My case
study focused on the localization of the TV show Ugly Betty’s US and Chinese, Ugly
Wudi, adaptations. It focused on globalization,
localization, and cultural proximity.
People prefer shows with their own language and culture, so Ugly Wudi “was modified in order to fit
the Chinese cultural context and the state’s ideological requirements” (Fung,
A., & Zhang, X. (n.d)).
Globalization
reduces differences between nations by showing the similarity of different
nations interests through selling TV show formats. These shows are localized so that viewers can
still identify with the characters. One
example is how the movie “Inside Out” had the girl hating broccoli in the US
version, but hating green peppers in the Japanese version (Translate Media, 2015).
To
answer the week’s question, “How does globalization shape media products and
industries?”, globalization created a new way of business and connection by
having companies buy and sell TV show formats to and from each other. This became a “recognized [business] in [the]
1990s” (Robertson, 2014). When
discussing products, it is very possible that we may not have gotten the same
show formats in our nation if we were unable to buy formats from others. American
Idol was a hugely popular show in the US, but the format came from Eurovision in the UK. We may have eventually come up with something
similar, but with this form of business we are able to gain and share ideas all
over the world.
In
class, we discussed some reasons localization is necessary. We decided it was needed so that people could
relate to the slang, celebrities mentioned, and other cultural references expressed. One example was the US and UK versions of Shameless. Our cultures are similar, but not enough for
the UK version to be popular in the US since their expression of a poor family
was vastly different from what ours would be.
Here are some useful links:
http://remezcla.com/lists/film/10-international-remakes-of-colombias-yo-soy-betty-la-fea-ugly-betty/
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