Dear MEL Topic Readers,
'Top Gun: Maverick' brings back the Taiwan flag after controversy
In China, there are about 14,000 cinemas with over 80,000 screens, nearly twice as many as in the USA. Apparently, it is a huge market for the movie industry both domestically and internationally. Furthermore, the Chinese government allows only 34 international movies to be released a year. It is then vital for foreign film producers to get one of those 34 tickets from the government to show their movies in the huge market. Accordingly, many movie producers have made various attempts to show friendliness to and respect for Chinese cultures by featuring Chinese actors, cultures, and technologies while excluding any hostile messages or scenes in their movies. In the original Top Gun movie in 1986, Tom Cruise’s iconic leather jacket had patches with Japanese and Taiwanese flags on the back. But when its long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Marveric’s trailer was shown in 2019, those two national flags had been replaced by two ambiguous symbols with similar color schemes. This act of friendliness had been widely criticized by critics and fans until the sequel was finally released last month. Yes, those flags are now back on Cruise’s jacket. Why? In the last two years, the tension in Eastern Asia has been rising sharply and the US is now more openly supporting Taiwan despite the criticism from the mainland. Is that all?
Read the article and learn about what is behind the scenes of international films.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/02/media/top-gun-maverick-taiwan-flag-reinstated-intl-hnk/index.html
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