The Chinese Female Characters In Hollywood Movies

Chinese women have been portrayed in Hollywood movies for almost a century. Female characters range from prostitutes to dignitaries, from the women awaiting rescue to the heroine of society, from the simple, traditional, honest, and hard-working country woman to the modern Cosmopolitan women. The global dissemination of Hollywood movies makes it possible for Chinese female images to become popular in the world. Drawing on critical/cultural studies, the present thesis provides a detailed, textual analysis of three Hollywood movies–"Earth","The Last Emperor,"and"Mulan". The main issues to be discussed are: 1) in what specific manners Chinese women are historically characterized in Hollywood movies, 2) in what specific features Chinese female characters are projected in Hollywood movies, and 3) under what social and cultural environments Chinese female images are formed in Hollywood movies.The present thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One introduces the origin of this study and presents the aim and scope of the research in terms of its theoretical and practical significance. Chapter Two provides a comprehensive literature review including women and film, cross-cultural communication, and cultural misunderstanding, and thus formulates a theoretical framework for a critical/cultural study of Chinese female characters in Hollywood movies. Chapter Three presents the research questions, methods for data collection, and specific categories of textual analysis. Chapter Four provides detailed analyses of the Chinese female characters in the three Hollywood movies in terms of six categories:1)Film time background,2)Film theme ,3)Background of director and playmaker ,4) actors or actresses,5) film-screenshot and scene ,and 6) Movie lines. Chapter Five concludes this thesis by answering all the research questions regarding the characterizations of Chinese women in the three Hollywood movies and their social, historical, and cultural reasons.