Hollywood’s red carpets are much more than just a stage for world entertainment. In the midst of a billion-dollar super-production, cinematographic works are experiencing the unfolding of one of the most dramatic plots in the world today: the tariff war between The United States and China.
It may sound like fiction, but not even the scriptwriters of Avatar or Avengers: Endgame could have predicted one of the biggest dramas Hollywood has ever experienced: a crisis with consequences mainly of American political decisions. The rise of the current US president, Donald Trump, and his new tariff conditions have shocked the entire world, including the United States, which has already felt the impact of his political decisions.
chinese influence in hollywood
As a response to these new tariff measures, China, a world power that competes with the United States, has also raised its level of restriction on the North American country, which has resulted in a bigger economic and political dispute. For the Chinese country, tariffs on products imported from the United States have already reached more than 125%, and China is considering vetoing the reproduction of american films on its territory.
Hollywood’s dependence on China is notorious, since the country is the second largest film market in the world. Which means that Hollywood’s decisions have to satisfy this huge audience demand, considering that everything reproduced in the country is carefully selected, limited and often censored.
art, politics and profits are intertwined
As a result, film studios are constantly concerned about the rules imposed by China so that their productions are not affected. This goes beyond including characters from the Asian country in their films, to decisions such as script changes, cut scenes and even ideological and moral censorship, so they are not affected.
On the other hand, it is also charged to the Billion-Dollar Affair, since it limits the presence of diversity and inclusion in films, such as gender issues (which are not welcome in Chinese debates), all for economic and political reasons.Â
Everyone knows that Hollywood has never been just about movies. It’s about power, influence and money. And now, more than ever, it’s also about geopolitics. Can the big film industry balance values, market, ethics, box office, freedom and diplomacy, all at the same time?
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The article above was edited by Camilly Vieira.
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