China's starring role

People like disaster films because they make them feel good.

After seeing 2012, the doomsday flick which opens globally on Nov 13, some feel even better about living in China.

The film and its stunning special effects have raised heated discussions among Chinese filmgoers - mostly because of its Chinese elements.

"I am happy to see so many Chinese elements in a Hollywood blockbuster - and not negative ones," says Chen Xiaohao, a 27-year-old accountant.

"What I saw in the film is rare in previous Hollywood disaster films. It is no longer a unilateral world but one in which other countries, especially China, also play an important role."

Chinese media have gone even further, trumpeting: "Finally, it is China that saves the world" in their headlines. Chinese people appear in the film's opening 10 minutes, when an officer tells survivors of an earthquake the government will help them rebuild their homes.

When the protagonist and his family land in Tibet, a Chinese officer says in fluent English: "Welcome to the People's Republic of China."

This is where the modern Noah's Ark, by which the human race escapes from being destroyed, are built. The US president's chief of staff, played by Oliver Platt, marvels that only Chinese can build the ships. A Tibetan family helps an American family board one of the craft.

Director Roland Emmerich reportedly says that he added Chinese elements to the script because he was inspired by the example of Chinese people after the May 12 earthquake last year and wanted to pay tribute to them.

Qian Jingjing, a college teacher, does not find that surprising at all.

"China has survived the earthquake, remained strong in the financial crisis and held the Olympics successfully," she says. "No one can ignore the rise of China."

Film critic Zhang Xiaobei, however, sees money talking.

"Obviously, Hollywood has seen the fast-growing film market in China," he writes in his blog. "That's why the film is eager to delight audiences here."

Not all viewers feel the same delight.

"The China I see in the film is only a manufacturer," a Web user on Tianya.cn writes. "China does not save the world as some publicists and media say. The country just does its job in a plan that involves cooperation by the whole world."

Film critic Mu Wei'er is more interested why Chinese people care so much about how Hollywood films portray them.

"Chinese people love and hate Hollywood films, because they are so influential but we do not make such outstanding films ourselves. Also, the image of Chinese people was indeed stereotypical, or not objective enough before in many Hollywood films," Mu says.

"But I think we need to be more confident, both in ourselves and in our films."