"Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy" by Erich Schwartzel; Penguin Press (400 pages, $28)
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If you want to continue watching movies the way you have your entire life, don't read "Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy."
In his new book, Wall Street Journal entertainment reporter Erich Schwartzel dives deep into Hollywood's complicated relationship with China and the many ways it tries to appease Chinese officials to gain access to the country's highly coveted movie market.
"Red Carpet" is essentially a "Matrix"-esque red pill that may render you unable to ever watch a movie again without clocking the on-screen elements that seem shoehorned in specifically to appeal to Chinese authorities and audiences. The book serves as both a fascinating exploration of the Chinese entertainment apparatus and how seemingly innocuous American films can become international flashpoints.
Schwartzel, a Latrobe native and former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette energy reporter, spent years gathering information on the inner workings of both the American and Chinese entertainment industries for this book.
If you've ever wanted a crash course in the last 100-plus years of Chinese history, Schwartzel provides a pretty comprehensive one in "Red Carpet." It's necessary context to explain how the rise of communism left China culturally stunted during Hollywood's ascension into a global purveyor of entertainment and American ideals.
He then goes on to explain how China's increasing political prominence on the world stage coincided with both its desire to become a major cultural force and a floundering U.S. box office in desperate need of a financial shot in the arm. Schwartzel does his best to distill complicated ideas down to their simplest forms, with the occasional burst of literary flair.
There's a lot of ink spilled on American films that angered the Chinese political elite. The 1997 trifecta of "Kundun," "Seven Years in Tibet" and "Red Corner" were early examples of China beginning to realize its own power by pushing back against Hollywood movies that painted it in an unflattering light. More modern incidents include MGM changing the invading country in its 2012 "Red Dawn" remake from China to North Korea in post-production.
The book shows how Hollywood moviemakers have begun to self-censor as to avoid offending China. A recent example was the removal of a patch that implied Taiwanese autonomy from the bomber jacket worn by Tom Cruise in "Top Gun: Maverick," which is to be released in May. Again, once you read Schwartzel's accounts of the painstaking lengths Hollywood goes to placate China, it may be difficult to not be on high alert for those things while watching movies going forward.
Schwartzel describes in great detail how movies like "Kung Fu Panda" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction" became landmark moments in solidifying the new dynamic between Hollywood and China. He does a concise job of explaining the huge impact these films had in China and the types of movies Chinese cinema lovers want to see.
Though just about every major American studio gets taken to task for kowtowing to Chinese demands, Schwartzel pays especially close attention to Disney's expansion into China that included everything from building a Disneyland Park in Shanghai to establishing programs designed to simultaneously teach Chinese children English and to fall in love with its most beloved franchises.
He also shines a spotlight on the evolution of Chinese entertainment from mostly state-mandated propaganda to those same messages expertly disguised with Hollywood-style gloss and action. Schwartzel shows how the commercial success of Chinese-made films like "Operation Red Sea" and "Wolf Warrior 2" have made it more difficult for American movies to break into the country's thriving movie market.
Schwartzel also found much more recent cases of China affecting Hollywood productions. There's a section about the 2022 action-thriller "The 355" almost being unable to feature one of its stars, Chinese actor Fan Bingbing, after she became persona non grata in China due to allegations of tax fraud. The author has a knack for revealing how China exerts its influence in the most bizarre places.
"Red Carpet" is both a movie nerd's dream and nightmare in the sense that it contains fascinating information that may make readers more wary of the entertainment they consume. If you love movies and are willing to take that risk, you won't be disappointed by following Schwartzel down this particular rabbit hole.
