The 'Japanisation' of the film world: the 'I' culture

Blockbusters are sucking the air out of other conventionally popular genres such as romantic comedies and dramas. Spielberg said he almost gave up on releasing his Oscar-winning movie “Lincoln” in cinemas in favour of a made-for-TV film.

Many have criticised the reign of testosterone-filled CGI feasts based on comic book characters, theme park rides, toys and fast cars. In a parody of the current Hollywood trend, The New York Times last month published a fake pitch of a blockbuster about a band of car thieves forced by terrorists to kidnap the US president, with a subplot about a past love affair between one of the thieves and the commander-in-chief. The pitch promised “ ‘Fast & Furious’ meets Nicholas Sparks meets ‘Die Hard’ ”. In the newspaper’s featured report, film producer Lynda Obst (“Contact”, “Sleepless in Seattle”) said of the intentionally silly pitch: “This is a reasonable pitch. The parody is the reality.”

But the fact that Spielberg and Lucas are complaining has raised eyebrows because the two practically created the genre of modern blockbusters. The original “Star Wars” trilogy set the standard for modern sci-fi fantasies made real with the help of special effects, as well as for the business model of turning film series into bankable brands. While big-spectacle movies have long existed, Spielberg is widely seen as the trailblazer of the current summer blockbusters as a trend and genre of its own, with his landmark 1975 film “Jaws”. The computer-generated dinosaurs in his 1993 movie “Jurassic Park”, on the other hand, heralded the era of CGI movies.

Hollywood’s current reliance on CGI-laden blockbusters is in part a response to the rise of piracy and the changes to social structure in the past two decades. An increasing number of moviegoers are more willing to pay for blockbusters for the full benefit of big theatre screens and sound effects, while watching dramas and comedies on smaller screens (which, with piracy, can mean not paying for them). 

The growth of families with a single, unmarried parent means the family crowds moviemakers traditionally counted on are declining in number, making single or “single-taste” movie watchers (a group of friends with similar tastes) the target audience. Add the fact that women are more inclined to accompany a friend to “boy movies” than men are to “chick flicks”, and man-child-oriented blockbusters become the safest bet for the industry.

In fact, what we are seeing is not so much the rise of blockbusters but the “Japanisation” of blockbusters. The US movie industry has long been producing grand spectacles, including classics such as “The Ten Commandments” and “Ben-Hur”. What makes today’s blockbusters different is not the concentration of special effects but the dilution of intelligence in storytelling. Some Taiwanese movie viewers have noticed the similarity between the recently released “Superman” movie and the Japanese manga “Dragon Ball Z” – especially the Earth-damaging fight sequences. The iconic comic book superhero has lost the innocence seen in the portrayal by Christopher Reeve and has transformed from a crime-fighting American hero into an alien fighting for Earth in an interstellar war.

The director of another upcoming blockbuster about giant alien monsters fighting giant man-made robots, Guillermo del Toro, said publicly that his film pays homage to Japanese monster films and TV programmes. And, of course, 10-storey-high robots are also kind of a Japanese specialty.

Hollywood has taken a page from a time-honoured formula in Japanese manga and anime aimed at men in which spectacle is king and the plot is mostly a never-ending arms race. The arms race is already on in Hollywood blockbusters. In the fake pitch feature, producer Lynda Obst suggested: “We need hotter weapons. Huge, big battle weapons – maybe an end-of-the-world device. … The visual effects are going to be your stars.”

The Japanisation of blockbusters reflects not only a business-dominated mindset but more profoundly a social phenomenon. The developed world is increasingly populated by man-children raised in an individualist culture that makes them feel “special”. Even comforting superheros, like the old Superman, no longer appeal to them. This new generation of adults and teenagers fantasise more about being Japanese anime heroes that can single-handedly destroy a world. In this light, these blockbusters are appealing not just because they are spectacular but because they confirm what many have felt. They reflect not only a dangerous business model for Hollywood but also a dangerous prospect for the real world where “I” is king.