Heroes are heroes

By Li Jingjing Source:Global Times Published: 2014-4-14 20:33:01

Promotional poster for 2012's The Avengers Photo: CFP

After only two weekends in cinemas, Captain America: The Winter Solidier has already earned over 400 million yuan ($64 million) in the Chinese mainland. These numbers are pretty clear in showing that Chinese audiences are more than willing to jump on the superhero bandwagon.

It doesn't just stop there, comic book heroes such as Iron Man, Hulk and Spider-man from Marvel Comics, and Batman and Superman from DC Comics, have all become well received in China.

The plan

After chasing all these US superheroes all these years, one question has begun to form in the minds of some Chinese fans: How can the US have created all these iconic superheroes and yet China hasn't created its own "Captain China?" Before we attempt to answer this question, we should probably take a look at why the US has been so successful at making superheroes.

Of the two comic giants, DC was first founded in 1934 as National Allied Publications, whereas Marvel got its start as Timely Publications in 1939. For over 70 years these two publishing companies have created some of the world's most iconic superheroes, of those that have had movies made recently Superman, Batman and Green Lantern belong to DC, while Iron Man, Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men, Thor, Captain America and the Fantastic Four originated with Marvel. For decades these superheroes have been portrayed in various comic books, animated cartoons and films. It's easy to image how big the fan base is since many Americans grew up hearing stories of these heroes, even if they were never comic book fans themselves. Now these stories are being sold to other countries.

The recent success of Marvel's superhero movies shows wonderful marketing skill: Not just selling one movie, but an entire connected series.

Although the Avengers first united on screen in 2012, the plans for getting the team together first started in 2008 when Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., approached Tony Stark to talk about the "Avengers Initiative" in the after credits scene in Iron Man.

Originally something of an Easter egg, fans now sit waiting in theaters until the very last minute so they can see these after credit scenes and get a future glimpse of what Marvel plans to do next.

This "initiative" wasn't only a good in-univese way to bring the Avengers together within the story, but also an ambitious commercial initiative to create an interconnected series of films in real life.

The main characters are also connected in ways differing from their comic book counterparts.

In the films, Captain America and Hulk are both the results of attempts to create a super soldier, only in Hulk's case he was an accident. Howard Stark, father of Iron Man Tony Stark, was one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a friend of Captain America. He was also the one who created Cap's iconic shield.

This layered story acts as an attraction to audiences encouraging them to buy movie tickets so they can dig out all the story elements that have been seeded throughout the different films. If China or any other country wants to duplicate this success, one of the first things they will need to learn is how to sell not just a movie, but an entire universe.

Where are China's superheroes?

Even though we have our own heroes, they are portrayed in a very different way. In my opinion, this comes down to some of the deeply rooted values in the two different cultures.

Behind all these superheroes lies the US' ideal of strong individual heroism. The idea that one person or a few individuals can fight against evil and save the world. You see this idea elsewhere as well, for example although the 2008 DreamWorks film Kung Fu Panda contains numerous Chinese elements, its storyline is no different than your typical superhero movie: An ordinary fat guy is suddenly chosen to save the world.

However, superheroes in China are a bit different. For years, most Chinese were taught collectivism rather than individualism. In my memory, the heroes we were brought up on during our childhood are real life war soldiers like Dong Cunrui, who sacrificed his own life to carry explosives to blow up an enemy bunker; Huo Yuanjia, the martial artist and patriot who fought against Japanese invaders and was killed; Wong Fei-hung, kung fu master and doctor.

Many of the heroic stories we have seen portrayed in various films and dramas take place during a time of war. They have something in common, portraying real people in history who are patriotic and made great contributions or even sacrificed themselves to defeat the enemy and protect the interests of the country. Most likely these stories were popular because they came at a time after China had suffered from revolution and invasion, and was in need of a hero and spiritual symbol.

In some ways this shares a similarity with the fictional figure of Captain America, a comic book superhero originally created during World War II to symbolize US ideals. Although a little bit out of date after the war ended, Marvel was able to successfully bring the hero back into the modern age.

'Sorry, Captain's orders'

This is where we can see some similarities between Chinese and American heroes, they can serve as an inspirational symbol to many.

People love to poke fun at Captain America when it comes to his abilities compared to that of other heroes. The need to do this is understandable as compared to Iron Man or Hulk, Cap has no fancy equipment that lets him fly or the strength to throw a god around like a rag doll.

However, in my eyes he's actually one of the most powerful of heroes, because in addition to his physical prowess, he's also an inspirational leader.

Originally, Steve Rogers was a tiny, thin and weak man who couldn't even qualify to join the army. However, while the super soldier experiment is what gave him his incredible body and physical power, the only reason the serum, which magnifies the qualities of an individual, succeeded was because on the inside he was brave, kindhearted and patriotic.

This is the true power of Cap and other heros portrayed in media: the ability to inspire us to do better, because fictional or real, Western or Chinese, at heart they are good people who represent values in which we can believe.

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, there is one scene where an agent refuses to follow orders despite having a gun pointed at him. When pushed he says simply, "Sorry, Captain's orders." This line summarizes the importance of Captain America as a leader.

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