SALON

Tuesday, Jan 19, 2010 10:56 PM UTC

Confucius versus “Avatar”

Superstar Chow Yun Fat throws down against a bunch of subversive blue aliens. But the fight is fixed

By

Topics: China, Avatar, How the World Works,

It appears “Avatar” has finally met its match. Even James Cameron cannot defeat the Chinese government.

According to press reports, the 2D version of “Avatar” is being pulled from 1628 movie screens in China to make room for a biopic on Confucius starring Chow Yun Fat. Both the L.A. Times and the London Times cite a murkily sourced article in Hong Kong’s Apple Daily with the purported explanation:

Reportedly, the authorities have two reasons for this check on Avatar: first, it has taken in too much money and has seized market share from domestic films, and second, it may lead audiences to think about forced removal, and may possibly incite violence.

Forced removal, readers will recall, refers to the widespread practice in China in which developers brutally evict residents from their homes or businesses, often with the assistant of street thugs and goons, while the government turns a blind eye.

I’m not sure of how seriously to take the idea that the commissars actually believe that “Avatar” is “subversive.” If so, why permit theaters to continue showing the movie on their 3D screens? If the two-dimensional version can deemed dangerous, then the 3D version must be regarded as even more so! Forcible eviction is always worse in three dimensions!

But the great thing about this story is that it doesn’t matter if it’s true. James Cameron undoubtedly never intended for his film to be read as a commentary on domestic Chinese property development. The Chinese government may well have ordered theaters to pull the flick simply because it wanted to give some breathing space to a patriotic blockbuster — though one would imagine that Chow Yun Fat plus Confucius would need little help from anyone to dislodge a few blue aliens from their perch. But now that the interpretation of the film as an allegory for abusive behavior in China has become part of the conversation, it can’t be dismissed. “Avatar’s” work is done — intentionally or not, ban or no ban.

Andrew Leonard

Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon. On Twitter, @koxinga21. More Andrew Leonard.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 5 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Oklahoma senator: Tornado aid “totally different” from Sandy aid
3091 points3092 points | 2506 comments
vote
Anyone Regret Slashing National Weather Service Budget Now?: With GOP-backed cuts to forecasting agency, experts warn future storms will go undetected and more lives lost
1061 points1062 points | 574 comments
vote
Oklahoma senator wants to offset tornado aid with other cuts
155 points156 points | 61 comments
vote
New campaign compares gun control to anti-LGBT discrimination
31 points32 points | 11 comments
vote
Horrifying new trend: Posting rapes to Facebook " In Chicago this weekend, prosecutors announced three teenaged boys will tried as adults for aggravated criminal sexual assault after allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl — and posting a video of the attack on Facebook."
30 points31 points | 15 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations