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"I'm from the Future: You Should Go to China." Looper and the Rise of China in American Science-Fiction Cinema

Joseph, Robert Gordon
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1398955613

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, Communication.
The past decade has seen a large number of film co-productions between Hollywood studios and Chinese production companies. These co-productions reflect the continued rise of the Chinese box office, and a desire by Hollywood to cash in on the emerging market. Among these co-productions is Looper, a cinematic collaboration between Tri-Star Pictures and DMG Entertainment. Along with its co-production status, Looper is significant in its unique portrayal of a future featuring a dystopic United States and a prosperous China. Viewing the film as a "representative anecdote," this thesis argues that Looper represents United States cultural apprehensions towards China. By the circumstances of the film's production and its on-screen portrayal of the future, the film reflects the distinct American fear in which China is the dominant world economic power. The film accomplishes this through its appropriation of science-fiction cinematic conventions, particularly regarding utopia, dystopia, and "alienation of the familiar."
Joseph Valenzano, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Jeffrey Griffin, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Andrew Slade, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
113 p.
Communication; Film Studies; Rhetoric
Looper; China; American cultural apprehensions; representative anecdote; film studies; rhetoric; science fiction; genre studies; co-productions; American science-fiction

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Joseph, R. G. (2014). "I'm from the Future: You Should Go to China." Looper and the Rise of China in American Science-Fiction Cinema [Master's thesis, University of Dayton]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1398955613

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Joseph, Robert. "I'm from the Future: You Should Go to China." Looper and the Rise of China in American Science-Fiction Cinema. 2014. University of Dayton, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1398955613.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Joseph, Robert. ""I'm from the Future: You Should Go to China." Looper and the Rise of China in American Science-Fiction Cinema." Master's thesis, University of Dayton, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1398955613

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

dayton1398955613
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© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Dayton and OhioLINK.