Blog Post 2: Transnationalism & Gender

A recurring theme I noticed as each of the films were being discussed for this segment, was that the inherent culture surrounding gender can wildly alter our understanding of gender roles. For example, in the West we tend to associate feminism with post-modernism public protests. But in China, feminism was encouraged by the government in 1995 to form a stronger national workforce (Schaffer, Kay, and Xianlin, 2007). This means that while images of women being strong and active in Chinese martial arts films, such as Hero (Yimou, 2002), are surprising to Western eyes and are easily interpreted as political statements in of themselves, (Levitin, 2006) for Chinese viewers it is all very normal. Female viewers find such characters inspiring, since they are strengthened through study and discipline rather than brute force (Levitin, 2006).

Hero features two strong female Characters; Flying Snow, and Moon. While the readings interpret Flying Snow negatively (Levitin, 2006), suggesting that she is a weak character. I feel this interpretation is not earned. Flying Snow is loyal to her lost people and has no way of knowing the nation that China will become one day, so it doesn’t follow that she would sacrifice her own desire for justice. Indeed, some would regard Broken Sword’s view as illogical. After witnessing the destruction of the Zhao culture, it would be more reasonable to expect that the King of Qin will only wage more wars (Hero, 2002).

In Offside (Panahi, 2009), the male characters are largely sympathetic towards the women's desire to see the soccer game. But they are ultimately unable to assist them since they are all trapped within the brutality of the legal system (Danks, 2007).

In Offside (Panahi, 2009) the women are attempting to perform a series of activities that Western women take for granted. But within their own country, their own ideas about gender are so much taken for granted that even though the male captors present themselves as guardians, but ultimately, they are unable to give those women autonomy. For example, when one soldier takes one of the girls to the bathroom, he fights hard to keep other men from entering the bathroom, even carefully inspecting stalls to ensure she does not get molested. But then he doesn’t allow her to watch the game, attempting to find her and return her to the holding area with the other girls.

The ultimate resolution in both "Hero" and "Offside" is nationalism; male and female characters have loyalty and devotion to their countries in common, even if this loyalty plays itself out very differently. Such fanatical or idealistic expressions of patriotism may be confusing to Western viewers, who are possibly less passionate and would be willing to append such a value in favour of women's rights.

Schaffer, Kay, and Song Xianlin. "Unruly spaces: Gender, women's writing and indigenous feminism in China." Journal of Gender Studies 16.1 (2007): 17-30.

Zhang, Yimou, Chiu Wai Leung Tony, and Jet Li. Hero. Beijing New Picture Film Company, 2002.

Levitin, Jacqueline. "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of the Flying Daggers: Interpreting Gender Thematics in the Contemporary Swordplay Film--A View From the West." Asian Cinema 17.1 (2006): 166-182.

Adrian Danks. “The Rules of the Game: Jafar Panahi’s Offside.” Directors Suite: Jafar Panahi - Offside [4,000 word DVD booklet]. Melbourne: Madman Entertainment, 2007.

Panahi, Jafar, et al. Offside. Artificial Eye, 2009.

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