After 36 years, the sequel to the Tom Cruise movie classic Top Gun has been released to critical and commercial success.
Receiving rave reviews from audiences and reviewers, Top Gun: Maverick has been flying high at the box office.
The film contains an Easter egg for Taiwanese audiences: In one scene, Tom Cruise puts on a bomber jacket with a Republic of China (ROC) flag patch stitched on the back.
This certainly caught the attention of Taiwanese, as well as some in the international media.
One film industry professional said that the move might be a deliberate indication that Hollywood finds the Chinese market to be “not worth the aggravation anymore in attempting to please Chinese censors.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government has imposed strict “zero COVID” measures, causing a sharp slowdown in economic activity.
So far, Top Gun: Maverick has no release date in China.
“There’s a high probability Beijing will ban the release and monetization of Top Gun in China,” Former DMG Entertainment executive Chris Fenton said in a CNN interview earlier this month.
“There’s also a probability the Chinese government will blackball the studio, filmmakers and actors from the market for an extended period of time,” Fenton added. “We’ve witnessed similar punishments in the past.”
We can take away three points from this situation.
First, the patch stitched on the jacket is the ROC flag, not some unfamiliar country’s name that the global community or Taiwanese do not recognize. Consequently, Taiwanese, regardless of their political affiliation, should endorse this flag, which stands for something that everybody can agree on.
Second, China should stop taking offense at any form of ROC representation. As a nation seeking to turn the 21st century into “the Chinese Century,” China should demonstrate magnanimity in its pursuit and give up its fixation on this zero-sum game. Beijing should focus its energy on providing its people with better lives instead of blackballing movies that show representations of Taiwan. From a commercial point of view, movies should be left to moviemakers.
Third, everyone knows that actions speak louder than words, and the world is waiting to see if Hollywood keeps its implicit promise to Taiwan.
In the face of a possible blackballing, Fenton said: “That’s a likely calculation that led to the decision [for producers to include Taiwan’s flag]... The global goodwill generated by reinstating the flags easily outweighs any potential revenues from China.”
“Hollywood is starting to realize the aggravation of attempting to please China’s fickle and unpredictable censors is no longer worth the potential payoff,” he added.
To prove its pledge, Hollywood should match its words with continued action.
Hu Wen-chi is a former vice chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Culture and Communications Committee.
Translated by Rita Wang
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