magazinelogo

Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science

ISSN Online: 2576-0548 Downloads: 1190442 Total View: 7907519
Frequency: monthly ISSN Print: 2576-0556 CODEN: JHASAY
Email: jhass@hillpublisher.com
Article Open Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2023.10.004

How Do Young Chinese Viewers Encounter Banned Sexual Content in Films?—Taking Lust, Caution (2007) as an Example

Bingxin Leng

HerMana Culture & Arts, Shanghai, China.

*Corresponding author: Bingxin Leng

Published: November 23,2023

Abstract

The film industry is one of the main forces of the Chinese cultural and creative industries and a focal point of Chinese government censorship. Under these circumstances, the absence of a rating system in China may expose young people to a risky media environment. The Film Industry Promotion Law was officially issued in 2017. This law aims to limit future censorship of film content in order to protect juveniles. It also outlines the responsibilities of cinemas and schools to provide education and protection for young audiences. By conducting interviews with 14 young adults aged between 18 and 35, this research focuses on young Chinese viewers and aims to examine the impact of banned media content on their sexual development. Specifically, the study analyzes the film Lust, Caution (2007) to gain a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between film regulations, media production under censorship, and the attitudes of young audiences in China.

Keywords

Chinese film industry, rating system, film law and censorship, young audience, sexual development

References

Austin, B. (1980). The Influence of the MPAA's Film-Rating System on Motion Picture Attendance: A Pilot Study. The Journal of Psychology. 106(1), pp. 91-99.

Bragg, S. (2006). Young women, the media and sex education. Feminist Media Studies. 6(4), pp. 546–551.

Callister, M., Stern, L., Coyne, S., Robinson, T. and Bennion, E. (2011). Evaluation of Sexual Content in Teen-Centered Films From 1980 to 2007. Mass Communication and Society. 14(4), pp. 454-474.

Donald, S. (2010). Tang Wei: Sex, the City and the Scapegoat in Lust, Caution. Theory, Culture & Society. 27(4), pp. 46-68.

Fan, V. (2019). What is a “Chinese film market”? Screen, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 303-310.

Halstead, J. and Reiss, M. 2003. Values in Sex Education: From principle to practice. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge Falmer.

Husband, G. (2020). ‘Ethical Data Collection and Recognizing the Impact of Semi-Structured Interviews on Research Respondents’, Education Sciences, vol. 10, no. 8, p. 206.

IMDbPro. (2023). Chinese yearly box office, Box Office Mojo. Available at:

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/?area=CN (Accessed: March 23, 2023). 

Keats, D. (2000). Chapter 7: Interviewing In Research. In: Keats, D. ed. Interviewing: a practical guide for students and professionals. Oxford: Marston Book Services Limited, pp. 72-85.

Lagerkvist, J. (2011). After the Internet, Before Democracy: competing norms in Chinese media and society. Bern: Peter Lang AG, International er Verlag der Wissenschaften.

Livingstone, S. (2002). Young People and New Media. 1st ed. London: SAGE.

Livingstone, S. and Bovill, M. (2001). Children and their changing media environment: a European comparative study. 1st ed. London: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Mahsa Shafaei, Niloofar Safi Samghabadi, Kar, S & Solorio, T. (2019). ‘Rating for Parents: Predicting Children Suitability Rating for Movies Based on Language of the Movies.’, arXiv (Cornell University), Cornell University.

Mahsa Shafaei, Niloofar Safi Samghabadi, Kar, S & Solorio, T. (2020). ‘Age Suitability Rating: Predicting the MPAA Rating Based on Movie Dialogues’, Language Resources and Evaluation, Springer Science+Business Media, pp. 1327-1335.

Palsson, C., Price, J. and Shores, J. (2012). Rating and Revenues: Evidence from Movie Ratings. Contemporary Economic Policy. 31(1), pp. 13-21.

Ruan, J. (2023). ‘The Eyes of Power: Intellectual Vision in Contemporary Chinese Local Film Censorship’, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, vol. 61, Routledge, no. 3, pp. 1-20.

The National People’s Congress of the People's Republic of China. (2016). Film Industry Promotion Law. Beijing.

Valkenburg, PM, Meier, A & Beyens, I. (2021). ‘Social Media Use and its Impact on Adolescent Mental Health: An Umbrella Review of the Evidence’, Current Opinion in Psychology, vol. 44, no. 44.

Wang, F. (2014). The need for a film rating system in China: the case of Ang Lee's Lust, Caution (2007). New Review of Film and Television Studies. 12(4), pp. 400-411.

Wang, X. (2010). Making a Historical Fable: the narrative strategy of Lust, Caution and its social repercussions. Journal of Contemporary China. 19(65), pp. 573-590.

Wilson, B., Linz, D. and Randall, B. (1990). Applying social science research to film ratings: A shift from offensiveness to harmful effects. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 34(4), pp. 443-468.

How to cite this paper

How Do Young Chinese Viewers Encounter Banned Sexual Content in Films?—Taking Lust, Caution (2007) as an Example

How to cite this paper: Bingxin Leng. (2023) How Do Young Chinese Viewers Encounter Banned Sexual Content in Films?—Taking Lust, Caution (2007) as an Example. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science7(10), 1939-1948.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2023.10.004