Globalization is a constantly evolving concept. It has been around for centuries as the outcome of rising and falling empires, the integration of societies, and the spread of culture through trade. Today, we currently dwell in what many consider to be the “contemporary” stage of globalization and it has been considered the most accelerated due to the rate in which information, goods, and ideas are spread worldwide. The world we know now is a well-oiled machine running off of new technology and the competition that comes from it.
As the world’s businesses began to adopt new technologies and media outlets to increase their global status and overall revenue, the film industry joined in on the action. The film industry is an icon of globalization due to its ability to adapt, compete, and identify what it needs continue as a competitor. All of these skills are the result of its grasp on international resources thanks to technology, something I believe my peers agreed with. To articulate my point with real-world examples, my case study focused on the American Film Industry while narrowing upon a singular film company, the Walt Disney Company, to offer examples as to how globalization has had an impact on marketing techniques.
Luckily, one of my discussion questions sparked some debate in the classroom. It questioned whether or not the industry was an invading medium upon foreign cultures and societies. Several students agreed that the film industry is indeed dominating other countries by buying out international directors and writers while all along pushing its beliefs upon the viewers. Others debated this thought and stated that due to America’s diverse audience it is only natural for it to share its milieu of ideas around the world. This isn’t so much an invasion on culture as it is a spreading of multiple cultures through one medium.
One student brought up an issue regarding Bollywood’s presence in the international film industry. She inquired upon whether or not it would soon be able to compete with Hollywood and why it wasn’t of the same profit level now. I answered that what lies behind the issue is not only a lack of cultural understanding on behalf of Americans but also the inability for India to affectively market its mono-cultural films here in the States. The professor piped in with the fact that India has a strong sense of cultural proximity with regard to their products, something I wish I had mentioned in my own presentation.
The general topic of the week was over globalization and its impact on media. The other two presenters of the day brought up the issues of satellite and music media. All three of us agreed that globalization, the internet, and several other sources of media today have led to the exponential spread of our mediums of choice. It has also affected the way they work, target audiences, and are accessible.
The links I am posting are the journal articles I used to study the history of globalization and Disney, my focused film company of choice.
History of Globalization by Duncan S. Bell: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3569574
Cartoon Planet by Yoon and Malecki: http://icc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/19/1/239
Rachel B.
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I am unable to figure out how to post a functioning blog on this site, so for meeting the due date, I will post in comment format:
Last week I presented Globalization to the class by relating it to the music industry. I began by giving background into the music industry and how it worked internationally before the age of the internet/fast-paced globalization. Then I introduced what began the changes for the music industry through globalizing- things like torrent downloads and filesharing, as well as quick and easy access asynchronous media sites. After explaining the new changes, I continued with the effects of these changes and how the industry adapted to them. I explained that the industry first worked to regulate an inevitable change in media, and then utilized aspects of it in order to continue making profit.
I tried to portray my information in a way I feel is easiest to learn from: imagery. The graphs showed visual examples of globalization in music. One of the most interesting findings was the ranking the United States was in illegal downloading. The freedom and availability it had, as well as the influence it has on the music industry internationally affected the number of people feeling they needed to download music illegally (since 2004).
Dr. Campbell asked specific questions that successfully sparked an in-depth thought process towards understanding the information I presented. This made me feel that my plan to use graphs was beneficial and unique for this subject. Two other classmates engaged in a few topics of discussion afterwards as well, and respecting the short amount of time allotted to discuss the topic, the fact a few students and Dr. Campbell did discuss it was flattering and intellectually engaging.
Globalization was an interesting topic due to its controversial subject matter. The subjectivity of it causing either cultural loss, or cultural enhancement is a fragile subject to debate. I may empathize its fragility more-so due to the presentation I gave- causing me to understand both sides of the argument almost neutrally. It is still, and possibly will be a permanent topic discussed by media analysts.
Globalization effects the individual citizen of a culture, as well as the economies that take part in it. Sometimes good, sometimes not- but its positivity is starting to be an outcome decided by the actions performed by the media themselves.
- Mike Gipson
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