1. I don't actually think Robin Hood is really that good of an example. When I think of the way friends talk about being raised on stories of Monkey (and I include the Asia-raised other half in those recollections), it's doesn't seem to be quite to the same degree of... not intensity. Ubiquity, perhaps? So it's really hard to find an analogy that doesn't fail half of the way, if not a third of the way, through.
2. Any acculturated person feels protective of their own country's system. Basis of xenophobia and jingoism, so I never hold it against anyone for feeling that their cultural system is the best. It's theirs. Whether I agree is another matter, but I expect people to act with the mindset that their culture, country, government, etc, deserves their pride.
3. Your reverse-analogy of the Robin Hood equivalent... might work, except that to the best of my knowledge, Monkey's been represented in a variety of ways in plenty of stories. Let's see. 12 film adaptations, of which 4 were produced in Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution, at that. 11 live-action series: 7 in China (PRC & HK), 3 in Japan, and one by the SciFi channel. The first Monkey adaptation in China was animation, but I think the rest I'm counting are all live-action, because there have been multiple animated adaptations (most of which are coming out of Japan), and I don't want to be here all day counting. It's just not a story where -- at least, as far as I've been told by PRC-raised friends -- anyone's going to be fooled if the government suddenly said the story should be different.
4. It's entirely possible that a government would act for, or against, its citizens. My point is not to imply that any film-review board in the PRC is utterly innocent of malice. My point is that regardless of whether or not they have government bias, one cannot simply assume that any corrections or displeasure is automatically because of their style of governing.
I edited the original post to add the quick thoughts since posting, but I think it boils down to the antagonism in the comments. If you change the country name, it makes the embedded hostility more blatant. That just strikes me. How, I can't quite put a finger on, but it does.
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Date: 19 Mar 2011 10:08 pm (UTC)2. Any acculturated person feels protective of their own country's system. Basis of xenophobia and jingoism, so I never hold it against anyone for feeling that their cultural system is the best. It's theirs. Whether I agree is another matter, but I expect people to act with the mindset that their culture, country, government, etc, deserves their pride.
3. Your reverse-analogy of the Robin Hood equivalent... might work, except that to the best of my knowledge, Monkey's been represented in a variety of ways in plenty of stories. Let's see. 12 film adaptations, of which 4 were produced in Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution, at that. 11 live-action series: 7 in China (PRC & HK), 3 in Japan, and one by the SciFi channel. The first Monkey adaptation in China was animation, but I think the rest I'm counting are all live-action, because there have been multiple animated adaptations (most of which are coming out of Japan), and I don't want to be here all day counting. It's just not a story where -- at least, as far as I've been told by PRC-raised friends -- anyone's going to be fooled if the government suddenly said the story should be different.
4. It's entirely possible that a government would act for, or against, its citizens. My point is not to imply that any film-review board in the PRC is utterly innocent of malice. My point is that regardless of whether or not they have government bias, one cannot simply assume that any corrections or displeasure is automatically because of their style of governing.
I edited the original post to add the quick thoughts since posting, but I think it boils down to the antagonism in the comments. If you change the country name, it makes the embedded hostility more blatant. That just strikes me. How, I can't quite put a finger on, but it does.