<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > this article was written on February 22, 2018. Re-reading this article today when the United States tries to mobilize other countries to encircle China will find that the original thinking is still meaningful. </h1>
On the first day of the Chinese New Year, I watched "Operation Red Sea". To be fair, it is indeed a very hot movie.
Of course, there are also failures.
For example, the motto that is the soul of the Dragon Commando is "the strong are invincible", which is obviously a superficial and lack of cultural heritage, forgetting the ancient wisdom of "the strong have their own strong and strong".
Chinese culture has always advocated "the invincible of the benevolent".
Why? Because the benevolent will turn most people, even most of the enemies, into a force to support themselves, they will become stronger and stronger. And the "strong" who blindly become strong will turn all people into their own enemies, and eventually become lonely and disappear. Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan are ready-made examples.
Our army is a powerful army, but this does not prevent our army from being at the same time a civilized division and a division of benevolence and righteousness. Physically destroying the enemy has never been the main goal pursued by the PLA.
From the perspective of film art and technology, "Red Sea Action" is very exquisite and rigorous, and many film critics have analyzed it in place.
What I want to say is that through "Operation Red Sea", as well as "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Sky Hunting" and other films that can be called the same sequence as "Operation Red Sea", it is worth thinking about and studying that reflects China's "imagination of the world" and "self-imagination of China in the world".
Let's start with "Imagining the World."
This type of film's imagination of what is considered a reasonable world order is the Western-centered world order established after the rise of the West in the past 500 years, or more accurately, the world order established after the end of the Cold War, centered on the victors of the Cold War, the United States and the West.
In the film, this order is harmonious and quiet.
Breaking this harmony and tranquility is the "terrorists". To be precise, It is An islamic terrorists.
In Operation Red Sea, the headscarves, beards, and black robes of the terrorist leaders are not difficult to remind people of their religious identity. In Wolf Warrior 2 and Sky Hunt, the image of a terrorist makes the same association.
Special forces such as the Chinese Navy, Air Force and Jiaolong Commando play the role of a police officer in such a scenario. Of course, this "policeman" is restrained and civilized, only content to "save people"—evacuate or rescue hostages—and has not yet given himself the task of quelling the rebellion.
However, although extremely restrained, sometimes it is still impossible to restrain. In Wolf Warrior 2, the warship fired a cruise missile at an African country; In Operation Red Sea, Captain Gao Yun, a naval captain played by Zhang Hanyu, intercepts the incoming missiles and orders to fire on the shore, targeting unfriendly, terrorist-clad rebels who dare to attack Chinese warships.
At this moment, I am somewhat illogically associated with the name of another warship that has entered history: the Purple Quartz.
After the Sino-Japanese War, China in the late Qing Dynasty, Beiyang and the Kuomintang actually had no navy. After the founding of the People's Navy in New China, the Chinese Navy has always been a division of civilization and a mighty division. We have always opposed the imperialist gunboat policy, never shelled other countries, let alone shelled the coasts of Third World countries, why should we show this in the film? This is tantamount to self-demonization.
In modern times, imperialism has repeatedly shelled Chinese soldiers and civilians with warships on the pretext of protecting overseas Chinese, such as the shelling of Nanjing and Wanxian during the Northern Expedition.
Events like these go down in history. Today, of course, China also wants to protect its own diaspora, there is no doubt about it, but we are a country that was once deeply bullied by imperialism, and our behavior should be different from that of imperialism.
In this sequence of films, who are the most heinous terrorists who cannot even be called human beings, who can be killed like zombies?
They were black, Arab, Central Asian, and so on. In Wolf Warrior 2, white mercenaries appear to compensate for this deficiency, but they are hired by the Black Rebel Red Turban Army.
Kill them mercilessly. At the beginning of "Operation Red Sea", "Bullet Time" is used to show the whole process of a bullet accurately piercing the head of a black pirate with great clarity and shock.
These terrorists are shown to be cruel, cunning, irrational, life-like, and even sympathetic to their peers. They all looked alike, and it was difficult for the average audience to distinguish between good Arabs, blacks, Central Asians, and terrorists.
A little puzzled, is this conducive to Chinese audiences to establish a correct and equal perspective on non-Western peoples?
Has anyone ever thought that taking "Wolf Warrior 2" to Africa for screening, "Red Sea Operation" to the Middle East and North Africa for screening, and "Sky Hunting" to Central Asia for screening, what impact will it have on the local people? Will it increase the favorability of China?
Let's talk about the self-imagination of "China in the world".
Frankly speaking, in these films, China imagines itself as "another America", and the military style, equipment, and tactical actions of the soldiers in the film are also very similar to the United States.
This is especially evident in Wolf Warrior 2: the American heroine calls the U.S. consulate and the U.S. consulate evacuates, which causes Wu Jing to laugh.
Yes, the old cop was exhausted and unable to do his duty, and now it was the turn of the new cop to show his skills.
More than one critic has linked Operation Red Sea to Black Hawk Down. Indeed, regardless of the plot setting, the narrative framework, the thrilling gore of the battle, the two films are very similar. The only difference is that Black Hawk Down is somber and clearly has an American anti-war tone; "Operation Red Sea" is a little excited, like a virgin having sex, eager to try.
It's nice to be "another America," but also take into account the collateral costs.
The concept of a "community with a shared future for mankind" put forward by China is of far-reaching significance and grandeur, and needless to say. But does a film like Operation Red Sea and this idea constitute some tension, or even a paradox, about the world and humanity?
From a more far-reaching historical point of view, due to the unremitting struggle of the Chinese people for more than 100 years, especially the fruitful efforts of the people since Chairman Mao founded New China Chinese people, by the 21st century, China's rise has become unstoppable.
China's rise will subvert the self-centered world order established by the West for 500 years, which is also a "great change unprecedented in a thousand years" for the West, especially the United States, and doing everything possible to obstruct China's rise is undoubtedly the basic consensus of the American and Western elites.
That being the case, isn't it natural for China to unite all forces dissatisfied with Western rule and form the broadest united front? Why think of the "enemies of the West" as enemies, even more eager to destroy them than the West?
This is confusing and reflects the domination of China by the West and the United States in the cultural and ideological spheres, and deserves our vigilance and deep reflection.