費斯克理論看無極

Fiske’s Theory and The Promise

Thesis Statement： This paper takes The Promise and its spoof as a case study to prove that the mass can oppose authority control and cultural centralization， and get the delight from the re-production of the authority from the perspective of the Fiske’s theory.

摘 要：本文從在電影史上引發最大爭論的電影《無極》和它的惡搞片作為研究范本，以求從費斯克理論的角度證實大眾具有反抗權威控制和文化集中的能力，并能從創作惡搞中獲得屬于大眾的快樂。

Key words： Fiske；productive delight；The Promise；spoof

關鍵詞：費斯克理論；創作喜悅；無極；惡搞

作者簡介：羅瑞豐（1982-），男，漢族，四川遂寧人，助教，碩士。研究方向：語言學理論，應用語言學及西方語言哲學。

[中圖分類號]：I235 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139（2012）-24--01

With the fast development of television and the entry into the industrial society， Fiske holds that the mass can oppose authority control and cultural centralization， and get the delight from the re-production of the authority. This paper takes The Promise and its spoof A Murder Case of A Steamed Bun （Murder） as a case study to prove Fiske’s theory.

1. Fiske’s Theory

The financial system and the system of cultural economy are the two systems of popular culture in Fiske’s theory. The former tries to use television as a homogenization agent， that is， television is centralized and uni-functional. Thus， in this system， the popular culture controls the mass. However， in the latter， the circulation of popular culture is rebellious and resisting. Television becomes decentered and multi-functional. The audience can enjoy themselves form the plurality of the choose in viewing ways and time. It is the very one to decide the profit of the mass medium.

2. The Promise

In the modern society， spoof， the original name KUSO， was invented in Japan. By the aid of advanced computer techniques， the production of new spoof often combines the direction， the playwright， the acoustic equipment and the image manipulation into a unity. The new spoof often presents as exaggeration， copy， transplantation， interpolation and distortion of the original text， and is characterized by playing， random， unreason， deregulation and irresponsibility.

The most famous spoof in China is Murder by Huge. In 2006， Chen Kaige， a very famous Chinese film director， had film The Promise which is a story about a beauty Qingcheng. When this film was on， many audiences felt it ridiculous. Some moths later， Murder was born. Just after nearly one more month， this spoof was spreading all over China， and even more famous than The Promise。This spoof can be viewed as the result of Fiske’s productive audience theory. Facing a product of dominant authority， Huge used his own productivity and creativity to against it. Furthermore， a mistake from the editor about Wuhuan was also found. Many audiences ignored it but some like Huge caught it. However， because the duke Wuhuan is acted by Xie Tingfeng， a super star from HongKong， the mass throw bursts of laughter on Xie instead of the editor in that Xie is a star which is so high that the mass can not catch. When a star made a ridiculous mistake， the mass can find a point to laugh on him and feel that he is also a common people. Then， according to Fiske’s theory， the mass will feel balanced and furthermore， find a big enjoyment from this kind of laugh.

Huge is not the only one who spoofs The Promise. Then， spoof is so famous and the people who do it even have their own name， Fei Fengke. Other people though do not have the technique to re-produce a film or spoof， but they can watch them on line and laugh on them. From this point， I think Fiske does not overestimate cultural productive enthusiasm and the ability of people. Moreover， from Friske， people can vent their irresistible vigor and inventiveness， and find the populace， the ritual， the equality and the subversion or degradation from spoof.

However， in my opinion， this rebellion from the mass is not always a bad thing to the authority （director， film factory and so on）. Because of the emergency of Murder，many people lighten their interest because Murder stimulates the mass to watch the original one and then， they can compare these two. Thus， after Murder，the box of the Promise was very successful.

All in all， according to Fiske， the mass have an initiative against authority control and cultural centralization. He proves that the mass which is productive and creative can get the delight from the subjective position. Spoof is a good example for Fiske’s theory. Fiske’s theory is suitable for China and Chinese popular culture.

Note：

1、John Fiske. Television Culture [M]. London： Routledge，1987.

2、 John Fiske. Understanding Popular Culture[M]. London： Unwin Hyman， 1989.

3、Roland Barthes， Mythologies [M]. London： Paladin， 1973.