KAIST HSS217 Fantasy Film 수업 기말 에세이 (2020)

The Journey to the West and Shrek 2: Overcoming by embrace, overcoming by satire

Two films, which are both very comedic with unexpected jokes, has different type of using the story to spread ideas and use defamiliarization.

Stephen Chow has been my favorite comedy actor because he’s always armed with absurd jokes and brilliant punchlines with an underdog protagonist. But the first time I met his works was CJ7, where he worked as a director too, by a heartwarming Sci-fi. He definitely has talent in making touching films, I thought. And by seeing another directed film Journey to the West, I double-checked this is true. A heartbreaking farewell to the female coworker he secretly loved, and overcoming his feelings by master’s teachings and embracing foes was an unexpected twist that made me moved. As his fan, this film has a strong Stephen Chow taste so it was not an easy task to identify distinctive nationalist underpinnings and messages. But surprisingly, as looking deep inside the film, I got that the film is sending us certain message using defamiliarization, and those messages we received as a lesson without doubt, is underneath a communist ideology.

순종과 계몽: Journey to the West의 전체주의 옹호

I first argue the film Journey… uses defamiliarization to make a point about obeying one’s role that leads to master’s intent. Xuanzang is shown to never digress from his role. He focuses on caring people, purifying demons, so he never accepts Miss Duan’s courtships before her death. It’s a common trait of Buddhist Monk in legends. But here he is always following the discipline given by master, although using Nursery Rhymes makes him feel useless. Master’s intent is ambiguous to both Xuanzang and the viewer since he does not order to do anything, neither describes his goal, but just draws pictures about tragic backstories of monsters. The little secret that turns out is it was good that Xuanzang obeyed the rules hence he acknowledges his mission and could gather demons to the Journey to the West to “deliver mankind from misery”. Whether we understand or not, master’s intent was the right way that leads to acknowledgement. This obey-before-understand was the key for story to meet its end, and therefore we feel the obedience could be the good trait.

There is sacrifice of Miss Duan while fighting Monkey King with Xuanzang. Xuanzang’s response is strange; he gets Buddha’s power and become enlightened. He admits Miss Duan’s love is exchanged for the Greater Love and the tool to defeat Monkey King. He just sits and blocks all Monkey King’s stone attacks just like he gained peace, while actually his loved one died minutes ago. He just seems to put down all conception in his mind and become the part of ‘Buddhist enlightenment club’, become patient and having broad outlook without letting personal benefits intervene. To him personal thing is all public — there’s no distinction. This, and emphasizing one’s role in society without reward, just accepting it and letting his wanted things go with empty heart, is what fits to communist ideology, although in the film it looks like lifted from Buddhist ideologies.

포용과 중국의 국가 서사

Embracing former foes is the second key theme, which is more emphasized than the journey to enlightenment of Xuanzang. Xuanzang, who lost his love from the demon, who is weaker than the demon, who just fought the demon minutes ago, embraces the demon. This can be seen as China’s destiny too, who was tormented for last 200 years by multiple western powers, but after getting a giant leap forward and becoming a leading nation, needs to cooperate with those powers to keep leading the world. The film is metaphorically expressing this as embracement to the western powers.

Concisely, the 2010s was the decade China became the lead in various categories based on economic success after western financial crisis on 2008, and Chinese people were optimistic about their nation’s bright future. And it was before China-US trade war that broke in 2018, so the movie can argue about the tolerance of one who is accepting former foe as companion, is a positive thing, and by that, China becomes a large-minded protagonist.

Shrek 2: 자본주의와 외모지상주의에 대한 풍자

Like Journey…, Shrek 2’s main humor is from ’nothing happens in our bound of expectation’, but specifically it is using parody for humor. It pokes fun on Disney by mimicking a lot of its identities — musicals, prince, and fairytale images. It’s also vivid that the film is shouting out “We cannot expect our life be perfect Disney fairytales and we shouldn’t pursue it.” Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks Animation studio, founded it soon after he was kicked out from Disney, and it could be the reason why the film ‘hates’ Disney.

Disney-style fairytales are, intended or not intended, having side-effects for children to link the ‘good’ with handsome and well-fit. Media overlooks his power to inject lookism by repeatedly releasing new films and related merch of beautiful princess and ugly witch. In Shrek 2, Shrek searches and drinks handsome potion to make Fiona happy, which was not Fiona wanted. As everyone in the kingdom abused on his ugly looks, he fell in misunderstanding of Fiona’s love. What Fiona wanted is not beauty, but the love she found regardless of looks (“To live happily ever after… with the ogre I married.”).

The far far away is meticulously crafted to not only poke fun of fairytale lands, but also for satire of capitalist world we live in; materialistic society with lots of billboards about getting life better (fairy godmother), and potions that almost looks like toxins, made in factories, for who doesn’t satisfy with their lives. People leaving Farbucks for the rescue but soon going to another Farbucks just across the street. Far far away, an average example of fairylands, is actually overly commercialized.

Lastly the film makes people who want to be perfect for everything, to rethink about themselves. Shrek 2 made me realize the fairytales were too strict about someone’s faults by showing protagonist having lots of faults, and antagonist (a Disney-style prince) who looks perfect has humorous ill-mind. The film says ‘You don’t have to be perfect to enjoy happy life.’ This actually includes me at age 6-7, raised under a strict mother and oppressive social atmosphere. The message was clearly remembered and gave hope to me facing challenges and consequences of my mistakes.

비교: 중국 공산주의 영화 vs. 미국 반자본주의 영화

The sad thing is the phenomena of real-life defamiliarized in the film is, not only on contemporary society as of film’s release, but also valid in nowadays. Also, the media’s lookism and self-oppression is dominant in Korean society. Meanwhile, Shrek 2 did not face ban from China. But if Korea was a state-controlled nation like China is today, only with capitalist ideologies, this probably would’ve got a ban here, because it was poking fun of capitalist ideologies and phenomena. In China, political life of party is supported by the righteousness of communism. The ideology is their key for ruling country, and if the film reveals the negative effects of such ideology, it is a threat to the party. This can be the reason why Chinese ruling party is too strict in censoring anti-nationalistic medias.

결론

Although Journey… has nationalistic and communistic ideologies buried inside, the movie was fascinating in re-telling the folktale into a sequel of marvelous coming-of-age fantasy story. The stone buddha was the great emersion directly from the folktales with jaw-dropping visual, and rebirth of characters from fallen angels to the mind-hurt devils was not weird and was well-fit. On the other hand, it’s sad that Chow can’t make one of my favorite comedy genres anymore — winning in messed up capitalist society like God of Cookery — since he moved to China and now directs in a communist society. Although Journey… is not my best Chow film, I recommend it to everyone — 2 hours of laughter and jaw-dropping plot twist.