Hollywood : Asianised and globalised

Scholarly blog post for Uni

Week 9

Asianisation of Hollywood

Klein (2004, p. 361) made the statement that Hollywood was becoming increasingly influenced by culture of the East ten years ago, and the comment is still sustainable in todays Hollywood culture.

Hollywood is big business, and where it still the age of the Sound of Music and the Wizard of Oz, Klein's argument would have no merit. But film executives in Hollywood realise the potential in the Asian market for their movies, and in the past decade there has been a recent influx of movies that have been influenced by Asian texts and movies.

The Oscar-award winning film 'The Departed' is a prime example of Hollywood 'borrowing' an idea from the Asian film market, with the Departed openly copying from the Philippine film 'Internal Affairs'. But that is not the only case of Hollywood copying ideas from an Asian counterpart, with the sequel to the hit comedy film "The Hangover' looking seemingly like a less family friendly version of the movie 'Lost in Thailand'..

There has also been a growing trend in Hollywood of casting asian actors in lead female and male roles recently, where as before the only asian actors that stood out in Hollywood were action heroes such as; Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee and Jet Li.

The growing popularity of the comic book movie, i.e. Iron Man and the rest of The Avengers movies and TV programs is a homage to the Japanese comic book movie industry which has been extemely popular in the Asian market for decades, with the Japanese film industry making films about Armor, Bushido and Kabuki, plus many, many more.

Klein (2004) claimed that Hollywood's Asian influence had "superseded the stereotype of martial arts films", and with Hollywood ever to happy to 'copy' a film idea from their Asian counterparts, Klein's ten-year old statement is continuing to be proven correct.

Klein, Christina 2004, ‘Martial arts and globalisation of US and Asian film industries’, Comparative America Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-384.

The Specular Economy: Looking at your social media persona through a mirror

Scholarly blog post for Uni

Week 8

Specular Economy

Have you ever you had a dig at someone on your Facebook page, or abused someone in an online forum, or jokingly attacked a celebrity through your Twitter account? If the answer is yes, have you ever taken a step back to realise what your online persona may look like to other users? This is the premise behind Marshall's theory of a Specular Economy (2010), which refers to our ability to see ourselves in the ‘mirror’ and the knowledge that others are looking at us.

The popularity of online bullying, or, social media 'trolls' has brought to the surface an ugly side of the faceless nature of social media. The ease in which one can send a tweet directly to a celebrity is the epitome of a social media double-edged sword. Whereas one can send a message of joy to a favourite celebrity, one can also send a message of hatred and ridicule with the same amount of ease.

In the age of quick-trigger reactions it's inevitable that there will be unpleasant comments or unwarranted attacks that make us question what we are doing. Like in all walks of life, there are people who seem to thrive on trying to make life more difficult for the rest of us, and the internet is no exception.

Celebrity blogger Mario Lavandeira aka Perez Hilton is a fantastic example of Halls theory of a Specular Economy, and our ability to see ourselves in the mirror. Perez Hilton started a celebrity blog in 2004, and quickly rose to prominence, today he is worth an estimated US$ 30 Million. In 2010, Hilton supported an anti-bullying campaign, to which the celebrities he posted about, called hypercritical due to the nastiness of comments made about them by Hilton on his blog. Hilton then made an appearance on talk show Ellen, claiming to have had a revelation and would change the attitude of his celebrity blog.

As David Marshall explains, greater portions of the populace are now constructing online public personas (2010, p. 498) like that of Hiltons, and unfortunately due to the faceless nature of social media, "trolling" seems to have no end in sight.

Marshall, P.D 2010, The Specular Economy, Society. Vol. 47

The unrealism of realistic video games

Scholarly blog pist for Uni

Week 7 - Gaming

Ever since the creation of Pong, video games have been a widely popular antidote to the incessant drawl of boredom. Like most other modern technologies, the gaming industry has been subject to rapid innovation and is continually increasing in quality, from the Super Mario Brothers of the late 80s and 90s, to the modern day Grand Theft Auto franchise. But, with this increase in quality and popularity, the gaming industry has had its controversies and issues.

There has been arguments suggesting that the rise in popularity of violent video games is the reason behind a suggested rise in physical violence and fire arms related assaults and murders. However vague this argument may seem, it ultimately does have some validity behind it, with Aaron Alexis, the man behind the recent shooting at an American Naval Base, admitting he had an obsession with violent video games. However, it should be noted that Alexis also had a history of mental illness.

Personally, I feel that violent video games such as; Grand Theft Auto or the Call of Duty series do not have a pertinent effect on firearm related murders as these games a widely popular, selling millions of copies worldwide. In Australia, where gun control is highly regulated, and there hasn't been a mass murder through use of a firearm since Port Arthur, these games are just as popular as they are in America, where gun control is all but a pipe dream.

In the definition of media theorist Roger Caillois (1961), games are both separate in time and space from the rest of the world and unproductive. Unfortunately, or fortunately, video games are becoming more realistic and are designed to keep the gamer playing for the longest period of time, making them addictive. This in turn means that some of the audience that plays these games immerse themselves into an altered state of reality, which sometimes leads to this altered reality being played out in actual reality, a la the recent mass shooting by Aaron Alexis at an American Naval Base.

Caillois, Roger: Man, play, and games. The Free Press, Glencoe, New York, 1961 (1958)

The Blog Picture: Influence of citizen journalism

The global media market is dominated by roughly nine or ten TNC’s: General Electric, Disney, Sony, News Corp., Viacom, Seagram etc. However, with the advent of social media and blogging, the role of the citizen journalist is becoming more valuable than ever. They have the opportunity to present a unique perspective — to breathe fresh air into a society herded by mainstream media. 

The personal blog is becoming influential.

The citizen journalist provides invaluable information that can democratize media, as well as nations. For instance, the arrest of 29-year-old Egyptian blogger Alaa Abd El Fattah of Manalaa.net prompted Cairo activists to demand his release. 

Working with 14 other clandestine reporters in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, citizen journalist Ryan Boyette and his colleagues have been documenting Sudanese government atrocities by gathering testimonies, photos and video from survivors and eyewitnesses. The team often includes GPS coordinates that locate the attacks, which they transmit to organizations like the Enough Project and Satellite Sentinel Project via solar-powered laptops and satellite phones.

When asked about his work, Boyette communicated his frustration with the lack of global attention the Sudanese crisis had been receiving. The Enough Project explains, “Boyette said he was translating the testimony of an elderly man who had fled the fighting when he realized he needed to bring the stories directly to influential people in the United States.”

These citizen journalists fight to create a well-informed public in which media also serves as moral education. This philosophy radically departs from mainstream journalism, an overarching goal of which is to sell its product. Citizen journalism, on the other hand, allows marginalized people to reclaim their voices, to tell their otherwise silenced stories firsthand.

Allan and Thorsten (2009) describe citizen journalism as being based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information. Information that may or may be passed over by mainstream media, in turn providing scope for more balanced view on local, national and international issues.

Another great example of citizen journalism and the power of the personal blog can be seen with the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements were we’ve realized the ability of digital media to democratize. Blogs, Twitter and mobile technology have allowed citizen journalists to more effectively broadcast the consequences of a repressive Iranian regime – even when major news outlets were blocked. And user-generated images of Abu Ghraib prison allowed a wider public to view immediate content in the palm of its hand. 

traditional newsrooms become more constrained by time and resources, the advent of user-generated content on the web can only strengthen journalism. For example, media offshoots like BBC’s User-Generated Content Hub, Reuter’s partnership with blogging network Global Voices, and sites like PJ Media can significantly lower operating costs. On Reuters’ Africa website, bloggers contribute first-hand perspectives, giving Africans a chance to speak for themselves through a blog linked directly with a mainstream media network. 

However, there’s always the question whether networked journalism will eventually eliminate the role of the practiced journalist. In that case, consider a certification process that would maintain ethical standards of practice and promote self-regulation, net neutrality and accuracy.

The main takeaway is that citizen journalist’s act as another check and balance to the mainstream press. 

The ultimate question is: How will global media handle this change? 

In my opinion, personal blogs and citizen journalism may contribute to the reformation of the global public sphere by connecting with the world beyond the newsroom, and transforming the power relationship between media and the public.

Ref:

Allan S., Thorsen E. 1999, Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives, Peter Lang Publishing, London

Web/Blog links:

http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/2012/09/08/note-from-american-ryan-boyette-in-sudan-south-sudan-nuba-mountain-region/