As Americans 100 percent of our popular tv-shows are made in the U.S. We don't even like to have accents in our shows (think Hugh Laurie in House). We like what we watch because it caters to us. Similarly, each Latin American country caters to certain characteristics and national desires in regards to telenovelas.
So for me the different telenovela powerhouses are really interesting. It is a sign of the global world that Mexican telenovelas have become so definitive in the genera. Almost every country gets a large percentage of their telenovelas from Mexico. Could you imagine getting one third of our t.v. shows from Australia? At the most, I think we might get 1% of our shows from Britain and the majority of those are weird and on PBS.
Apparently, Latin Americans are broadening their world view far more then Americans.
Even if the majority of shows being imported are Mexican, Ecuador had a fascinating pie chart. Ecuador has no preconceived notions of what a telenovela should be, because they don't make any shows of their own. Thus, they get the best telenovelas from all over South America. They are inundated with globalization. I wonder what the Ecuadorian world view is like, I'd guess pretty broad. They must understand quite a bit more about other cultures, I'd even bet that telenovelas have improved tolerance.
I wonder if telenovelas going international are a cause of a global world or a symptom. It's a bit like the chicken and the egg. Does understanding lead to globalization or globalization lead to understanding?
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This is a really good point. I think it would be great if understanding lead to globalization. Sadly though, I think money may play a big role in it. If this were the case, I think the best thing that could happen would be the idea of globalization leading to understanding. I think that every bit of exposure to another culture helps immensely and being exposed through the television has the potential of affecting a lot of different people. The globalization of television, specifically telenovelas, seems like a great thing with positive affects and may even help country relations.
ReplyDeleteThe more I thought about the question of which comes first, the more confusing I found it. Initially, I thought that understanding lead to globalization because once one understands the inner workings and meanings of a telenovela, it is easier for them to understand the culture and therefore spread it to other countries. However, I began to change my mind on the basis that globalization must already be widespread in order for people to understand the differences in cultures.
ReplyDeleteEither way, it is all about being open and diverse to the shows and programs that we choose to watch. As you said, 100% of American TV shows are made in the United States. Because of this, it is no wonder that Americans have the reputation that we do for being “stubborn and single-minded.” It is not shocking to learn from Ruxi that most of her friends watch American television. Although I love many of the American shows, I wish we could be more diverse and watch a variety of shows from other countries, like Ecuador, Venezuela, and Mexico.
Although telenovelas from other countries are more accessible from one Latin American country to another. I would argue that we are in the same position to want and seek out access to other variety of shows.
ReplyDeleteI remember living in the dorms and having a variety of different language television or we can always consider that there is Cine downtown with foreign films displaying for relatively cheap. It's there...we just go get it...just like Ruxi and her friends look for Grey's Anatomy.