The film, The Last Emperor, brings to light the story of the last emperor of China. A significant focus of this movie lies in the time period in which he was taken as a child and put into this life. The three year-old has incredible power and the film does a great job using visual cues to signify this point. Through the Emperor’s robe, the color yellow, the mass amounts of people, and the cricket scene, we can see that the movie did a create job creating a clear contrast between the emperors young age and its incredible power that he has.

The Traditional Emperor Robe:

It’s details: This scene image shows the three year-old Emperor dressed in the traditional robe. The details are extremely intricate and carefully woven, demonstrating high class. It clearly could only be worn by a wealthy member of society.

It’s size: The robe is clearly very large and oversized when put on the Emperor. This highlights the Emperor’s youth and contrast between his young age and the incredible power and influence he already has.

The color yellow: The color yellow is extremely prominent in this photo. There is a lot of yellow in the dress as well as in the background. During this time in China, only leaders could wear yellow. In this photo, this color signifies the power and leadership that the boy has.

The Mass Amounts of People: The second photo shown displays the emperor standing in front of a crowd of thousands of people. The people are lined up in straight lines and all bowing down to him. Again, this symbolizes the vast power and control the emperor has. This photo also does a good job emphasizing how young the boy is by having him stand in front of this large crowd. Every person is bowing down to a three year-old boy, who is perhaps too young to even read. Overall, it shows China’s dedication to tradition and unwavering commitment to their cultural processes.

The Cricket Scene: In the scene with the cricket, the boy Emperor can hear a cricket noise. He walks down the aisle of people bowing down to him in order to find out where the noise is coming from. He finally finds a man who looks like he is from the lower class, based on his raggedy clothes and lack of detail in his overall wardrobe. His face is fascinated when he sees the cricket. This scene further displays the emperor’s youth and his hunger to be a kid. Hearing a cricket and seeking it out allows for the viewer to see his real age being played out. It also brings up sadness in the viewer because it shows a contrast between the live he has to live while being an emperor versus the life he wants to live out as a child.

Each of these photo or scene cues demonstrates a contrast between age and power. The three year-old is so young, naïve, and still has so much to learn, yet he is leader of China.

I chose these two advertisements above because each represent qualities that show up the most when looking at beauty trends in China.From beauty products, to hair styles, China brings a lot of Western trends into their culture. However, how come certain trends  translate while others do not? For instance, you see the huge desire for larger eyes in China. So much so that eyelid surgery is one of the most popular plastic surgery procedure in China. Why does that trend get picked up, while say, the Western obsession with self-tanner does not? These are the big questions that we were able to examine, review, and ultimately answer.

good questions raised

“White Plus Renew” & “Lightening”: Both of these photos have the messages “lighting” and “white plus renew”. Both models display very pale almost white skin. The emphasizes on white skin dates back to when poor people would work in the fields and as a result get dark skin. Versus wealthier people who wouldn’t work would remain far skinned and pale. This “white” skin is a representation of high class and good social standing. This demonstrates the class differences and issues that exists in China.

The Zipper: The zipper creates a contrast between the desirable and the undesirable. The left shows a tan, spotty face, and the zipper revealing a pale, soft, and white face. This is showing that with the face cream you can achieve an even, white tone on your face. This zipper is very significant because it shows that Chinese beauty culture sees the tan face with freckles as undesirable and thus, not attracting. It shows the pale white face that the zipper, thus the cream, creates and reveals. The most interesting part of this image is that in Western culture, the more desirable face on that ad with the zipper would be the tan face with the freckles

The Natural, Clean, Youthful Look: In both images, the advertisement highlights the female faces that look very youthful with almost no additional makeup on. This “natural” look is a significant trend in China and is clear in the majority of advertisements that you will see. The significance of having this trend present in both images is so that the consumer will purchase the product (why). In addition, that fact further proves that it is the ideal look for a Chinese woman to possess. It begs the question of how did this come to be? It could represent what men in China hope to see in their women. This is also a signficant difference between China and Western culture. Western culture’s advertisement’s usually consistent of models will very heavy makeup. It looks natural but its is articifical natural by using this product.

These three connotations as well as their denotations demonstrate a whole lot about China’s ideal beauty. Furthermore, they show a lot about what the consumer is looking for and perhaps what male wants in a female’s looks.

return to the questions that you have raised at the beginning and see if you have offered explanation/response

Moving forward with the topic of foot binding, we shift our focus to semiotics to dig deeper into the subject. Through a semiotic analysis, we can use our analytical skills to further understand foot binding on another level.

start from here: This image is from the 2011 movie, Snow Flower and The Secret Fan, written by Lisa See. The movie was set in nineteenth century China and it focused on how women are victims of problems like foot binding. According to See, she wants her fans “to imagine how a few such women might have found voices of their own within, rather than in opposition to, the Confucian social order, and how they found ways to self-fulfillment without flouting their culture’s fundamental values.” (Lisa See, introductory note, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. New York: Random House (2005) p 18) .

This image accurately demonstrates the control that men have over women. nice statement

In this image clip from the film, there is a man and a woman. The woman’s face is hidden in intricate headwear. Her foot, however, is the focal point of the image and is in the man’s hand. The foot is also is dramatically adorned, further cementing it’s importance. The environment of this image is primarily red. Both the man and the woman are wearing traditional outfits. All of this is taking place in a bedroom.

The atmosphere of this photo is intimate and sexual between the man and the woman. When looking at this image, the female’s face is hidden, demonstrating its unimportance.The identity is insignificant compared to the success of the individual’s foot binding practice. In addition, the man gazing at the foot shows the cultural norm of the feet being sexualized.

organize the analysis in a structure of denotation-connotation, complete one pair before moving to another one

This image represents control that men have over women on a greater scale. Seeing women as objects, and focusing on the ‘beauty’ of their body parts emphasizes this control. Women are mutilating their body to become what men want.

This image shows the control that men had over women in nineteenth century China. The ‘attractive’ women is one who has a small, delicate feet, that is only achieved through the torture and mutilation of oneself. Foot binding is a cultural expectation that women feel obligated to oblige by in order to have a future with a man.

We can connect foot binding to traditions such as the wearing of corsets, which were worn in order to maintain and show off an hour glass figure for men. Or the idea of the lighter the skin the more wealthy it proved someone to be. If you were tanner, it meant you were working in the fields.

Each of these traditions are somehow implemented into society’s expectations and are difficult to remove.

-Kelsey Mullaney

Moving forward with the topic of foot binding, we shift our focus to semiotics to dig deeper into the subject. Through a semiotic analysis, we can use our analytical skills to further understand foot binding on another level. This image is from the 2011 movie, Snow Flower and The Secret Fan, written by Lisa See. The movie was set in nineteenth century China and it focused on how women are victims of problems like foot binding.

According to See, she wants her fans “to imagine how a few such women might have found voices of their own within, rather than in opposition to, the Confucian social order, and how they found ways to self-fulfillment without flouting their culture’s fundamental values.” (Lisa See, introductory note, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. New York: Random House (2005) p 18) .

This image accurately demonstrates the control that men have over women.

In this image clip from the film, there is a man and a woman. The woman’s face is hidden in intricate headwear. Her foot, however, is the focal point of the image and is in the man’s hand. The foot is also is dramatically adorned, further cementing it’s importance. The environment of this image is primarily red. Both the man and the woman are wearing traditional outfits. All of this is taking place in a bedroom.

The atmosphere of this photo is intimate and sexual between the man and the woman. When looking at this image, the female’s face is hidden, demonstrating its unimportance.The identity is insignificant compared to the success of the individual’s foot binding practice. In addition, the man gazing at the foot shows the cultural norm of the feet being sexualized.

This image represents control that men have over women on a greater scale. Seeing women as objects, and focusing on the ‘beauty’ of their body parts emphasizes this control. Women are mutilating their body to become what men want.

This image shows the control that men had over women in nineteenth century China. The ‘attractive’ women is one who has a small, delicate feet, that is only achieved through the torture and mutilation of oneself. Foot binding is a cultural expectation that women feel obligated to oblige by in order to have a future with a man.

We can connect foot binding to traditions such as the wearing of corsets, which were worn in order to maintain and show off an hour glass figure for men. Or the idea of the lighter the skin the more wealthy it proved someone to be. If you were tanner, it meant you were working in the fields.

Each of these traditions are somehow implemented into society’s expectations and are difficult to remove.

-Kelsey Mullaney