When local movies are advertised, sure they are made grand and nice but just not powerful enough to ride over the US movies. The local movie 'I not Stupid' was a hit in Singapore but why was it not advertised in the US???
One of the many other things about dominance of the US media products is that they are given more priority then the other media products. Recently, a new cable box has been introduced into the market which only consists of the US shows and it is compared against one which shows more local. The cable box which consists of the US shows is being more aired than the local one and the advertisement seems to persuade the locals to get the US show cable.
The other thing about US dominance is that the local Television market also tends to promote them more frequently than maybe the Malaysia media market or even the British media market for that matter.
Even though the local drama 'little noyna' was promoted and even shown in cannes, the media just stopped there and it was not taken further. Sure, the locals are trying to air their shows on a larger scale, but are they trying hard enough?
I think it boils down to recognizably and how well an audience can relate to the movie. One must question "why" local television would want to promote US media more frequently.
ReplyDeleteThe immediate reason would be that our Singaporean society are becoming more westernized with each generation. Hence, we can relate better to many of the concepts and norms presented in those USA made shows.
Secondly, one must do a fair comparison. Transformers may not be a great movie in terms of story or characterization, but it attracts an audience due to the worldwide recognizably of the "transformers" name and its state of the art computer graphics and special effects.
You must admit that the movie instilled a sense of awe and spectacle. "Wowing" an audience is still one of the most effective strategies at marketing a movie since it by passes all cultural or language barriers, and it is something Hollywood makes full use of.
If I were to compare "I Not Stupid" to "Transformers", "I Not Stupid" is just too steeped in local culture for the international audience to relate to. It does not shock or awe the viewer and in fact may come across as a very low budget production.
A movie or TV show has to not only be great, it has to look great. Impression counts in everything. As for TV shows, if one were to compare the depth and quality of writing of "Little Nonya" to many American TV shows, Little Nonya would fall short in many aspects.
There are lousy American productions, but the good productions are usually so good that they overshadow what was lousy and make our local productions seem on par with the lousy American productions.
It is a sad thing to see that all a movie needs is pomp, spectacle and recognizably of name, actors or production staff to rope in an audience. But if that is what sells, then local productions have to do a lot more to compete with the various persuasion appeals used by the American productions.
i really think that westerners movie and media influence us badly because almost whatever we are having nowadays already being influenced by it, no matter what. It is indeed push us to look and keep see things not only from our background and culture but also westerns image of things. Although indeed sometime it is not "smooth" and "similar" and even acceptable to our views.
ReplyDeleteI agree that cable companies in Singapore are promoting western media products as opposed to the local ones. The companies might be simply providing their target audience with the programmes that are generally favoured by them. Singaporeans generally do prefer western programs to local ones.
ReplyDeleteTake for example the local drama series " Red Thread" that is airing in Channel 5. I am a fan of this drama, and so i will ask my friends if they caught last night's episode or any of the episodes and i realised that the majority of them don't watch local shows at all and they prefer to watch shows like Gossip Girl instead. Therefore, i feel that without the appeal of local dramas', local companies can only go so far..
I do agree that with lesser resources, budgets and experience, local film industry is probably still in its germination stage as compared to the foreign films. Some of the films may not be that well done compared to overseas films, but the better local films should also receive our support. Burturing our local media industry works both ways. If we do not support local films, they will not improve. Besides that, if we take films like red thread, change the setting, and throw in some american stars instead of the local artistes, viewers will also lap up these media products without complains. because we are all humans, and humans are biased, in this case this biasness falls under the catergory of "persistence in first impressions" that local films are already not up to standards.
ReplyDeleteA huge tragedy for local media productions is the closing down of Channel i. To me, the production value of channel i's products were far superior to channel 5. Noteable productions were Durian King and My Girl. Both were excellect sitcoms which went down the drain together with Channel I. I once met with Adrian Pang and asked if the vcd'dvd version of Durian King will be made available, he informed that there are mix up with the property rights and therefore it is not possible. That is quite a shame if you ask me.
ReplyDeletehollywood movies dominate the market b/c of their powerful media,credibility & language advantages!!
ReplyDeleteEven if there wasn't a cable box bundling popular US primetime series, locals here turn to d***loading their favorite shows, getting them as quickly as an hour and a half after it airs in the US. Perhaps if we showed the same amount of support for localprogrammes, film and television producers would step up their game. But maybe it takes a step up in quality in local programming before the community here would be willing to support them..
ReplyDeleteTo cut the story short, Hollywood is able to recognize the demand of its fellow viewers and act upon it by providing a variety of reality + drama serials on a larger scale. As a result, US based productions are able to capture an innumerable majority of frequent tv-viewers who patronise these channels and make it big for them at the end of the day. Singapore's production on the other end has too many loopholes which they have yet to fill, thus resulting in the above situation.
ReplyDeleteI think that the US movie industry is more recognised as it has a higher movie budget compared to small asian productions. Higher movie budget = more sound and visual effects, making the audience more attracted to them.
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