New Media Spectacle: Aesthetic Analysis of the Chinese Film Industry in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

This paper investigates how the Chinese film industry exhibits itself as a new media spectacle. In 2002, the Chinese state redefined the film sector as a profit-oriented cultural industry, and it has since experienced rapid growth. Drawing on two decades of industry data, this paper proposes a three-dimensional analytical framework centered on “box office myths,” “urban spaces,” and “aesthetic functions.” First, “box office myths” reveal how high-grossing films balance socialist propaganda with commercial interests while navigating state policies and market dynamics. Second, the film industry reshapes Chinese cities and redefines urban public spaces, where cinematic representations and audience responses collectively articulate traditional culture. Third, the “aesthetic functions” of film can be categorized into three aspects: artistic function, cultural inheritance function, and aesthetic education function. Together, these three aspects constitute the new media spectacle as a composite cultural phenomenon within China’s contemporary film industry.