Hong Kong Paradox: Appearance and Disappearance in Western Cinema

Tammy Lai-Ming HO

doi:10.1007/978-981-10-7766-1_4

Hong Kong Paradox: Appearance and Disappearance in Western Cinema

Tammy Lai-Ming HO^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

This chapter investigates what I call “the paradox of appearance and disappearance of Hong Kong” in Western cinema over the past two decades. The city has in recent years appeared in a number of big-budget Hollywood productions (e.g. The Dark Knight, Transformers, Doctor Strange, Pacific Rim), attesting to its continuing visual and “exotic” appeal to Western audiences, reminding one of the role pre-handover Hong Kong played in the conception and design of Blade Runner. However, the real Hong Kong is often displaced in these films and supplanted by a recycled and stereotyped impression of the city’s skyline and urban landscape. The chapter looks at instances of Hong Kong being otherworlded and the implications for the Hong Kong identity in the global cinematic gaze.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Cultural Conflict in Hong Kong
Subtitle of host publication	Angles on a Coherent Imaginary
Editors	Jason S. Polley, Vinton W.K. Poon, Lian-Hee Wee
Place of Publication	Singapore
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Chapter	4
Pages	53-70
Number of pages	18
Edition	1st
ISBN (Electronic)	9789811077661
ISBN (Print)	9789811077654, 9789811339967
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7766-1_4
Publication status	Published - 29 Mar 2018

Scopus Subject Areas

Social Sciences(all)
Arts and Humanities(all)

User-Defined Keywords

Disappearance
Global gaze
Hollywood
Western cinema
Otherworlded

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/978-981-10-7766-1_4

Cite this

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title = "Hong Kong Paradox: Appearance and Disappearance in Western Cinema",

abstract = "This chapter investigates what I call “the paradox of appearance and disappearance of Hong Kong” in Western cinema over the past two decades. The city has in recent years appeared in a number of big-budget Hollywood productions (e.g. The Dark Knight, Transformers, Doctor Strange, Pacific Rim), attesting to its continuing visual and “exotic” appeal to Western audiences, reminding one of the role pre-handover Hong Kong played in the conception and design of Blade Runner. However, the real Hong Kong is often displaced in these films and supplanted by a recycled and stereotyped impression of the city{\textquoteright}s skyline and urban landscape. The chapter looks at instances of Hong Kong being otherworlded and the implications for the Hong Kong identity in the global cinematic gaze.",

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Hong Kong Paradox: Appearance and Disappearance in Western Cinema

Abstract

Scopus Subject Areas

User-Defined Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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