Hollywoodisation
applies when a certain text, whether it is a film or television series,
conforms to the standards of the American motion picture industry (Merriam-Webster.com). To be honest, there are a variety of ways to
describe it. It’s when movies are glamorous, thrilling, are often unrealistic
and have large explosions. Or to put it another way- go big or go home!
As
Klein so perfectly states, in regards to film industries in Asia and the US:
‘these industries are becoming more
closely integrated with one another both materially and aesthetically, and that
this in turn is leading to the denationalization of individual films and films
industries on both sides of the Pacific.’
Due
to globalization, there has been a blurring of lines between what once separated
the American film industries and Asian film industries (Klein 2004, p.361). Not
only does this include production capital and distribution networks; it also
includes the modes of storytelling (Klein 2004, p.362).
Now,
more than ever, the want for local language and culture is at its highest and
this is why local audiences are turning their attention to local films (Carver
cited in Klein 2004, p. 369). Similarly, Asian audiences begin to reject ‘the
homogenizing tendencies of global culture and seek out movies that express
their own cultural particularities' (Klein, 2004, p.371).
So
when researching this topic, I came across the Indian movie Chachi 420,
directed by Kamal Hassan in 1997. Ok, so you have your popcorn and your getting
into the movie and then you start to think about the storyline/plot. The
protagonist disguises himself as a woman after a bitter divorce and becomes a
female nanny/housekeeper to see his children… hold on a minute…isn’t this Mrs
Doubtfire? They answer is yes, yes it is! But only an Indian version of the
movie made 4 years later. The only changes were that Chachi 420 had a different
dialect and related to their culture.
Image one source:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5a/Mrs_Doubtfire.jpg/220px-Mrs_Doubtfire.jpg
Image two source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/Chachi_420.jpg
Furthermore,
I found this website which is a quiz on which Hollywood films inspired a
variety of Bollywood films to be made. It should also be noted, that whilst
these Bollywood films are extremely similar to Hollywood Blockbusters, they
were incredibly popular when released in their country.
Image source:http://www.rottentomatoes.com/quiz/hollywood-meets-bollywood/
I think it goes to show the Indian/Asian film industry are not
resisting globalisation but are learning how to transform Hollywood films into films
suitable to local audiences for their own advantage (Klein 2004, p.371).
References:
Klein, Christina 2004, ‘Martial arts and globalisation of US and Asian
film industries’, Comparative America Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-384, retrieved 24 September 2013, https://d2l.deakin.edu.au/d2l/le/content/143750/viewContent/1990017/View
Rotten Tomatoes 2013, 'Hollywood meets Bollywood', retrieved 23 September 2013, http://www.rottentomatoes.com/quiz/hollywood-meets-bollywood/
What an excellent blog post! This is attention-grabbing from the title itself till the very end. Initially with your definition of Hollywoodisation, although it seems like a self-explanatory term, this beginning helps set guidelines for the rest of the post. Each paragraph contains some sort of reference and relates straight back to your specific views which are focused on in the piece. The comparison of the two films is excellent and clearly you have done your research and put a lot of thought into how it effects and contributes to the Asian/Western film industry. There are no faults for me in this post and I would definitely consider reading some of your other ones due to the effort and thought you have put into this one. Good work!
ReplyDeleteYou display a very sound knowledge of the relationship between Hollywood and Bollywood. Your conceptual explanation is efficient and accurate. Your use of the Chachi 420 example is very strong as it demonstrates an obvious case of what the Klein reading outlines.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, this case proves how a Hollywood script can remain relevant in another part of the world, albeit for the cultural changes that Chachi 420 introduces. The link you include to the Rotten Tomatoes website adds an extra element of interactivity to your post. Overall it is a really clever and succinct post. This would be a good one to choose for your extended piece as you could then compare similar films or even find and discuss a reverse example of globalisation in films.