Global media: imports, exports, migrants, and identities

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Global media imports, exports, migrants, and
identities

• October 23, 2006

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Different ways media texts can be global (or
transnational)

• Program exported to other countries (dubbed or
  subtitled)
• Friends, ER, Baywatch, Desperate Housewives
• (usually US ? rest of world)
• Country-specific versions created locally after
  becoming big hit in original country
• Desperate Housewives, Survivor, Who Wants to Be a
  Millionaire?, The Weakest Link, Trading Spaces

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Media texts as global/transnational

• Worldwide coverage of same events
• Academy Awards, Olympics, World Cup
• Migrant media (a/k/a ethnic media)
• Ethnic-specific programming available throughout
  regions of diaspora
• Greek Cypriot radio in England, Turkish TV in
  England, Eastern European TV in US

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Lets get Desperate

• www.abc.com

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To export or to localize?

• The case of Desperate Housewives
• Currently exported to South America (with
  subtitles)
• A logical destination telenovelas dominate
  prime-time TV
• Has anyone seen a telenovela?
• But ALSO being re-shot with local starsusing the
  original US scripts
• Separate versions for Argentina, Brazil,
  Colombia/Ecuador

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Why bother to re-shoot?

• Some US cultural details dont make sense
• Plumbers in Latin America arent wealthy
• Funeral rites differ
• No Thanksgiving holiday
• No WASP ethnic group (Bree)
• No spitfire Latina stereotype! (Gabrielle)
• More physical affection displayed

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An interesting quote from an Argentine star

• As with a book or a film, the success of a
  series, no matter how localized you make it or
  how much you adapt it to another setting, is that
  its story be universal. And that is what they
  have achieved here with Desperate Housewives.
• What do you think?

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Another form of exporting

• Chinese technology experts creating Chinese
  subtitles for US sitcoms and dramas
• On their own 40 TV shows/week!
• Without permission of the US TV producers
• And without permission of government (censors!)
• But only for free downloading from Internetnot
  for us on Chinese TV

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Why this effort?

• Love for American popular culture
• Viewers (and translators) learn English by
  watching US movies and TV
• New York Times The adapters say they pick up
  useful knowledge about everything from changing
  fashion and mores to medical science

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Why not just watch Chinese TV?

• Chinese fan of US TV says
• Our own actors are not bad. Those responsible
  for making Chinese TV shows pathetic are the
  directors, screenwriters, editors, and the people
  doing the lighting, music, special effects, and
  makeup. There are bits of poor quality in every
  aspect, and it adds up to total trash.

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Why else?

• Strict Chinese government censorship
• Political issues, sexuality, violence
• China only imported 20 movies last year (16 from
  US)
• Very few US TV shows are imported by government
• Those that are imported (Desperate Housewives)
  are poorly dubbed and translated

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Friends as US history text?

• An interesting quote from a Chinese translator
• It provides cultural background relating to
  every aspect of our lives politics, history, and
  human culture. These are the things that make
  American TV special.

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Quote (ctd.)

• When I first started watching Friends, I found
  the show was full of information about American
  history and showed how America had rapidly
  developed. Its more interesting than textbooks
  or other ways of learning.

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Do we simplify?

• A Chinese fan says about US TV
• After watching these shows for some time, I felt
  the attitudes of some of the characters were
  beginning to influence me. Its hard to describe,
  but I think I learned a way of life from them.
• They are good at simplifying complex problems,
  which I think has something to do with American
  culture.

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Migrant media

• Myria Georgiou says ethnic media (e.g., Greek
  Cypriot TV and radio in London)
• Help people connect with their ethnic identity
  sustain identity and culture
• Become dynamic participants in construction of
  transnational community
• Link people experiencing diaspora
• community of people dispersed across borders who
  share common homeland

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Georgiou on migrant media (ctd.)

• Still, audiences are actively involved
• Construct meaning, dont just absorb it
• Approach (ethnic) media from multiple subject
  positions
• Still, watching the same news, hearing same
  music, as others in the diaspora (or in the
  homeland) helps develop sense of belonging/bonding

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Not everyone agrees

• Kevin Robins Asu Aksoy its only partially
  true!
• Rather than long-distance bonding to the
  homeland
• Ethnic media simply bring the homelands consumer
  culture to the new place (e.g., Turkeys products
  come to London)

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What else?

• Robins Aksoy argue that ethnic media available
  in new country might actually liberate migrants
  from old country ways of thinking
• Now away from homeland, they can step back and
  see how its values do or dont relate to them in
  their new lives

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Dont elevate what people want!

• Rather than (necessarily) grand ethnocultural or
  diasporic desires
• People simply want a social connectionwhich TV
  provides
• But watching TV while away from the homeland
  may actually point out how disconnected migrants
  are from everyday life there
• Thus, might actually subvert the diasporic
  imagination

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Going glocal Millionaire

• Created in UK in 1998
• Came to US in 1999
• As of December 2003, Who Wants to Be a
  Millionaire?
• Licensed or optioned in 107 countries
• Colombia, China, Russia, Singapore, Philippines,
  Kazakhstan, Greece, Poland

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Why the huge success?

• Uses-and-gratifications theory explanation
• Meets all of an individuals mass-media needs

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Mass-media needs (UG theory)

• Cognitive we acquire information
• Affective pleasure/fun of interactive play
• Personal-integrative strengthens confidence
• Social-integrative contact with family friends
  when watching together or when discussing later
• Tension-release while watching, relax (forget
  problems of the day)

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But what about cultural differences around the
world?

• Hofstede nations can diverge on 5 key dimensions
  of cultural variability
• Power distance
• Individualism
• Masculinity
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Long-term orientation

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But there are patterns by region

• Cooper-Chen studied game shows in 50 nations
• identified what she calls 4 Cultural Continents
• Groups of countries who share traits on the 5
  cultural dimensions
• Western (Europe, N. America, Turkey, Australia,
  Israel)
• East Asian
• Latin
• Equatorial

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Traits shared by Cultural Continents

• Game shows in Western continent
• Interactivity, civilian players, 1 male host
• Emphasis on expensive prizes, low production
  values
• East Asian game shows
• Celebrity players, male female co-hosts, no
  emphasis on expensive prizes, high production
  values
• Both continents players like to mentally play
  along

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But on the other continents

• Latin game shows players perform physical feats,
  viewers watch (rather than mentally
  participate), male and female co-hosts
• Equatorial game shows talented students or
  exceptionally intelligent contestants
• Audience cant play along

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Few shows have moved across continents

• But Millionaire is the rare exception
• Its been a hit on all four cultural continents
• By contrast, Wheel of Fortune has been
  multinational for decades
• But mostly in the Western continent (Europe and
  US)
• Slight variations Scandinavian Vanna
  counterpart is not mute Turkish Wheel has belly
  dancers

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Glocalization

• Making small changes to reflect cultural demands
• Somewhere between pure localization (major
  adaptations) and globalization (one size fits
  allwhich rarely works!)
• While sticking with core elements for contractual
  reasons
• Set, format, is that your final answer?

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How is Millionaire glocalized?

• Content of questions
• Difficulty of questions
• Name of show (Saudi Arabia Who Will Earn a
  Million? Russia Oh, LuckyYou Are a
  Millionaire)
• Players mix of celebrities and civilians

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Reactions

• Game shows are not usually well received
  critically
• Millionaire has done OKbut certain countries
  raise unexpected issues
• Singapore poor player performance cast light on
  education system
• Russia players wanted to see cash before they
  began!

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Reactions (ctd.)

• India popular because school system emphasizes
  memorization
• UK seen as undemocraticonly the wealthy
  contestants could afford to risk
• Canada seen as democratic and participatoryanyon
  e could get on the show and do well

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The Olympics the ultimate global media text?

• Modern Olympics
• 1896 Pierre de Coubertin
• International sport ? international peace

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Coubertins vision

• Keep away the opportunities that are advanced
  by profit-motivated people whose only dream is
  to use someone elses muscles either to build
  upon his own political fortune or to make his own
  business prosper
• How did that work out for you, Pierre?

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Morettis argument

• Mediaespecially TVhave completely transformed
  the Olympics
• In ways incompatible with the Olympic movement
• Clashes of ideologies
• Profit (media businesses)
• Culture (individual nations and their fans)
• Planning vs. spontaneity TV forces a script onto
  unscripted events

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Internationalism vs. nationalism

• Olympic ideals universality, internationalism
• TVs presentation nationalistic
• TV networks serve as cheerleaders for countrys
  own athletes

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Individual countries nationalism

• Sports preferred by countrys citizens get more
  air time
• US figure skating, skiing, track and field,
  gymnastics, swimming
• UK badminton Japan judo Iran weightlifting
• Canada synchronized swimming Mexico basketball

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Lets watch a bit
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How do Olympics display/exploit culture?

• Opening and closing ceremonies
• music, traditional costumes, dancing
• 1936 Berlin Olympics stage for Nazi propaganda
• Anyone seen Leni Riefenstahls movie Olympia?
• During Cold War, Olympics were East vs. West
  battlefield

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Driving force today not culture, but business

• Multi-billion dollar business
• CBS paid IOC 50,000 for 1960 TV rights
• NBC paid IOC 893,000,000 for 2008 rights
• TV networks, international corporations,
  politicians, private citizensand yes,
  athletes!compete for visibility, influence