Monkey King journeys further West

News of an American adaptation of a beloved Chinese fantasy tale is a positive sign of Chinese culture being accepted by more and more people worldwide

One of the most beloved literary characters will soon find a reincarnation on the American screen, and that is causing discomfort to quite a few Chinese.

The Monkey King, a.k.a. Journey to the West, is being adapted by AMC, an American cable channel, into a drama series and is due to debut next year or in early 2016. It is retitled Badlands.

In one Chinese online poll, 29 percent of respondents said they see the move as a positive sign that Chinese culture is being embraced overseas; 33 percent dislike it on the grounds that it will betray the original; and 35 percent view it as a positive trend but fear it will lead to awful results.

As if to allay fears of a botched adaptation, AMC revealed that Hong-Kong-based Chinese actors-directors Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu have been hired for the production, but did not specify whether they will be actors or consultants.

I'll bet that, for or against the American version, few are aware of the numerous treatments of this Chinese classic outside China. That means it's not a breakthrough for Chinese culture into the wider global arena, and on the flip side it is not going to be the first failure - if it flops.

I'll just give a partial list of some of the media adaptations, gleaned from Wikipedia, excluding those made in China. In television drama, there is a 1978-1980 Japanese series titled Monkey Magic, which was later translated into English by the BBC. An anime version was launched during the same period that reimagined the tale as a sci-fi space opera. In 1994, Nippon TV produced another series, New Monkey. In 2006, Fuji Television made ratings waves with Saiyuki, which appealed to the youth crowd by casting pop idols in the major roles. It spawned a film in lieu of a second season, which was also a big hit. In 1959 the Japanese studio Toho had made a film titled Monkey Sun, which was released internationally.

Outside Asia, NBC and the SciFi Channel launched a four-hour miniseries called The Monkey King or The Lost Empire. Even though it incorporated major talents such as eminent playwright David Henry Hwang, this contemporary take on the classic adventure tale was lambasted by critics and ignored by audiences.

In the US and Europe, there have been many stage plays based on part of the novel. A musical I reviewed last year starred an African American actor in the title role. It was produced by Tony Stimac, a Broadway veteran, but funded by a Chinese company. It was a Chinese production with global inputs and global ambition.

I'll admit that the first 10 minutes of Apollo Levine's appearance was a bit disorienting. Who in China would have thought that the diminutive monkey, usually with lots of yellow hair, could be embodied by a 186 cm heavily tattooed black guy? But Levine was utterly convincing. He captured the spirit of the Monkey, not just because he looked different from the rest of the cast, but because he conveyed the role's inner self.

By the yardstick of realism, a Chinese actor is no closer to the playful monkey than one of any other race. Most of us are conditioned by the 1986 television series, which in turn was shaped by Peking Opera portrayals of the character. That is like measuring every performance of Hamlet against that of the great Laurence Olivier and judging every departure in treatment from his classic portrayal a deviance.

I do not have sufficient knowledge of Badlands to predict its outcome. Given the American penchant to take liberty with literary sources, it will probably be different from our conception of the story or its characters. But that is not the reason it will be hit or miss. Adapters have every right to change whatever they see unfit for their retelling. They could keep the narrative and alter the theme, or vice versa.

The novel Journey to the West is in the public domain. Anyone can film it in any way they like - just as we can produce Shakespeare without obtaining permission from the Royal Shakespeare Company or some authority in England.

Speaking of the Bard, the huge number and rich variety of productions outside the English-speaking world is testament to his thorough penetration in world culture. Perhaps there are purists in Stratford-upon-Avon who squirm at all the different princes of Denmark such as the one donning a Ming Dynasty robe. But they are not being heard or minded. If purists had had their way, there would have been only one authorized portrayal, one that everyone else has to imitate.

Of all the characters in China's four great literary classics, the Monkey King is hands down the one who has traveled the farthest in terms of being accepted by other cultures. Still, other than the 2006-07 Japanese filmizations, most overseas versions have not been blockbusters.

Everyone knows the source material is a treasure trove of high-flying adventures and morphing-at-will fantasy plus a cast of perfectly counterpointed and colorfully delineated characters. Unlike the other three books, this one is not set in a particular dynasty and is therefore not bound by period details that may alienate foreign audiences. There is a timelessness unique to the fantasy genre.

The rebelliousness and mischievousness of the Monkey King speak to the child in all of us. Many of the superheroes on screen can trace their roots to this simian ancestor. Naturally, different interpreters would want to reshape the primate with their unique imagination. All non-Chinese adaptations are essentially efforts of that nature.

In China, some of us are heavy on authenticity. When Disney made Mulan, we were not that pleased because the title character looked more like a Chinese-American than a Chinese. When DreamWorks invented Kung Fu Panda, some were grieved that Hollywood would take two of China's cultural icons and turn them into a hit. Privately, we grudgingly admitted they did not fall short on authenticity, but lamented that Chinese artists were not behind the screen.

This mindset is not favorable for Chinese culture to be embraced overseas. The more of a purist's stand you take, the less likely your culture will be welcomed outside a narrow realm. When a culture reaches a foreign land, it has to resonate with locals, and that means it has to be assimilated with the local culture.

If an imported version can be seen as a faithful one, a local production is often the natural second step towards full acceptance. Following that will be adaptations that alter the facade but maintain the spirit of the story. Eventually there will be remakes that are "inspired" by the original source but veer from it in every possible way. This is the natural course of a culture traveling and blossoming around the globe.

While a cultural product has copyright, a culture is a free-for-all and becomes someone else's cultural element when fully absorbed. We should protect our cultural products, but we should keep an open mind when sharing our culture with the rest of the world. When a culture is shared, everyone is enriched.

The writer is editor-at-large of China Daily. Contact him at raymondzhou@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/25/2014 page30)