If you haven't heard yet, in November 2010, a remake of the film Red Dawn will hit theaters. In 1984, this film depicted the Soviet Union invading the U.S. This time, of course, it will be the Chinese.
I recently wrote a short piece on the ignorance imbued in a poke at Chinese history at the end of Alice in Wonderland, which was released a few weeks back. But this pales in comparison to the approaching epic compilation of substantive deficit that is Red Dawn.
You might respond: But you haven't even seen the movie yet.
True. But the premise -- a major Chinese invasion of the United States -- is so defunct of military and diplomatic reality that I really don't have to see the movie to know its factual failure.
Moreover, how does the director, Dan Bradley, and his crew feel about the potential damage this could do to civil society? A sea of American and Chinese people are already woefully ignorant about each other. Many Americans think that Chinese are brainwashed and repressed, while many Chinese think Americans are war-mongers. This movie plays squarely into this ignorance.
And although it is unlikely to set off any wars, given the sensitive balance of U.S.-China relations, this film will be, at least, unhelpful in the matter of public nationalism (or xenophobia) toward the other country.
Kevin Slaten was a junior fellow in the China Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Now, he lives in Taiwan on a Fulbright Grant. His opinions in no way reflect the views of the State Department or Foundation for Scholarly Exchange. He blogs at http://www.kevinslaten.blogspot.com/.
