Rivalrous Times

An enigmatic figure for sure， Han Han is even more mysterious to Westerners because of the lack of a parallel cultural figure. Due to his wide variety of endeavors and hobbies， one could call him a modern Renaissance Man， but he is first and foremost a writer – his racecar driving record leaves something to be desired.

Born in 1982， Han Han first emerged as a public figure around the turn of the 21st Century while still in his teens. At that time， literary magazine Meng Ya （“Sprout”） launched a competition called “New Concept Writing” which aimed to break traditional Chinese writing structure and encourage young people to think more creatively and break out of molds. Calling the competition a success would be an understatement– many of China’s most successful writers born in the 1980s were discovered through the campaign， including Han Han， Zhang Yueran， and Guo Jingming.

Readers are drawn to Han Han’s wit， sarcasm， bold criticism of modern society， and tendency to challenge traditional Chinese culture and philosophy. Many of his most devout fans felt him describing the world exactly as they too saw it， in a way that had never before been done in Chinese– not to mention published by the establish- ment. Han Han’s boldness has become legendary： When he took the gaokao， China’s life-changing national college entrance examination， he wrote an excessively long essay for which he received a perfect score， but scored zero in the mathematics section. After failing science and math repeatedly in school， he eventually dropped out.

Not surprisingly， Han became an icon for rebellious youngsters hungry to challenge society， and received sharp criticism from various established literary figures for disrespecting authority. His writing talent continued growing his fan base， and eventually he was writing the most widely-read blog in China. He started racing cars and receiving commercial and even acting offers.

Meanwhile， the career of Han Han’s contemporary and rival， Guo Jingming， developed just as fast. Not only did Han and Guo both emerge from the New Concept Writing Competition， but they’re almost the same age， aim for the same age demographic and are both based out of Shanghai. Compared to Han’s more middle-class native Shanghai background， Guo Jingming was born in humbler circumstances in Sichuan Province. This difference likely makes a huge influence on the writers’starkly contrasting styles – Guo unabashedly celebrates luxurious elite living while Han endeavors to depict regular people.

Guo Jingming acquired the means to permanently relocate from Sichuan to Shanghai after his success in the New Concept competition， and Meng Ya went on to publish his first novel， Never Flowers in Never Dream， as a serial. It hit bookstore shelves in 2003 and peaked at number two on the bestseller list. Guo writes about love and life as he sees it， not unlike Han， but Guo’s gaudy methods and taste ended up attracting countless new middle-class Chinese youth who had never before heard a voice echoing their point of view.

Guo’s second novel was released in 2004 while he was still in college， and just as fast， Guo was slapped with a lawsuit alleging plagiarism. Zhuang Yu accused him of borrowing much of her novel In and Out. The court agreed， finding that Guo’s book “shared 12 major plot elements and 57 similarities with the other author.” Indeed， both books were set in Beijing rather than Guo’s more familiar Shanghai and some character names are even the same. Guo was ordered to pay Zhuang 200，000 yuan， which he did despite maintaining his innocence and refusing to apologize. The lawsuit did curb Guo’s meteoric popularity to some extent， but did little to sway his diehard fans， who maintained unrelenting support， arguing that the practice of writers borrowing from other writers is completely commonplace and acceptable.

Han Han wouldn’t be formerly accused of such an offense until 2012， when blogger Mai Tian accused him of employing a team of ghostwriters. However， three days after the accusation was posted， Mai removed the blog post and formally apologized.

Big Screen Clash

From their simultaneous emergence from the same literary contest last century to today， Han Han and Guo Jingming’s career paths have continued crossing， culminating with films written and directed by each， respectively， opening within weeks of each other in the summer of 2014. The rivalry has been largely fueled by supporters of each continuously bickering with each other on the internet – not unlike One Direction’s “Directioners” and Justin Bieber’s “Beliebers” having it out on Twitter. And yes， Han Han has released a music album， but Guo Jingming has not as of yet. Not surprisingly， most supporters of each love one of the summer releases and loath the other.

As with boy bands’ music， neither film is very good. Both figures are relatively uneducated yet unswervingly confident creative voices， yet both are clearly tourists to the medium of film. In terms of both novels and films， Guo’s work and fan base resemble the Twilight franchise in the West– highly appealing to a well-defined young demographic but overwhelmingly hated by more mature audiences. His Tiny Times trilogy of films was adapted by himself from his own novels and he also directed. They feature painfully heavy luxury brand product placement and young boring beautiful wealthy people – like Gossip Girl minus any intrigue or storyline. Other critics waste even fewer words on such films， calling them “90-minute music videos.”

Han Han， only the other hand， has always been a critical darling， more or less， if not within the Chinese literary establishment， in the more rebelliousness-celebrating West. In 2010， he was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine. When CNN interviewed him， they called him a “rebel writer who has become the voice of a generation.” Largely via essays and blogs， rather than narrative novels， Han Han frequently addresses touchy social issues， but in a deftly oblique manner that obscures his message enough to avoid censorship. However， as of this August， his blog had been removed by Sina， which seems to happen from time to time.

When he decided to make a film， Han Han announced his intentions online and quickly attracted myriad investment offers to adapt his novels. Ultimately， he opted to preserve the integrity of his books by writing an original screenplay that he would direct.

However， as with Han Han’s singing and racing careers， his filmmaking talent is mediocre at best – at least at for the time being. China’s film industry as a whole is still very young and has yet to fully develop in the mainstream sector， while concerns about censorship have pushed the bolder-voiced filmmakers to foreign film festivals and tiny overseas arthouse theaters. Han Han has a stronger fan base than any indie-minded filmmaker – a better potential to break into the mainstream with more thoughtful cinema – but became“the voice of a generation” not so much as a storyteller than as a social commentator.

Many fans of his books even came away from the theater disappointed. Compared to his novels， The Continent is rambling and disorganized， the vivid voice of his writing replaced by stoic stares amidst a lowstakes plot. The concept is not bad： a pair of friends （trio early on – why did that guy just disappear？） embark on a road trip across China after “the teacher” is transferred from a school at China’s easternmost edge to an institution in the far West. Clearly a fan of hippie biker classic Easy Rider and the road-based literary work of the voice of one American generation， Jack Kerouac， such a film set in modern China could have the potential to become as immortal as either， but Han’s The Continent falls flat. There are shots of the road to be sure， but any train trip between any two locations in China shows a much more colorful and fascinating land than what was depicted in this film. It’s a movie about guys in hotel rooms. Han Han does succeed in capturing some of the flavor of modern newly middle-class Chinese young adults – they face opportunity their parents never could have imagined but have no idea what to do about it – but in the end the film seems as boring and pointless as the characters see their lives， which is anything but riveting.

But it’s not completely worthless， as the vast majority of the 30-and-older crowd sees the entire body of Guo Jingming’s work. Barely over 30 himself， Han Han still has great potential and a strong voice.“Jack of all trades， master of none，” goes the adage， and likewise Han Han’s literary output drastically dropped when he took up racing and music. Few successful artists from other realms， in the West and world， ever dive into cinema and blow everyone away with their first endeavor. Even young radio-play-sensation-turned-auteur Orson Welles had his first production shut down by the studio before he started over with a more financially reasonable script called Citizen Kane. Successful established writers fail upon arrival in Hollywood more often than not， and sometimes they need a handful of films under their belt before they hit their groove. Robert Rodriguez， whose one-man no-budget debut feature El Mariachi rocketed him to Hollywood’s A-list， asserted in his book Rebel Without a Crew that every filmmaker has several bad movies inside them， which they should get out sooner rather than later. As Rodriguez sees it， his worst films were made with a video camera as a teenager， and he had already acquired thousands of hours of filmmaking experience before he ever shot a frame of 16 millimeter. However， it should be noted that Rodriguez， a native of Texas， was born into a situation favorable enough to provide access to a video camera in the 1980s.

If earnings define the rivalry at this point， Guo Jingming is blowing Han Han away. His films have broken box office records in China， and his diverse-ranging“cultural” company will continue producing highly profitable products into the foreseeable future. Han Han， who was actually once rumored to be in dire financial straits， is doing just fine despite the shortcomings of his filmmaking debut. As with any market rivalry， the greatest rewards are reaped by consumers as a whole， who in this case will see the industry continue developing at a steep trajectory until Chinese filmmakers not named Ang Lee start winning Oscars regularly.