The Monkey King Vs Harry Potter
A:I read in the press that some people are thinking of making Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey King, an international star, just like Harry Potter. Their argument is that the Monkey King is a lot more talented and capable than Harry and could be a big hit for audiences outside China.
B:In China, the Monkey King is a household name. Everybody knows he uses a magical golden stick as a weapon and can be transformed into 72 alter egos.
A:But many young people seem to like Harry Potter better. Harry is real and shares a lot of things in common with them. For example, he has conflicts with his teachers and classmates and he has his own best friends. The Monkey King, on the other hand, is born out of a stone. He doesn’t feel happy like an ordinary person, nor get angry like them. He doesn’t interact with other people either. He does not have the familiarity which people find in Harry.
B:That’s an interesting observation. Western characters like Superman, Spiderman and Batman, all have the qualities of an ordinary person. Even Tarzan has a sweetheart and friends. Those characters are very brave and always ready to help. In comparison, the Monkey King is a lone ranger. His only job is to protect his master, a saint. Although he rebels against the authority, the character lacks the worldly conflict between good and evil. As a result, he seems less approachable than Harry.
A:Many students told me that they like Harry because he has a girlfriend. The same is true of Superman and Spiderman. The girls are the source of their courage. The Monkey King doesn’t have love. Of the four characters in the novel Pilgrimage to the West, only Zhu Ba Jie has some interest in women but as a consequence he is always scolded and scorned. Most female characters in this novel are evil incarnations, being portrayed as temptations for the saint and his disciples. In traditional Chinese culture women used to be considered a source of evil.
B:So it seems that an intimate understanding of a worldly life and the righteousness of the superhero are the deciding factors in the popularity of these characters.
A:It certainly makes it easier for people to identify themselves with those super characters. A monkey born out of a stone doesn’t seem to resonate with the vibes of modern society.
孫悟空PK哈利?波特
A:我在報上看到,有人計劃把孫悟空打造成一個國際明星,因為孫悟空的本領(lǐng)比哈利?波特大得多,在世界范圍內(nèi)一定能更火。
B:在中國,孫悟空是個家喻戶曉的名字。誰都知道他手中的金箍棒和七十二變本領(lǐng)。
A:但是許多年輕人似乎更喜歡哈利?波特。哈利?波特是個活生生的人,他有一般孩子的特點。比如他也和老師、同學(xué)發(fā)生沖突,有自己最好的朋友。孫悟空則是從石頭中誕生的,缺乏常人的喜怒哀樂和人際交往。他沒有人們在哈利?波特身上發(fā)現(xiàn)的相似性。
B:那倒是一個有趣的看法。西方的超人、蜘蛛俠、蝙蝠俠等形象都具有普通人的特征。既便是人猿泰山,也有他的戀人和朋友。他們非常勇敢,并且隨時準(zhǔn)備出手相助。相比較而言,孫悟空是一個孤膽英雄。他肩負(fù)著護(hù)衛(wèi)圣人取經(jīng)的職責(zé),雖然他也反叛權(quán)威,但是缺少了俗世常有的善惡沖突。孫悟空的形象與哈利?波特比,少了親近感。
A:許多學(xué)生告訴我,他們喜歡哈利?波特,因為他有女朋友。超人和蜘蛛俠的故事也如此。這些女性給予英雄們力量。但孫悟空沒有愛情?!段饔斡洝分械膸熗剿娜?,只有豬八戒對女人有興趣,卻總是被其他人嘲弄或斥責(zé)。這部小說中的女性多數(shù)是妖怪,是用來誘惑圣人和他的徒弟們的。她們是中國古人觀念中的禍水。
B:看來,決定一個超級英雄能否被更廣泛接受的主要因素,是他們易于親近的特性和崇高的品行。
A:超級英雄因為與人類的相似而易于被接受,石頭縫里生出來的猴子似乎很難與人產(chǎn)生共鳴。