I hope that every country in the world can share such a good story, so that the world's culture can better see each other, communicate with each other.
Few days ago, I went to see the movie Avatar: The Way of Water. Someone asked me what I thought after watching it. I only have one thing to say: The movie was spectacular.
But when I say this is wonderful, I do not mean the story and visual effects of the movie, although the story and visual effects are also worthy of standing ovation, but what I really want to say is that the ability to export the values of American culture has reached the highest level. Hollywood really knows how to tell a story and how to move people all over the world, but what is my reason for saying that?
If you have seen the movie Inception, you will understand the concept that if you want to make a person do what you want in reality, the best way is to plant a motive in his mind, plant a grass seed, and then wait for it to sprout.
In Inception, Saito hopes to utilize Leonardo, the dream maker, to plant an idea for his rival Robert Fischer. Robert Fischer is the heir to a billionaire fortune, and Saito wants Robert Fischer to dissolve his father's company.
So, if you're deceiving someone, or if you're taking advantage of someone, and you need to make that person unaware and also want that person to trust you, then how do you make that happen, that’s a topic worth discussing.
And this is something that only the United States does best. Why?
Because only America knows how to tell a believable story. No other country in the world has the ability to tell its own story well.
Is that an exaggeration?
Many readers may not agree, telling a good story of a country, is not only showing the advantages of a country to the whole world?
How hard is that?
It's not easy to tell a story that people can both trust and like, and to make them believe you at the same time. For example, as a counterexample, do you know how many successful people bring the house down with their speeches?
When they share their successful experience, tell others how hard they work, how eager they are to learn, how to sacrifice all free time, finally own many houses, let the number of savings reached astronomical numbers, and then full of anticipation, waiting for everyone to give warm applause, do you know what the common reaction is?
Most people, would be as sick as eating a fly, then silently raised a finger in the heart, secretly scold: "You’re just an annoying rich guy, you are not a big deal."
It's human nature. Everyone likes to see other people suffer, and no one likes to hear that you're better than him.
This mindset is true in any situation anywhere.
A country that is suddenly on the rise is likely to attract the envy of the world, and if it tries desperately to tell its story well, the result can be even more distasteful.
So, it's far from easy to tell a story about a country, but Hollywood knows how to tell a story and tell a story that everyone likes. So how does Hollywood do it?
The Americans have a method, or they have a formula.
In fact, if you look at all the successful movies in Hollywood, there is a common pattern. They quietly change our way of thinking and our historical values in a very gentle or joyful way, and finally tell an "American story" that the Americans want. How did they do that?
Let's take the movie Avatar, which, without realizing it, instills three ideas in us:
First, even if you are not strong enough, the original way is also beautiful, don't just hurry to change the appearance. Stay who you are.
In the movie Avatar: The Way of Water, the Na 'vi people of Pandora live a carefree life of collecting, fishing and hunting, which is just like paradise. Therefore, it is not necessary to become a high-tech developed country. Why do we engage in so much technology? How can any Na 'vi have a good time if they are not forced to migrate to other planets?
Second, it is true that there are many bad people everywhere, but what can save you is the good people.
In the movie, the burning and pillaging Earthmen are actually representatives of Americans, while the Na 'vi, who defend their homeland, are actually talking about Indians.
Although in real history the Indians were almost exterminated, what the Americans did was no different from what Hitler did to the Jews.
But in the movies made by Americans, whether it's Avatar, or not so long ago, The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio, there is a common plot, an American from the civilized world, dedicated to helping these indigenous people, more than Superman in the pursuit of perfection, it is an expression of personal heroism.
Third, although only few countries have the most advanced science and technology in the world, there is no need to worry. As long as you are led by good people, you can destroy an aircraft carrier with a bamboo pole, and you can still hit the hardest advanced weapons with a bomb.
In the movie, Jack rides the various gods of Pandora and leads the Na 'vi to defeat the Earthlings, who are armed to the teeth with high technology, using sticks and bows.
A civilization that's developed enough to travel the stars, but it can't handle a bunch of wild men and a few wild animals.
If you watch this kind of movie too much, it will probably bring two illusions to people:
The first is that the history of defeat in any country seems to be able to avoid defeat, but because of the lack of a leader like Jack, it falls short, so we need a real leader.
The second is that the Indians were obviously better fighters than the bad invaders, so the idea that the Americans massacred them is nonsense.
As we can see in both Avatar and The Revenant, it's the natives who end up alive and well, and the invaders who ended up dead.
As a matter of fact, this is not the only movie. Hollywood movies about the conquest of other nations by the United States basically follow the same formula, all of which are sincere "political propaganda". So, what benefits can this mode of narrative bring to the cultural export of the United States?
First of all, with the exception of the US and the small circle in the West, the rest of the world is not developed enough, they have to follow the strong side to survive.
But sometimes, the strong power countries will say like “Poor is also a good thing, natural, pollution-free, belong to green products, these also a very good thing to live with, people will miss the nature when they get too highly developed by technology.
So, after saying these, people from another place will become more comfortable. If there was any discomfort before, it's all gone after these saying. People forget that the real reality of capital in this world is that people are being taken advantage of by rich people all the time, and the people who are being taken advantage of feel happy and content. They may even feel that the capitalist is respectful, a good friend, a person worth associating with.
Secondly, the United States does not deny that the United States sometimes does bad things, but that has nothing to do with the country itself, only a few people do bad things, and it is the same everywhere all over the world, bad things are done by few people, every country is still lovely and worthy of our love.
So don't hate any country, you can only hate those bad people, what's more, there are more good people in the world, less bad people, so when from the United States, a variety of non-governmental organizations, found a reason or some circumstances to enter your country you must cooperate with them.
Once you understand this, you can see how Hollywood tells a story, and you will notice when it comes to telling good stories, spreading American cultural values to the world.
Some people may wonder, watching a movie, really can produce such an exaggerated effect?
That's a real exaggeration.
There was a study by the Rand Corporation in the United States, before Americans saw Soviet movies, almost all Americans thought they could put a polar bear on the ground with ease.
But in the 1970s, when the United States imported the Soviet-made Great Patriotic War movie "Liberation" and the historical movie War and Peace Americans were shocked.
Most Americans have since assumed that fighting the Russians is a death wish and that polar bears are invincible.
Americans not only studied the impact of movies from other countries on the American people, but they also studied the impact of American movies on the world. Before the 1970s, most people in third world countries, after watching American movies, were more hostile to the United States. Why is that?
Because the American movies before the civil rights movement were full of white supremacy, American superiority and American happiness. In these movies, black people were mostly servants serving tea and water, and all Indians were basically villains.
This angered the elites of the Third World at the time, who easily equated themselves with the black and Indian characters in the movie, and were deeply offended, resulting in strong anti-American sentiments.
However, after the 1980s, due to the success of the civil rights movement, American movies began to slowly change the narrative formula, and developed the famous syllogism I mentioned before. At this time, people in other countries felt more comfortable watching American movies, and then they felt close to the United States, and Hollywood became the ideological export center of the United States.
After the 1990s, Black Americans could easily penetrate into other countries and be accepted by people in other countries. In several local wars, the United States was initially overwhelming.
In addition to the victory of the Cold War and the strength of the United States itself, it was largely because the citizens of these countries initially had unrealistic expectations of the United States and did not have strong resistance.
And the reason why this is so, in a sense, all depends on Hollywood to tell the American story.
So, after watching Avatar: The Way of Water, I have to say that it is a successful example of Hollywood showing American culture to the world with movies.
A good movie should not only make you willing to pay money for it, but more importantly, it can also plant grass in your mind and let you accept its values. Movie becomes culture a culture that can communicate with people all over the world and bring people happiness and thinking, which is a perfect movie.
When I watched the movie Avatar: The Way of Water, I could not help but be filled with emotions, I hope that any country in the world can make such a good movie, so that the world's culture can better see each other, communicate with each other.
Share your thoughts!
Be the first to start the conversation.