The Self and the Others: A Study of Audiences’ Cultural Identity towards Chinese Science Fiction Films

Abstract

Since the founding of new China, the development of Chinese science fiction films has been sluggish. the emergence of the phenomenal film Wandering Earth in 2019 has brought Chinese science fiction films increasingly to the attention of a wide range of research scholars. From the perspective of cultural identity theory, This paper uses questionnaires to illustrate the relationship between Chinese science fiction films and cultural identification. It also verified that the quality of special effects production and the frequency of traditional cultural elements in Chinese science fiction films are important factors of affecting cultural identity, and the frequency of western cultural elements doesn’t have a direct impact on the audience’s cultural identity, which further influences the willingness of audience behaviour to watch Chinese science fiction films. On the basis of this conclusion, we propose some suggestions for the “localization” of the creation of Chinese science fiction films, which will inspire the future development of Chinese science fiction films.