A two-part film aimed at polishing China's global image is now due for international release. Production of the film, a project by China's State Council Information Office, was entrusted to the advertising company Shanghai Lowe & Partners, which has in the past worked with international commercial brands in China. The film features a 30-second commercial, People - due to be shown on CNN and other prominent international media - and a 15-minute feature, Perspectives. People features several Chinese celebrities, including tycoon Li Ka-shing, basketball star Yao Ming, astronaut Yang Liwei, Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma Yun and actress Zhang Ziyi .
Ahead of its international release, People has been robustly promoted by the media in China. Shanghai Lowe has been singled out for praise for its positive portrayal of China. But some questions are in order. First, how much did this advertisement cost? And, second, what does China hope to gain by spending this money?
For many Chinese, our 'national image' is something sacred. But once sanctified, a concept hardens and becomes abstract. People start believing it can be created independent of all other factors, and they ignore larger social and political issues. So what if there are problems with China's legal environment and its financial system? So what if authors are persecuted for their writing, citizens set fire to themselves to protest at the forced destruction of their homes, or rights petitioners are tossed into extra-legal 'black jails' simply for seeking justice? None of these things represent our national image. We suppose we can simply manufacture a 'national image' independent of these facts, burying our heads in the sand and saying, 'Look over here, everyone. This is the image approved by our government.'
It's fine to film nice things and share them with people. You can film beautiful scenery to promote tourism. You can film life in the city and give people a taste of local culture. But these films convey only what you've chosen to film. They can't possibly be representative.
The producer of the State Council publicity spots, Zhu Youguang, said recently that while 'not every country has 'national image publicity films', all countries promote themselves in different ways'. The United States does not produce publicity films to promote its image, Zhu said, but this was simply because all of America's feature films, animations and musical productions promoted its national image. It's true that the so-called 'American spirit' is constantly being promoted through popular culture. But Zhu has confused 'image' and 'concept'. American films are not produced with funding from the US government, and they are not in the business of manufacturing an American image. What they do is express ideas and concepts, which are intellectual and cultural aspirations. An image, by contrast, is something preconceived, a foregone conclusion.
Then there is the question of what image of China we are trying to portray through this publicity film. Zhu's argument is that China and the US are in very different positions, that China does not yet have the cultural means to get its messages out. Therefore, he says, '[we] must resort to publicity films like this in order to achieve results in a short time'. This is naked opportunism, and that's probably the first impression people seeing the publicity film are going to have. What makes us think we can simply take some pretty footage, purchase some air time, and raise our international prestige right away? We're imagining that foreigners are just like Chinese.
What are foreigners supposed to glean from this publicity film? According to Chinese media reports, the idea is for foreigners to recognise the faces of these Chinese celebrities and see them as representative of China. Yet, in one interview, executive producer Su Mingxia said the 30-second film 'shows the situation of ordinary Chinese, and how they live and work'.