tenebrism
Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ, 1602
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
#9: American films and music on foreign countries
Today in class we touched on an idea about foreign films and music. Someone asked if American films and music were used in other countries. I decided to take a small pole. I messaged 5 of my foreign friends. Aimee from Australia, Sofia from Sweden, Burkie from Istanbul, Alex from Germany and Gabriel from France. I asked them all 3 questions. The first was if they knew who Nicki minaj was and their responses were pretty funny. Aimee's response was "of course I know who she is, I don't live under a rock" which isn't surprising because they do speak the same language as us and we are like Australia in many ways. Sofia said she knows of Nicki Minaj because of billboards she saw in Times Square this summer. Burkie didn't know who Nicki Minaj was but said he wishes he did because she "has the body of a goddess" but both Alex and Gabe knew and loved her music. The next question I asked was if they knew any American artists. And all of them but Burkie could name atleast one. Alex loves drake and the weeknd and Gabe loves Kid Ink. Wiz Khalifa and Nicki Minaj. The last question I asked was if they've seen any American movies. Apparently Australia shows ALL the same movers we do, Sweden doesn't show any, Istanbul doesn't show any, Germany has a few theaters with some and France shows a bunch. Gabe lives in Neuilly Sur Seine and said that because of tourist attraction the theaters in Paris always play American films. He said his favorite film was gone girl. He also said American TV shows are popular. He said Royal Pains which is ironically filmed in the hamptons is very popular. So my question is, why don't we show foreign films here?
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ReplyDeleteI think the results of your poll are really interesting. Even though in today's day and age where technology is at our fingertips, I just always ignorantly thought that people around the world were concerned with the same things that I, as an American, are concerned about. I have friends from all around the world due to the internet, but I never thought to ask questions such as these, but I plan on doing it the next time I have a chat with them. The only foreign films I see every year are the favorites for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars and my knowledge of music in other countries doesn't go past mainstream European rock and K-Pop. That's only because our country as a whole enjoys these things and we have popularized them, as if we are marveling at it or making it our own. In some countries, like in India, their film industry is an incredible economic stimulant because their people live for Bollywood. How have I ignored such a phenomenon, as seen in Slumdog Millionaire, that is adored by over a billion people around the world. I do not think it is a priority, but I do think it is incredibly important to be well-versed in what other countries are interested in because seeing things from a different perspective from people who have different worldly views than I do is a great way to broaden our horizons and make us more cultured as a species.
ReplyDeleteI think its really cool that with technology today we have the opportunity to be able to have friends all around the globe and can connect with them in a number of ways. I think having things like social media has really made it possible for people to connect and put themselves out there. I think it's funny how some countries are at the same pace as us well others are a little bit behind and aren't as caught up on pop culture
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