Metaphors in A World Without Thieves (2004): An Epitome of Social Class in Contemporary China

In the current social milieu, audiences are familiar with the entertaining effects of commercial films. However, I argue that by incorporating metaphors, the commercial films can fulfill a pedagogical function and embed ideological correctness in its texts. Such function departs its original role and goes beyond entertaining effects. As films can mirror social realities, in some particular situations, it can serve as a moral guard by conveying pedagogical meanings and terrifying effects. It regulates and warns the mass to obey the social rules in a subtle way. This essay is in an attempt to tackle how the commercial film generates didactical effects, and how metaphors facilitate to fulfill such goal. I take A World Without Thieves as a case study to illustrate how the commercial film fulfills its pedagogical function through textual analysis. In my personal opinion, what makes this film stand up and worthy of scholarly discussion, is that the metaphors not only mirror the class stratification in contemporary Chinese society, but also turn an entertaining film into a pedagogical one. The metaphors also highlight an imbalanced landscape between social power and individual experience in contemporary China, which is usually invisible in current milieu. In brief, the metaphors in film serve as cultural interventions that illustrate the dialectics and invisible landscape of today’s China.