2018/05/04 by James N. Udden · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Media, Gender, and Advertising #Asian Culture and Media Studies #Cinema and Media Studies #Comedy #Shadow (psychology) #Mainland China #Tone (literature) #Chinese market #China #Advertising #History #Political science #Geography #Economy #Media studies #Sociology #Economics #Art #Literature #Business #Law
paper · doi:10.1080/17508061.2018.1475970
openalex publication_date 2018/05/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Comedy is arguably the most local of genres. Tropical Fish (1995) is a Taiwanese comedy that made no effort to disguise its local flavour, and was largely unseen outside of Taiwan. Recent Taiwanese comedies such as You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011), The Wonderful Wedding (2015) and Our Times (2015) have achieved not only success in Taiwan, but also unprecedented box office in the mainland Chinese market. Compared to Tropical Fish, all three films also seemingly tone down the local flavour to varying degrees. This is due to the irresistible pull of recent opportunities posed by the astronomical growth of the mainland Chinese market. This paper will analyze the economic forces that have resulted in changes in Taiwanese comedies themselves while at the same time showing that there are varying textual strategies for dealing with the ‘local’ flavour in this new economic climate where the booming Chinese market now has become a major consideration.