John Woo’s My Fair Gentleman and the Evolution of Pygmalion in Contemporary China

Abstract

The second section, Chaps. 6– 10 , shows that Shaw’s works, surviving their author, acquire their own contemporaries. The Chinese perspective can be multi-focal manifestations of cultural specificity, producing the co-existence of a unique focus on China and how this culturally specific focus is positioned within a panoramic perspective. Shaw’s works are continually adapted to new Chinese scenarios to ensure that they are relevant to the here and now of their readers, while Chinese literature and films also rise above cultural specifics to be comprehensible to a global audience. Shaw’s works are thus examined against the background of the rapid rise of China after the 1980s in the global economy, and this chapter focuses on My Fair Gentleman, the newest Chinese film adaption of Pygmalion.