If you look closely, this year is also the 50th birthday of "Iron Man". In 1963, "Iron Man" appeared in Marvel's comic magazine "Suspense Stories". It was a time when the Cold War was in full swing, and most of the comic heroes of the time brought There is a clear Cold War ideology, and "Iron Man" is no exception. He himself escaped with difficulty after being captured by the Viet Cong army on the Vietnam battlefield. After that, he was seriously injured and his heart must be maintained by a machine; and "Iron Man" was the biggest one. The opponent of "Mandarin" (transliterated as "Mandalin" in the mainland version of the movie), the original setting is a Chinese (mixed blood), and the original meaning of his name Mandarin means Mandarin and Chinese bureaucrats. In the comics world, "Man of Manchu" masters the evil alien technology, self-evidently referring to China, and fights "Iron Man" to the death.
The world has changed and time has changed. In the era of globalization after 9/11, the Iron Curtain of the Cold War has long disappeared. "Iron Man" and "Mandarin" will naturally also keep pace with the times. As a result, the battlefield in Vietnam has become a battlefield in the Middle East—— "Iron Man" was captured by Islamic militants and suffered from a chronic heart disease; and in "Iron Man 3", although "Mandarin" has a strong oriental taste in its shape (especially the dragon-shaped decoration and the armchair), this The character's "evil" background is obviously a terrorist from the Islamic world. He uses modern media technology to spread his own terrorist ideas and threatens the United States by threatening the president. However, in the second half of the film, we discovered that "Man of Manchu" was actually played by a down-and-out drama actor (Ben Kingsley's superb acting skills gave the character of the split character a soul), and the manipulator behind the scenes is still a The frenzied American scientist used the American soldiers who were maimed in the war. As a result, "Iron Man 3" finally returned to the theme of science fiction since "Frankenstein"-the fear of "mad scientists" and technology itself, as well as the reflection on scientific ethics from this (something with a little Anti-war fun)-But from the perspective of global marketing strategy, the fate of "Iron Man 3" is to completely turn the enemy into an "inside thief" of the United States, so as to completely avoid annoying the Middle East and China.
No way, who made mainland China the world's second largest box office market? In fact, "Iron Man" has long used Chinese products in movies. In "Iron Man 3", even the President of the United States began to use Chinese mobile phones-he used that thing to give orders to the core departments of the country! Of course, it was originally a popcorn movie adapted from a comic. No one would take it seriously. In fact, if the so-called “Chinese special” material can be integrated with the movie less obtrusively, I believe that most mainland audiences will Will not be disgusted, so this is purely a technical issue of screenwriting and editing.
With the rapid development of China’s economy, Hollywood movies as an advertising carrier have more and more Chinese products, from "Transformers" to "Iron Man", milk, clothing, mobile phones, TV, more and more " "Chinese products" are used by Hollywood screen heroes. However, the advertising effects of these items are mostly "export to domestic sales", mainly for domestic audiences-the principle is similar to the Chinese billboards on the sidelines of the NBA and the European Football League.
It must be pointed out that "Iron Man 3" is not only a carrier of Chinese goods, private companies from China also played an important role in this film project, and the logo of the Chinese company appeared in the title of the film (together with major Hollywood companies) , The managers of the Chinese company have also become the global producers of "Iron Man 3", which will leave a strong mark in the history of the development of China's film industry.
Of course, "Iron Man 3" still has "Great Americanism" at its core. "Iron Man"'s teammate "Iron Patriot" is the steel mecha version of "Captain America". In fact, in the original game, "Iron Patriot" serves as The villain appeared, but in the movie, he became a hero who rescued the President of the United States and defended world peace—a "politically correct" black American hero.
(Published in "21st Century Business Herald" May 10, 2013)
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