Up the Yangtze and Hegemony

I feel like hegemony was really present in the film. I saw hegemony because I felt like one could clearly see the power struggle going on. The Chinese government has exuded what seems at times an unfair amount of power and control over the people. Unfair because in the film there is a scene where a peasant is explaining to the director how the police and the corrupt officials treat the people. The corrupt officials and police beat and threaten the people, which I think is inhumane and an abuse of power. It's an example of hegemony because one sees how the lower class is treated, and how much control and power the officials have.

Another example of hegemony present in the film is the relationship and differences between the two "protagonists" "Cindy" and "Jerry". Their own unique backgrounds shaped their personalities incredibly. Because of her situation at home and regarding her dreams including education, Cindy was a lot more humble than Jerry. She understood that she needed to work, and even though she was not happy she persevered. Jerry was incredibly arrogant and selfish to the point to which was fired.

If Jerry had grown up in a situation like Cindy, his character would have been completely different. He openly said something along the lines of "I look down to them because they're poor". Jerry thinks that he has more power than the people beneath him, a quality of cultural hegemony. Cindy can't really "look down" to anyone that I know of because if anything, she IS at the bottom. They're both two completely different perspectives.

The final scene in which the Yangtze river is seen bit by bit taking over Cindy's hut of a home is incredibly powerful because it can be seen as the control "flooding" the lives of the lower class whether they like it or not. Chang's documentary perfectly ended the film by doing that because he tied all the loose ends. Even with how it ended, one already knows that nothing is going to change in the lives of Jerry and Cindy. Hopefully, things get better for them, but with how the movie laid out the story, it's hard to see that happening.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. I really feel like it did a great job at depicting the present situation occurring in China both culturally and physically. I really admire how the film shows how much China has changed while at the same time, showing what hasn't changed and the motivation for that so-called change.

Up the Yangtze. Dir. Yung Chang. 2008. DVD. Zeitgeist Films.