Films vis-a-vis nations' global role

This year has seen two primates leading at the box office: Sun Wukong the Monkey King, and Caesar in The Planet of the Apes franchise. The chest-thumping action aside, let us discuss their very different leadership styles and cultural backgrounds.

The Chinese makers of Monkey King invited notable A-list actors (such as Donnie Yen, that violent man from Law & Violence and Kill Zone, and Chow Yun-fat, the Bullet Proof Monk), created comical situations for them, had them struggle, yet ultimately devised a happy ending: The gods regained peaceful control over all minorities. It's a divine comedy.

This has created a heated debate in China on the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Stakeholders are wondering how, the 1 billion yuan ($163 million) domestic box office record aside, someone so powerful as the Monkey King holds so little sway over Western cineastes.