I love Kung Fu, Kung Fu movies, and communism. So how come these things aren't generally combined? I feel like the themes of Kung Fu movies are ripe for communist adaptation.

There are lots of common tropes and archetypes in these movies that often overlap. I'll list some here and then explain how each of them easily relate to communism.

  1. Stories of national identity. In these stories, China asserts its national character and strength to repel a foreign threat.
  2. Stories of the common people. Stories where poor communities come under threat by an oppressive force and fight as underdogs for their liberation.
  3. Stories of discipline. The hero heals a spiritual wound through personal discipline and often a devotion to selflessness.
  4. Wuxia. Stories of mythical figures and folk heroes.

So how could these be used to tell communist stories?

  1. Well, the CPC liberated the country from the hands of imperialists, so it seems obvious that this kind of story could be told. It's interesting to me that the most obvious national propaganda are the Ip Man films which aren't really political at all.
  2. This should really be obvious.
  3. One of the tenets of being part of an organization is discipline. It's a no brained that a movie could cover the themes of selflessness and healing the self through discipline and public service.
  4. Stories like this were actually popular from the fifties to the seventies. Small comic books were circulated widely that features socialist supermen traveling the countryside and fighting against injustice.

So where are they? Kung Fu seems like THE perfect genre to express communist ideas in a fun and accessible way.

If I missed any, please let me know!

  • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    It's not exactly communist but the first Ip Man film has the hero beat up a Japanese Imperialist officer, so it might scratch a bit of that itch.

    • RedQuestionAsker2 [he/him, she/her]
      hexagon
      ·
      1 year ago

      He beats up lots of them!

      All four of the Ip Man movies have him beating up some foreign aggressor haha.

      Which is cool, but I want that hot ideology.

    • Chapo_is_Red [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      First Ip Man movie def hits on the national liberation theme and iirc shows unity of the proles and the national bourgeoisie against Japanese imperialism. But its not really communist.

      • shreddingitlater [he/him, comrade/them]
        ·
        1 year ago

        In fact, it's actually anti-communist - the martial artists of the "northern school" are meant to represent the communists, which is why they're shown robbing the poor textile businessman and constantly opposing all other traditional forms of martial arts.

        • dolphin
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          deleted by creator

      • ssjmarx [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        I bunch of Kung Fu movies hit these themes, Bruce Lee's film Fist of Fury comes to mind. I think martial arts cinema in general is pretty revolutionary even if it rarely calls out communism by name.