Domo Kun, just one example of Japanese pop culture with a cult following in America. |
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| Sometimes I kinda feel robbed when it comes to my choice to learn Chinese instead of Japanese or Korean. I love a lot of things about Chinese traditional culture, but it totally bites in the popular culture area. Why is it that all the coolest, wackiest, and most entertaining stuff in Asian popular culture comes out of Japan and South Korea? There are 1.4 billion people in China, and they can’t come up with more cool stuff to add to popular culture? |
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| What really cool stuff do we get from Chinese popular culture here in the West? Hmmm…just about nothing, unless you count Chinese food and kung fu movies, but neither of those can hardly be called popular culture since they were invented forever ago and haven’t changed a whole lot. And anybody who’s ever compared Chinese television to Japanese television knows that Japanese TV shows are like the kid at school that was always coming up with new words or phrases that everybody else at school wished they had come up with, and Chinese TV shows (for the most part) are like your smelly old Uncle Bob who comes around to visit for a week once in a while and play the same lame old practical jokes on you that he’s been playing on you since you were six. |
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| Now look at music. Chinese music is really getting better and better. I have a lot of it in my collection. But it’s still not as interesting or cutting-edge over all as Japanese music is. I’ve heard a lot of J-Pop and C-Pop, as well as other types of music from both countries, and as much as I hate to say it, J-Pop is overall much cooler than C-Pop, hands-down. Anybody who knows me knows how much I like my Chinese music, so it takes a lot for me to admit that. |
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| And then you’ve got lots of other stuff: Candy is one thing. Pocky is arguably the best thing ever, and the Korean equivalent is good, too. Chinese candy doesn’t even come close. And there are Japanese and Korean toys and stuffed animals (Hello Kitty this, Hello Kitty that, Pukka this, Pukka that) as well as manga and anime, probably 90% of which is produced in Japan or by Japanese companies (yes, that statistic is made up). And video games! Need I even mention those?! |
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| But as huge as China is, it doesn’t have much at all to compete with all of these things that are pouring out of Japan and South Korea. Anime conventions are really popular here in America, but when was the last time you heard someone mention a kung fu (wushu) convention? It just doesn’t have the appeal that anime does. And who in his right mind would want to go to a kung fu convention anyway? It would mainly attract a bunch of eccentric white guys who have a fascination with beating the crap out of people, and they’d probably just be there looking for a reason to show off their “skills” or buy random Chinese weapons they’ll never use. |
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| Lest anyone think I’m China-bashing…I’m a big fan of many things Chinese. And Chinese doesn’t have anywhere near the “perverted uncle” reputation and penchant for pornographic things that Japan has and that South Korea seems to be following ever-so-slowly. I’m thankful for that. But my point here is that it’s time for China to step up to the plate and start making some worthwhile contributions to popular culture around the world. Instead of looking around at the rest of the world for great ideas, making a reasonable facsimile of those ideas, and then selling them domestically for really cheap, China needs to tap into the creativity that’s gotta exist in a society of 1.4 billion people and start coming up with their own stuff! C’mon, China! We’re waiting! And as much as we love adopting your children here in America, that’s not the kind of export I’m talking about. |
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