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Arts and Entertainment

Stephen Colbert's 'Pander Express' is a brilliant takedown of how Hollywood sucks up to China

(c) 2015, The Washington Post.

Stephen Colbert has promised to follow Hollywood's example in sucking up to China -- a practice that has become a huge moneymaker for American film studios. In an episode of the "Late Show" this week, the host fawned over China's achievements and vowed to get himself some of that "sweet and sour renminbi."

Colbert launches his segment by talking about "The Martian," the sci-fi thriller that has been a huge hit so far in the U.S.. The film took in around $150 million in box office revenues in its first weekend, according to entertainment data company Rentrak.

And it's expected to rake in far more going forward, says Colbert. People think the film will do particularly well when it is released in China, in part because the Chinese space program plays a key role in the film.

Colbert implies that "The Martian" includes a Chinese plot point as a way to crack into the country's huge and lucrative film market. He may be a little off here -- as people who have read the book point out, the book also includes mentions of China, and it seems doubtful that author Andy Weir was thinking about Chinese box office revenues when he wrote it.

Still, the phenomenon that Colbert is talking about -- Hollywood casting the Chinese in a flattering light to do better in that box office market -- is definitely real. There are lots of recent Hollywood films that Colbert doesn't mention that are designed to appeal to China, some more subtly than others. In fact, the Chinese government and its support of censorship now has a surprisingly big hand in shaping the movies that Americans make and watch. Films like "Transformers IV," "X-Men: Days of Future Past," "Looper," "Gravity," "Iron Man 3" and many more appear to have adapted their plots to woo Chinese censors and audiences.

The reasons are obvious: There is a ton of money at stake. Global revenue data gathered by research firm Rentrak shows that China is solidly in place as the world's second-biggest box office market, after surpassing Japan in 2012. For the first time, Chinese box office revenues even surpassed those of the U.S. for one weekend in 2014 -- Chinese New Year, one of the busiest times of year for Chinese movie theaters.

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Stephen Colbert's Pander Express:

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china-colbert

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