The Real Reason Matt Damon Was Brought in to Save Ancient China

“Now, what about that movie about the Great Wall of China starring everyone’s favorite Chinese actor Matt Damon?”

【A1】. It was just one of a slew of comments on social media in the past few weeks lampooning a huge action movie that is scheduled to hit theaters early in 2017. “The Great Wall,” a co-production between China and Hollywood, is the most expensive film ever shot entirely in China, costing more than $150 million. The movie features Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe and a slate of popular Chinese actors using the Great Wall to defend humanity from a monster attack.

But since the film’s trailer was released, journalists and commentators on social media have criticized it for “whitewashing” replacing roles that could or should be cast with actors of color with white actors. What is Matt Damon doing saving ancient China, anyway? Couldn’t the Chinese handle that on themselves?

【A2】. The critics definitely have a point—the film industry has a long and troubling history of minimizing actors of colors. Some in the industry boycotted the 2016 Oscars, after only white actors and actresses were chosen for the top four categories for the second year in a row. And movies including “Dr. Strange”, “Ghost in the Shell” and “Aloha” have all recently been criticized for casting white actresses in originally Asian roles, just the latest episode in a long history of whitewashing in Hollywood.

Yet, there’s also an irony that many have missed. Despite Damon’s prominent appearance, the nuts and bolts of “The Great Wall” are more Chinese than perhaps any major co- production between the United States and China has been before. Within China, the movie is being hailed as the first of its kind to be made by a major Chinese director, backed by Chinese-owned Hollywood studio and featuring Chinese historical themes. And if successful, it could mark a step forward for the influence of the Chinese film industry around the world.

“The Great Wall is definitely among the biggest budget co-productions, and it’s the first very large budget one in which there is a major Chinese creative force behind it,” says Anne Kokas, as assistant professor of media studies at the University of Virginia and the author of the forthcoming book, “Hollywood made in China.” “That’s part of the story that’s getting left out.”

【A3】. In recent years, Hollywood has begun avidly courting movie-goers in China, the world’s second-largest market that could surpass the United States to become the largest next year.The Chinese film industry is also eager to develop films that appeal to its own audiences but can also succeed outside its borders. Creating a film that captures audiences in both China and the United States has been a Holy Grail for the global film this year, the first time a major American production company has come under Chinese Control.

The film was written by Hollywood screenwriters, and it features Western stars Damon, Dafoe and Pedro Pascal, apparently in a bid to attract audiences outside China’s borders.There is another less recognized way in which the heroism of Damon’s character, a European mercenary, who ultimately helps to save China, could be seen as problematic.

【A4】. Director Zhang Yimou spoke out to defend “The Great Wall” against charges of whitewashing last week. “In many ways ‘The Great Wall’ is the opposite of what is being suggested. For the first time, a film deeply rooted in Chinese culture, with one of the largest Chinese casts ever assembled, is being made at tent polescale for a world audience.” He added, “Matt Damon is not playing a role that was originally conceived for a Chinese actor.”

Others have pointed to an obvious profit motive in the choice, saying that Damon’s presence in the film is likely to bring in viewers around the world who wouldn’t ordinarily watch a film set in ancient China. In addition, the strategy of putting a white Hollywood actor at the helm of a movie to broaden its reach can fail too, as Constance Wu pointed out. That’s true for Chinese films as well: Chinese studios have paid millions of dollars to stars including Christian Bale, Adrien Brody and John Cusack to appear in mostly Chinese films that ultimately had little success in Western markets.

【A5】. Inside China, the conversation surrounding the film has been very different. Most Chinese have cheered it, seeing Zhang Yimou’s involvement in a big-budget Hollywood film and the prominence of the Great Wall as forces that could advance China’s cultural influence abroad. And now that Legendary Entertainment is owned by Chinese company Dalian Wanda, those in the industry are watching eagerly to see whether China’s influence in Hollywood and the global film market will grow.

If “The Great Wall” is a box office fit, it could serve as a model for future China-U.S. co-production. If it flops, it will likely leave the industry further confused about how to create film that appeals to both Chinese and international audiences—and whether such a task can reliably be done.

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