From my fancy high heels to useless clothing : 'interconnectedness' and eco-critical issues in transnational documentaries

While Bai’s poem was written at a time when environmentalism as defined today was not in existence, a present day reading of it as an ecocritical text suggests that concern for social and environmental values existed since ancient time. Parallels can be drawn with recent transnational documentaries and their critiques of the contemporary global garment industry in terms of global social inequality and environmental awareness. With reference to Jia Zhangke’s Wuyong/Useless (2007), and Ho Chao-ti’s Wo Ai Gaogenxie/My Fancy High Heels (MFHH) for (2010) for comparison, this chapter explores how transnationalism in these films, on one hand, facilitates the expression of ecocritical and environmentalist messages concerning nature and the environment, as well as the relationships between human and all other beings on the planet. On the other, transnationalism reveals the challenges and contradictions film-makers and artists face in productions attempting to reflect ecological and environmental concerns, challenges and contradictions that are brought about by the unstoppable forces of excessive global consumerism.