Chinese state media hits back at claims of racist 'Star Wars' poster
By James Griffiths, CNN
Updated 0318 GMT (1118 HKT) December 9, 2015
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| cnn.com |
Fans complained on Twitter earlier this week that British actor John Boyega, who plays Finn in the movie, had been shrunk on the Chinese poster. Other characters played by non-white characters, including Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron and Lupita Nyong'o's Maz Kanata were missing entirely, as was Chewbacca the Wookiee.
"Finn (who happens to be black) and Chewbacca (happens to be Wookiee) get shafted in China," tweeted Ray Kwong, a Hong Kong-based columnist and political commentator.
Another tweeter called the poster "profoundly wrong."
A representative for Disney would not comment on the matter.
Others compared the posters to the controversy over an Italian-promotional campaign for "Twelve Years a Slave," which sidelined star Chiwetel Ejiofor in favor of Brad Pitt, who only had a brief role in the movie. Studio Lionsgate later pulled the posters, saying they had not been authorized.
Defense
Not everyone was on board with the Star Wars criticisms, Chinese state-run newspaper the Global Times quoted several local analysts who claim "the change has nothing to do with racism."
"Since the poster is merely a promotion method and an individual case, it would be unfair to criticize Chinese audiences for discriminating against the black actor," the paper quoted Chen Qiuping of the Beijing Film Association as saying.
The Global Times itself has faced accusations of racism in the past. Earlier this year it published a cartoon ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to Kenya showing the Hawaiian wearing tribal garb gazing at the savana with the caption "homecoming."
This week, the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, published a cartoon on President Xi Jinping's visit to Zimbabwe in which Africans are depicted in a stereotypical fashion some people online said was offensive.
While a large number of Africans live in China, particularly in southern Guangdong province, many have complained of facing discrimination and prejudice from locals due in part to a widespread stigma against dark skin.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will be the first of the franchise to get a widespread release in mainland China, and Disney has gone all out to promote it to an audience less familiar with the characters than in other countries, including an invasion of the Great Wall by Stormtroopers.
China was the world's fastest growing movie market in 2014, expected to overtake the U.S. by 2020, according to Deloitte.
中國官方媒體在星際大戰（中國譯：星球大戰）原力覺醒海報中大力反擊，刻意地移除他們認為不具重要色彩的角色。
影迷們這星期一開始就抱怨飾演Finn的英國演員約翰波義加在海報裡被壓縮地極小。其他演員若非白人，其角色包括奧斯卡伊薩克及露琵塔尼詠歐各自飾演的Poe Dameron跟Maz Kanata則完全消失，就像伍基人楚巴卡一樣。
香港專欄政治評論家Ray在推特上說，「Finn跟楚巴卡在中國被整慘了。」另一個網友則說這張海報「錯的離譜」。
迪士尼則是不做任何回應。
其他人更拿海報與義大利宣傳「自由之心」活動爭議相比，冷落奇維托艾吉佛，焦點放在只有簡短戲份的布萊德彼特。工作室稍後則推說他們尚未授權這張海報。
但並非所有人都持反對態度，中國國營報紙環球時報引用了幾位當地分析師的言論，認為「這跟種族歧視無關」。
「海報只是作為宣傳的個案，這樣就批評中國觀眾歧視黑人演員是不公平的。」其中報指引用北京影視協會陳秋萍的說法。
環球時報也曾因種族歧視受到指控。
年初他們出版了一則卡通漫畫，描寫美國總統歐巴馬到肯亞參訪夏威夷族並身穿族服，凝視著草原，標題寫著：「回家了。」
這週人民日報，中國共產黨的喉舌，也畫了一則漫畫，畫中習近平到了辛巴威，當地人民全被畫成定型的黑臉厚唇漾，有些人在網路上表示這樣很失禮。
其實有很多黑人居住在中國境內，特別是廣東省南部，他們抱怨因為廣泛對黑皮膚的不屑而一直受到當地人的歧視跟偏見。
「星際大戰：原力覺醒」將是第一部受到中國境內全面授權發行的電影，迪士尼也比在其他國家更盡心盡力在中國宣傳劇中角色，包括入侵長城的帝國風暴兵。
根據德勤表示，2014年電影市場中，中國是全球成長最快速的國家，預計在2020年將超越美國。
hit back 反擊
shrunk (v.) 壓縮
profoundly (adv.) 極度地
controversy (n.) 爭論
accusation (n.) 指控
gaze (v.) 凝視
prejudice (n.) 偏見
stigma (n.) 恥辱
invasion (n.) 侵入
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