of "Thule" (it's too-lee).
- eru 9y agoThe American military outsourced their feature films: they happily lent equipment for filming to movies they approve of. (Not saying it's the same as China. It's just an interesting system to subtly get sympathetic portrayals.)
- swimfar 9y agoI'm pretty sure they don't lend the equipment out for free. Does it work differently in other countries?
- forapurpose 9y agoI know the U.S. military sees it as marketing and actively participates. I don't know if that includes free equipment.
- pjc50 9y agoNot quite free, but not anywhere near cost either. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/25-years-later-remembering-how-top-gun-changed-americas-feelings-about-war/2011/08/15/gIQAU6qJgJ_story.html?utm_term=.8d1e1bed9c5d https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/25-years-later-remem...
- ycombinete 9y agoYou can see this in England, with shows like Top Gear constantly featuring the latest and greatest military equipment for wow-shows.
- netsharc 9y agoClarkson's Top Gear is not a movie where the story has military elements, so that's not quite the same (for example Independence Day is about the US military fighting aliens, so they do need military elements). For (old) Top Gear I wonder if they have some sort of patriotic elements, because Clarkson is a friend of David Cameron. Maybe the government/military offered them access to make a boys' show, with the unmentioned quid-pro-quo of making the show a bit of propaganda for the UK government/military.
- interfixus 9y ago> Jimmie Stuart 'Jimmy' or, preferably, James Stewart. With a more than decent real-life airforce career alongside all the movie stuff. And when war came, used his Hollywood connections to get into, not out of, active duty.
- rangibaby 9y agoWhat's really interesting about SAC is that it's less than 10 years away from "Dr Strangelove" (1964). I think the thought of another "1960s" keeps most governments of the world up at night.
- dragonwriter 9y ago> The Chinese army even produces an occasional feature film. The US Army just has a target audience with different cultural tastes, so it makes FPS video games, instead (as well as supporting favorable movies.) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Army https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Army
- Animats 9y agoAmerica's Army is for recruiting. China still has a draft.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoChina has conscription but doesn't use it. It’s force is completely volunteer ATM (you do have mandatory military training for college students, but it isn’t militarily useable). The PLA has to recruit also, many Chinese movies and TV shows are produced to that goal.
- diogenescynic 9y agoOur military also funds movies and sports to promote patriotism and nationalism. They paid the NFL to add the pledge of allegiance before games... we do lots of creepy stuff.
- whooshee 9y agoMay I ask you to elaborate on 99% part? Chinese parents are as anxious as other parents in many economies. That's why they buy books even their children don't read, they will read those for them... And buying children anime books from the West or Japan has little to do with politics, it's more about story-telling. Chinese editors still need to make their work more funny and engaging.
- fspeech 9y agoThere are many great children's books written over the centuries by authors around the world so it is great that Chinese children read them. Also stories from a foreign land are particularly stimulating to children's imaginations. Can you justify your claim "99% of children's books published in China are imported and translated from other countries, mostly the US"? The claim seems exceedingly silly. Not only is the 99% number impossible I am also pretty sure US is not the majority source of children's books in China. See http://www.shuku.net/novels/mulu/ert.html http://www.shuku.net/novels/mulu/ert.html . The only US book on the list I recognize is "The Wizard of Oz".
- forapurpose 9y ago> The claim seems exceedingly silly. Not only is the 99% number impossible ... The silliest thing ever is to treat obvious hyperbole as if it is a precise, literal assertion.
- fspeech 9y agoShould I read "mostly the US" as hyperbole as well? I would not hold the exactitude of 99% against the original poster but what is the non-hyperbole number I should be taking home from the quoted comment? Or is it your opinion that there is no way to dispute a claim because hyperbole is involved and anyone who comments with hyperbole gets an automatic pass?
- forapurpose 9y ago> I would not hold the exactitude of 99% against the original poster but what is the non-hyperbole number I should be taking home from the quoted comment? I actually very much dislike hyperbole for this very reason; it prevents substantive discussion and the reader gains little for it. Hyperbole really expresses only the author's emotional reaction, and it's even vague about that; it charges the discussion with emotion. If I were benevolent dictator of my own forum, hyperbole would be banned.
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- thecortado 9y agoYes, but parents and kids are interested in classics like Journey to the West, of which there are endless versions for every age group.