Comparative study on similarities and differences between Chinese and American hero in movie

The analysis of the differences between American and Chinese heroism in the movie

The different cultural background is the key to decide the different fates of Chinese and American heroes. With one come from western culture and the other come from the eastern culture, the definition of social value of hero is different from each other. In this thesis, the origins and cultural backgrounds of hero in both countries will be analyzed.

In American culture, firstly, American society values individualism. They stressed pursuing one's goal and desires while opposing to the sacrifice of individual interest. The uniqueness of every person is also considered as an important thing. Thus, hero images coming from this society always have their own characteristics which are apparently different from others.

Secondly, in American history, people came from different corners of the world. In order to establish their new hometowns, they should conquer the harshest natural conditions. Thus, people in America has acquired a great tradition that they are used to face and defeat challenges in their lives and keep their curiosities to explore the unknown world. In addition, the legend of cowboy also helps shape the American cultural value, constantly and unconsciously. In this thesis, it is not surprised that to defeating failure is a kind of characteristics that would not be absent in heroes.

Meanwhile, things cannot be duplicated in China apparently.

While for china, it is a society that values collectivism and stresses putting the interest of whole nation in first place. In the Chinese history, people defeated natural disasters frequently and hardly, thus whoever can help a whole village escaping from a disaster is seen as a hero. In modern times, China suffers from lots of invasion from other countries, which brought great pains to the Chinese people, therefore a person who can protect the country and nation is seen as a hero. In the Chinese cultural value, hero is someone who sacrifices himself and put the interest of whole nation in the first place.

Secondly, with the development of thousands of years, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism have had a great implication on Chinese cultural value. All these three religions stress the high standard of inner soul, and have strict requirements for people. Among the three religions, Confucianism made a deeper impression, and became Chinese ethical and philosophical system. The corn of Confucianism can be seen as altruism, propriety, and upholding of righteousness, believing that human beings are teachable, improvable and perfectible. In this thesis, in Chinese people's mind, a qualified hero must be a perfect person with powerful inner peace and also insisting altruism.

Conclusion

With the comparison of heroes in Chinese and American movie, and the analysis of hero's origins in the two countries, the cultural differences can be found. The various culture values create different standards for heroes, therefore turning up different types of heroes, and reflected in the movies. Even so, heroes all over the world share the same moral that is to be brave, to pursue, and to love.