this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2024
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chapotraphouse

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CHYNA frothingfash

Feels like back in the 90's people were a bit more chill and didn't go into a genocidal lunatic rage at the mere mention of the country. Wild to think people used to get down with hong kong action movies.

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[–] Des@hexbear.net 95 points 1 year ago (3 children)

i remember so many articles as a kid breathlessly describing "the rise of china" as a sort of neutral/neutral-good thing. everyone thought they were going to get addicted to a market economy and politically "liberalize" aka become a heavily manipulated and corrupted multi-party parlimentary liberal "democracy". i guess there was a bunch of excitement about looting the place

i think the anti-corruption crackdowns basically saved the country and the Party

[–] Tankiedesantski@hexbear.net 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i remember so many articles as a kid breathlessly describing "the rise of china" as a sort of neutral/neutral-good thing.

That's because the Westoid capitalists were making huuuuge buckets of money in China either ! manufacturing for export or selling to the domestic market. Back then China wasn't a credible military threat or economic competition, so those articles were the capitalist's feeding call.

[–] CarmineCatboy2@hexbear.net 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They were also high on end of history histrionics and genuinely believed that economic prosperity would lead to an american style free market economy. And I don't think people were silly to think that way in the 90s. You had to be in the know to realize the fundamentals at play. That China, unlike the Soviets, did not privatize the commons but instead implemented a market economy. The only hint of how things were going was how Japan was forcefully turned into an american sharemarket economy. China by all indications did not have to and didn't.

[–] Des@hexbear.net 7 points 1 year ago

my grandfather used to describe Hong Kong as like this burning ember of liberal market capitalism that would basically spread across China eventually. that they would become addicted to the wealth generated there and replicate it everywhere (this was in the 90s).

he couldn't predict how utterly irrelevant Hong Kong would become

Ouais, Des...

[–] Lemmygradwontallowme@hexbear.net 60 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's cuz ppl thought China was goin' the full comprador route... hence, the media depiction is a bit toned down, compared to now, but there are still some movies with condemnation of revolutionary China during that time, so I'm not sure...

But even then, Hong Kong and China are kinda different animals; most of the time, what we watch are mostly Hong Kong films, not mainlander filmers...

[–] FlakesBongler@hexbear.net 47 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The 80's and most of the 90's were the Japanese Yellow Scare

We thought their quality products and affordable cars would bury us alive

[–] Lemmygradwontallowme@hexbear.net 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Most of the 90's

Didn't Japan's real estate bubble crash heavily during those times?

I mean, it seems that the U.S, in the 90s' generally, seemed to thrive, throughout the post-Cold War suffering that they've caused...

Edit: Look at CindyTheSkull's response for explanation...

[–] CindyTheSkull@hexbear.net 43 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Did Japan's real estate bubble crash heavily during those times?

The US reined in their vassals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_Accord

[–] Lemmygradwontallowme@hexbear.net 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Welp, I forgot to mention that...

[–] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It crashed in 1991, but I think the yellow scare lasted into the mid 90s for some people. I remember my parents always acting like stuff made in Japan was inferior to American made products.

[–] Tabitha@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I remember Jackie Chan being a thing (movies, that one cartoon) early in my childhood then I feel like he just disappeared from reality (almost like Mandela effect), and by disappeared I also mean the entire genre of movies he usually does.

[–] ElChapoDeChapo@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

and by disappeared I also mean the entire genre of movies he usually does.

Yeah action comedy martial arts movies aren't as big as they once were in the west, now the closest thing we have may be marvel movies with their cgi instead of real action and the quips instead of actual comedy

Action movies in general have gotten more and more pro military with a tone of gritty "realism" (obviously bullshit given these are usually propaganda films) that makes what Jackie Chan does not really possible in the genre

Like I could see an old school action movie having Jackie Chan as a character and doing his thing and it could fit nicely but this new shit is too grimdark for him

[–] anarchoilluminati@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

They were better times.

I recently torrented the entire Jackie Chan filmography and worked through some of them. They don't always hold up, but they're always fun and have such a different style than current movies. It's mostly a shame for kids.