This post is a bit of a continuing digression but please bear with me.

I really like the word "lurker: -- two of my favorite horror short stories have it in their titles "The Lurking Fear" and "The Lurker at the Threshold."

Suzhou He is the movie I'm talking about. Excuse my slightly erroneous reference to the title as "Creek" but that is what the colonial English way of calling that moving body of water has been programmed into my English speaking consciousness. It was commonly used by British and American residents of China in the last century to refer to the portion of the river that actually ran through the city (I wouldn't be surprised if it also wasn't meant to diminish the river). And it was a very good movie too.

Adaptation of English names among some colonized people is an obvious consequence when certain segments of the population must also adjust to the rule of the colonizer. Since the end of the colonial era, English has remained and evolved as lingua franca throughout most of the world as the primary language of business, technology and to diplomacy ("ugly Americans").

HK actors (and other westernized Chinese) do oftentimes make horrible choices for English names, e.g. Chen Guo as "Fruit Chan", Ekin C. as "Dior" and "Noodle" before he became Ekin, Oxide Pang, et al. Others choose phonetic version of their Chinese name, e.g. "Eason." Some also choose certain super English or other European names but I don't criticize them too harshly or mock unnecessarily because of their missteps in order to gain acceptance in Western society. "Warwick," "Gordon," "Conan," "Lorenzo" and even "Adolf" are some of the names I have actually encountered. As a westernized Chinese, I am acutely aware of the first impression made by the poor choice of names because of the misunderstandings between different cultures.

I am in agreement with you that mainland actors are likely more secure in their own identity and national/ethnic pride in dealing with the English speaking world. And they are not necessarily being ethnically chauvinistic about it. But then most mainlanders did not directly experience the clash of cultures that Chinese in the treaty ports had to deal with for centuries.

It will take one hell of an exceptional Chinese actor/actress in a very unique movie that will garner for them Hollywood recognition in the form of an Oscar.

Zhou Xun is an excellent actress. But despite everything she has done or may do in the future, it is very unlikely that she would ever get much critical recognition in the mainstream North American market. Thankfully she is not the type who would foolishly wish for such a dream and instead concentrates on her craft and bringing wonderful performances to the audiences who can appreciate them.

Don't Waste Your Time Watching Unentertaining Crap.


Last Edited By: wongsaurus Apr 1 09 1:27 PM. Edited 1 times.