Readings for Achievement Test 2 Part E "Media Imperialism"

Best sellers at the box office

Out of the best-selling movies of all time, the top 136 are American (or a joint project between US and foreign film makers). The top-selling film in history is Titanic, making $1,835,000,000 (Matt has never seen this film!). Number 137 on the list is the British film Slumdog Millionaire which made $362,000,000.

In Japan, the best-selling movie is Ponyo making $171,000,000 so far. The #3 top-selling film in Japan is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (American) making $61,500,000.

Film is a way of telling a story – the story of our culture, history and people. To protect their own “storytellers” many countries have reacted against Hollywood imperialism. The UK, Mexico, France, South Korea, Brazil, Pakistan and Italy established “screen quotas” that require cinemas to show a certain percent of domestic films.

Maybe it’s not as bad as it seems…

Actually, many of the movies on the top-selling list were American films made with other countries – the British and Americans have been making movies together since 1937.

Many foreign actors from Australia (Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman), Austria (Arnold Schwarzenegger), China (Chow Yun-Fat, Joan Chen), Mexico (Gael Garcia Bernal, Salma Hayek), Japan (Ken Watanabe), and Spain (Penelope Cruz) are as popular in Hollywood as in their home countries.

Many American films are actually made overseas like in Canada or New Zealand because it’s cheaper. Also, the staff that work on the production come from all over the world. For example: animators from Japan, make-up artists from Britain, sound engineers from Germany, script writers from Holland, etc…

Films from Spain, Mexico, China, South Korea and Japan (i.e. Spirited Away/千と千尋の神隠しand Departures/おくりびと) are becoming more and more popular abroad. Germany, Denmark, Nigeria and India are all enjoying domestic movie booms where local films are actually more popular than Hollywood films. In fact, when South Korea recently lowered its domestic film “screen quota” from 40% to 20%, nothing happened – domestic films remained just as popular as before.

Hollywood doesn’t just influence the world, the world influences Hollywood. Moulin Rouge is taken directly from Indian Bollywood-style musicals. Many American directors are copying the style of Mexican director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu and several famous Hollywood actors have starred in his films. Japanese animation has inspired a new style of adult animated films in America. Japanese horror movies likeザ・リング and呪怨 were remade into the popular movies The Ring and The Grudge. Even within the US, there is the “Indy” film movement that uses less money and mostly unknown actors. Many of these independent films win awards and are as popular abroad as in America.

I'm sick...

Sorry I cancelled class today, but I am so sick!!! We will finish the presentations next week and, since we won't have time for a review day, I will give you take-home tests.
See you on December 23rd ~

Presentations

On December 9th and 16th we will have our presentations. Each presentation will be 10 minutes long (3-4 minutes of you talking and 6-7 minutes of discussion). This presentation is worth 30 points (10 points for the presentation, 10 for your participation in discussion and 10 points for the listening sheet you will fill in during others' presentations).

Remember: make your visuals BIG or have handouts for the audience. Also, make a list of questions for the audience to get them started in the discussion.

If you have any questions please email me.

Good luck!

Presentation Topics

Next week (12/2) we will prepare our presentations in class. Please choose a topic and do some research this week. Here is a list of topic suggestions - these can help you think of a more detailed topic.

Vocabulary Word

• see the list on the right
• Current Event
• please be able to explain why the event is in the media

Media Bias

• in Japan media
• overseas media

Social Networks

• Facebook, Mixi, etc...
• problems / advantages
• future trends
• survey the class

Censorship

• book banning
• other kinds of censorship

Media Image vs. Reality

• examples
• problems / how people are trying to solve these problems
• history of

Next class: 11/25

Next class we will do "Current Events" so please bring 2 stories from any kind of media to share with the class.

Also, we will brainstorm for topics for our Presentations on 12/9 and 12/16.

See you soon!

Media Image vs. Reality

The media offers us many images every day. How realistic are they? For example, look at the headlines from many different newspapers. Are most of the stories about war, terror, murder and crime? If you read these papers every day what kind of image do you get about the world?

Look at advertisements. How do the people look? What are they doing? What kind of personalities do you imagine they have? Seeing these kinds of people every day, what kind of image about youself do you get?

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Please answer one of these questions:

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1. What are the top stories in the news today?

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2. What are women characters usually like on Japanese TV dramas?

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3. What are men usually like in Japanese advertising?

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Media Imperialism

What is Media Imperialism?
Media imperialism is a theory that smaller countries are losing their identity due to the force-feeding of media from larger nations. Many think that media imperialism has led to biased information and inaccuracy within news stories.

The United States is often accused of committing media imperialism through its Hollywood films. People think that Hollywood forces American culture onto other nations and makes it difficult for native filmmakers to be successful. (adapted from here)

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Think about these questions and leave a comment (sign in as "anonymous" but write your name in the comment)

1. Do you think Hollywood movies have too much influence in your country?

2. Do you see more American or more Japanese films?

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Book Banning

CENSORSHIP: when a person or group (usually government) control what others say or write. Often they try to control the press and literature, but recently social networks too.

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Please check the statistics about banned books on the American Library Association's website HERE. Next class be prepared to discuss one interesting thing you found in the statistics.

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Also, please think about: What books are banned in your country? Why do you think they are banned?

Social Networks #2

Click HERE and watch this funny video about social networks!

Social Networks

Click HERE to watch a short video about social networks. The think about the following questions:

What do you know about these social networks?: MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Second Life, Tagged...

What social networks are popular in Japan?

Do you use a social network?

What are some of the advantages/disadvantages of having a social network?

Current Events

Please choose a current event from one of these websites below and one current event from anywhere else of your choice (TV, newspaper, magazine, etc).

C-Span

Link TV

Radio Netherlands

Wired

Media Bias

What is "bias"?It is a prejudice that is sometimes admitted, sometimes hidden, or sometimes unconscious that distorts the way things are seen/reported. Although "objectivity" is an ideal for journalists, most news reports and reporters' photographs enforce one point of view. Newspapers try to separate reporting from opinions by having a special "opinion" section.
In the USA, The Christian Science Monitor and C-SPAN are considered the least biased news sources. FOX News (conservative) and MSNBC (liberal) are thought to be the most biased news sources. The graph above shows that most Americans think CNN has a liberal bias.


Think about the Japanese media and ask your friends and family these questions:
What kind of bias do you see in Japan's newspapers, TV programs, magazines and radio?
Which Japanese media sources are the most reliable? Which are the least reliable?

First Lesson

If you missed the first day, please read this article and the comments and answer the questions below. Please write the answers as a comment on this blog.

How long were they in captivity?
When did Clinton secure their release?
What is their account of what happened?
Why are human rights activists and some bloggers upset at them?
What is your opinion about this episode?