The Perpetual Foreigner: How Persisting Ideas of Exoticization, Otherness, and Discrimination Plague Chinese Cinema

My senior Chinese work explored the representation of non-Han Chinese people in Chinese film. Unknown to most, the Chinese population is comprised of 90% Han Chinese people while the remaining 10% makes up the other 54 ethnic... [ view full abstract ]

My senior Chinese work explored the representation of non-Han Chinese people in Chinese film. Unknown to most, the Chinese population is comprised of 90% Han Chinese people while the remaining 10% makes up the other 54 ethnic groups. This paper explored many films, including: Liu San Jie, Five Golden Flowers, Sacrificed Youth, The Horse Thief, Old Dog, Equilibrium, Mountain Patrol, and Tharlo. These are still some of the most important “minority films” to come out of China; however, the discriminatory undertones are hardly acknowledged or analyzed. All extremely popular and widely distributed at the time, the chosen works played huge role in how ethnic minorities were viewed. The goal is not to demonize the filmmakers who created these harmful works nor is it to depict Chinese ethnic minorities as victims. The way in which filmmakers such as Wang Jiayi, Su Li, Nuanxing Zhang, Tian Zhuangzhuang, and Lu Chuan depict people belonging to ethnic minority groups is problematic; however, condemning their character will not solve the problem. These films do not act alone; because they influence cultural understanding of many different groups the films in turn influence how Chinese people think about and act toward non-Han Chinese people. Incorrect, preconceived notions do not arise from the aggregation of individual stereotypes; repeated emphasis of toxic ideology allows stereotypes to mutate and strengthen. By dismantling numerous stereotypes in a variety of films created by Han Chinese directors about ethnic minorities this work starts strategizing a way to eternally banish these stereotypes.