Our French Mistake
Hollywood, Nihilism, and the Power of the American Narrative
American cinema is more than the location where it’s filmed, it’s more than reels of film or big screen debuts. A film isn’t American simply because it was filmed within the 30 mile studio zone of Los Angeles, California (this is where TMZ comes from, btw). For as the Bard said: the whole world’s a stage (and the bloody Americans run the show). American cinema is the visual propagation of the American narrative. Whether it’s Chinatown, Twilight Zone, or Red Dawn, we are unconquerable rebels, mischievous fools, righteous, reluctant anti-heroes fighting the impossible. We are the the land of opportunity where anybody can be somebody, we are Gordon Gecko’s greed, we are a monument to our sins, and we are the underdog punching bad guys in the face. For all of our failings and struggles recently, it may be the immortal Americana that saves us.
Note: If you’re new to Breaking Beijing, you’re probably wondering what the hell I’m talking about since you allegedly subscribed to a China policy Substack. I assure you I have a point in here that’s worth your time. But first, I’d like to welcome all of you who joined after my appearance on the China Talk podcast a few weeks ago (which if you haven’t, please check out and subscribe to them!) Now, back to our scheduled programming!
The title of this article references S6 Ep15 of Supernatural, in which our heroes, Sam and Dean Winchester, find themselves cast into a parallel reality where magic isn’t real, there are no angels or demons, and their lives don’t revolve around roaming the American heartland hunting monsters and fighting the good fight. Rather, they live in Vancouver, Canada and they’re something called a Jensen Ackles and Jared Padelecki who are the stars of the TV show Supernatural. It’s the fourth wall break of fourth wall breaks and as an abnormally patriotic American, some days I feel a bit like I too was cast into a different reality where everything I believed in isn’t real. But I refuse to give into the nihilism that has overtaken so many in this country.
“America sucks” being the only remaining bipartisan issue simply cannot stand. Nihilism is the enemy of opportunity and freedom; the killer of the American ideal. We cannot be the land of opportunity, flawed as we are, and simultaneously subscribe to the idea that nothing matters. That is the core of our global fight against authoritarianism: opportunity vs nihilism. To that end, we need the revival of the American narrative (ostensibly through art and cinema) to keep us in the fight. Enter the latest news that we’re going to tariff films made overseas and the recent news that the CCP will once again be restricting the availability of American films in the PRC. I fear that this, among many other things, is going to lead to a new era of cultural censorship in the United States at a time when our story is needed most, unfiltered. Hollywood is already struggling to keep itself afloat and has partially done so in the past by agreeing to terms of censorship by one group or another.
There’s a complicated history between Hollywood and US national security. It was less than a century ago that moral codes were used by government and industry alike to strictly regulate what the American eye saw on screen. Under the 1930s-60s era Hays Code, most of what I rwrite about could not appear on screen. There would be no Tarantino, no Scorcese, no Kubrick, no John Wick, no Sinners. Many have used the security of society (what most of us would call moral policing by folks who most certainly have no standing) to justify censorship like the Hays Code and others. It’s not lost on me that my own existence would be erased in the era of the Hays Code and its ilk: a patriotic, atheist, bisexual soldier turned strategist and science fiction writer would most certainly not compute (and still doesn’t to many today.) And yet if you look closely enough, you can always find the subversion of rules of old among the black and white. It is perhaps perfectly American that as some seek to silence us, others will always get creative to route the censors.
In the 1940s and 50s, politicians and Feds hunted commies in Hollywood and blacklisted those who opposed the government. Some were commies, some weren’t, but none were put on public trial for anything more than thought crime. Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone fought authoritarianism at home and abroad through science fiction and parable on the television. The Civil Rights movement and sexual revolution found home and hostility in Hollywood as various groups and powers fought for the dominance of the American mind through the screens the American family watched religiously. All the while, our biggest hits broadcast around the world, providing hope and opportunity to the oppressed masses who wanted a better life even as we battled each other in the streets and halls of government. The American narrative sells tomorrow, no matter how awful the today, because we at least have the opportunity to make things better. This is the duality of Americana.
With the rise of the PRC market after its opening in the latter half of the Cold War, Hollywood became increasingly uncomfortable with any films that criticized the PRC or even went beyond the limits of showing China in a way that the CCP would not show its own citizens. You see, there’s a lot of moviegoers in the PRC and a lot of censorship to “maintain social harmony.” The PRC only allows a certain number of outside films to be shown each year, a number that varies by political sentiments and corruption. Vanity Fair and the Hollywood Reporter have actually done outstanding reporting on this in the last decade. Most famously, you may remember the Red Dawn remake that had the CCP switched out for the North Koreans as the baddies. You may also remember the weird Chinese product placement in the Transformers movies. There’s about one major exception to this rule and it’s not even a film, but a blockbuster video game: Battlefield 4.
Now, I could sit here and complain about my lack of quality media about the US-China fight, or even just showing the CCP in an honest light (the latter is a far more valid complaint), but that’s not what I’m going to do. I’m not in the business of telling Hollywood what to make, and neither should the USG or the CCP. (But if Hollywood wants to buy an Ex Supra-related script, I’m working on one). As the US and CCP trade barbs on trade (including film production, somehow), I can only hope Hollywood takes the opportunity to revive the subversive Americana that we are best known for. Hollywood has welcomed overseas censorship for decades, that cannot be allowed to come home. Show the America we know, film it where the story makes sense, tell our stories, and don’t bow to the new wave of attempted cultural censorship that is inevitably coming stateside. Don’t give into nihilism either, remind us of who we are and what we can be. The American narrative must survive.
I suppose this is all part of my grander scheme to reclaim patriotism for the liberal democratic order. The first step of which is battling nihilism, and we can only do that through owning the narrative about ourselves and our country. I’ve written before in “Why We Fight” that America is a nation built upon choice. The 1st Amendment guarantees your right to choose how to express yourself and your beliefs. Soldiers sign on the dotted line because they want to live in a world where they and their families and friends get to choose how to run their lives without harm to one another. Capitalism, when properly regulated, gives you the ability to choose how to use your money, how to live your life, what careers to pursue, and how to get hammered on a Saturday night. When those choices go away, or appear that they might be taken away; we start to remember. We see their true value just as those who were inspired by American cinema, by the American narrative, to risk it all and emigrate here saw their value.
Hopefully we can still get back to our reality.
P.S. If you like real film critiques more than my rambling nonsense, I recommend subscribing to Sophie from That Final Scene, I do!
If you liked this article, check out my novel, EX SUPRA, about the world after the fall of Taiwan, an isolationist and hyper-partisan America, and World War III. It was nominated for a Prometheus Award for best science fiction novel and there’s a sequel in the works! If you have any suggestions for topics for future newsletters, please send them my way on BlueSky @tonystark.bsky.social. And don’t forget to subscribe!