• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Staff
    • Contact Us
  • Contribute

SPIRE MAGAZINE

Earnest Perspectives on Changing Landscapes

  • View spiremag’s profile on Facebook
  • View spiremag’s profile on Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • International
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Local
    • FSU Politics and Social Change
  • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Book Reviews
    • Music
      • Bops and Flops
  • Perspectives
  • Interviews
  • Series
    • Collegiate Lenses
    • The F Word : Feminist Perspectives
    • Words You Don’t Know
    • Bops and Flops
You are here: Home / Collegiate Lenses / Collegiate Lenses: A Havoc in Heaven Drinking Game
Collegiate Lenses: A Havoc in Heaven Drinking Game

Collegiate Lenses: A Havoc in Heaven Drinking Game

August 24, 2018 by Emily Pacenti and Alanna Felton Leave a Comment

The tumultuous period of Chinese history following the overthrow of the final Qing emperor opened the floodgates that at one point attempted to shield the country from outside, foreign, and hostile forces including the West, Russia, and Japan. Once this period of forced introspection ended, the quick death of the inheritor of China, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, inadvertently brought instability that saw a brief year-long restoration of the monarchy and a final decisive split of the country into various cliques that yearned for economic development to fuel their war machines to take China for themselves. Once the shooting stopped and Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of the Peoples’ Republic of China, he inherited a country that rapidly advanced and connected with the outside world out of pure necessity and survival, giving birth to industries never seen before, such as a burgeoning animation industry in the nation’s port cities. As soon as it would come, this industry would be snuffed out, not before the self-aware production of the Chinese folklore tale of the Monkey King’ rise to power, titled Havoc in Heaven.

The film itself is a children’s movie, focused on the high-flying and incredible exploits of the Chinese folk hero, the Monkey King. As a character, the Monkey King is found in the dual Taoist-Buddhist story titled Journey to the West, which follows the epic of a monk traveling to India during the Tang Dynasty (the 16th century) to retrieve scriptures to spread Buddhist thought across China. At the onset of the journey, the monk frees the Monkey King, the legendary mischievous character, to aid him on his quest. The first few chapters of the epic detail the plot of the film, the Monkey King’s rise to power and rebellion against the bureaucratic Taoist heaven. After a legendary birth, the Monkey King quickly and continuously forces himself up the celestial hierarchy, and without spoiling the plot, becomes wildly powerful through trickster tactics.

In all, Havoc in Heaven captures the essence of a wholly Chinese cultural figure and puts it to an imported craft. While the composition of the film itself evokes feelings of Western cartoon films (the film came out only two years before the theatrical release of The Jungle Book), the music, scene design, and characters are all from Chinese culture. The sweeping stances coupled with traditional drums and instruments meet crescendo at the end of character movements, directly borrowing from Chinese opera. These opera themes are so prevalent that many characters are designed as if they were actors, representations of the characters while being the characters themselves.

Havoc in Heaven released in China in the year 1965. Only two years later, in 1967, the Cultural Revolution would gather enough steam to begin forestalling almost all animation in China. At the least, the cultural upheaval stifled the expressions of animators in favor of towing the party line in order to remain part of the cultural zeitgeist and not be persecuted. While there have been other great Chinese animations both before and since the release of Havoc in Heaven, none would have such an ironic end, as the trickster Monkey King eventually reaches his goals, and ends up rocking Heaven to its very core, with unintended consequences everywhere.

Havoc in Heaven Drinking Game Rules

Take a drink…

  • When the Monkey King antagonizes someone
  • Whenever a weapon is broken
  • If the tempo of the music indicates a conflict
  • After the Monkey King defeats the first enemy, take a drink. After the second, take two drinks. Continue this gesture for every enemy he faces.

Take this list as a suggestion, and drink responsibly. As always, enjoy the show.

Check out the rest of Spire Magazine’s Collegiate Lenses series.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Print

Filed Under: Collegiate Lenses Tagged With: China, Film

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Featured Posts

A Survivor’s Heart and Mind

A Survivor’s Heart and Mind

Beware of The Red Zone: How Returning to Campus Makes Students More Vulnerable

Beware of The Red Zone: How Returning to Campus Makes Students More Vulnerable

Netflix’s Shadow and Bone: Binge-able Fantasy TV At Its Finest

Netflix’s Shadow and Bone: Binge-able Fantasy TV At Its Finest

Connect With Us

Connect With Us

Official Spotify (Click Image)

Categories

  • Book Reviews
  • Bops and Flops
  • Collegiate Lenses
  • Economics
  • Entertainment
  • Featured
  • FSU Politics and Social Change
  • International
  • Interviews
  • Local
  • Music
  • Music Reviews
  • Perspectives
  • Politics
  • Science
  • The F Word : Feminist Perspectives
  • TV Reviews
  • Uncategorized
  • Words You Don't Know

Follow Us On Twitter

My Tweets

Popular Tags

Africa Bops and Flops China Cold War Colonialism Colonization Diversity Egypt entertainment Fashion feminism Film Finance Florida Florida State University Football FSU Gender Gun Violence History Horror Human Rights Interview Latin America LGTBQ Literature local Middle East Music music review opinion perspectives politics Racism Science sga Space Sports Syria Syrian Civil War Tallahassee Television The F Word Video Games Women

Secondary Sidebar

Archives

  • April 2022
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017

Categories

  • Book Reviews
  • Bops and Flops
  • Collegiate Lenses
  • Economics
  • Entertainment
  • Featured
  • FSU Politics and Social Change
  • International
  • Interviews
  • Local
  • Music
  • Music Reviews
  • Perspectives
  • Politics
  • Science
  • The F Word : Feminist Perspectives
  • TV Reviews
  • Uncategorized
  • Words You Don't Know

Recent Posts

  • A Survivor’s Heart and Mind
  • Beware of The Red Zone: How Returning to Campus Makes Students More Vulnerable
  • Netflix’s Shadow and Bone: Binge-able Fantasy TV At Its Finest
  • May in Music : Bops and Flops
  • April in Music : Bops and Flops

Copyright © 2022 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in