Preserving National Identity

[ku]

I was speaking to an Australian who said that all American TV shows should be banned from Australian TV because they were "destroying Australian national identity" and promoting the Americanization of Australia. I argued that the ratings statistics clearly show that viewers in Australia prefer American shows to Australian-made shows, so whatever the consumers want the consumers should get.

 

What exactly is "national identity" and why would anyone think it's important?

[Pangloss]

I think Canada does something similar -- maybe a quota system? In some ways it's understandable, as cultures feel overwhelmed and local talent has a hard time getting visibility. On the other hand, you want to see the best talent. It's got to be a tough balance.

 

I saw an interesting movie not long ago called "A Japanese Story", starring Toni Collette as an Australian woman leading a Japanese businessman around the outback. (I thought I was going to have to turn the projector upside-down in order to view it, but they must have built-in a "land down under" perspective translator.) (grin)

 

Anyway, the point I just wanted to make there is that a lot of times just the fact that local talent has to go to Hollywood, combined with the fact that Hollywood is constantly searching for new ideas, often translates to a spreading and perpetuating of that local culture to an even wider arena. That's a good thing, I think.

 

I know that doesn't really answer your question, but I thought I'd toss it out there anyhow.

[Douglas]

Maybe our identities are roughly the same. I like Russell Crowe and Crocidile Dundee as well as I like Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner.

[atinymonkey]

Well, you don't even seem to know Paul Hogans name.

[Phi for All]

Personally, I watched a lot of British programs like Faulty Towers, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Mr. Bean, Are You Being Served?, Absolutely Fabulous & Blackadder. And it hasn't affected my national identity one speck, jot or tittle.

 

American sitcoms should be banned for completely different reasons. The main one is that true humor doesn't always follow a formula, and while timing is critical, time is not. American sitcoms are all about hitting the punch just before the commercial break. I could go on for pages about comedy theory but I'll just use this example: When Saturday Night Live first aired back in the mid-70s, they wrote for comedy's sake. Ad-libbing and spur-of-the-moment decisions were allowed if the cast hit on something the audience was loving. Writers wrote for funny, not so the sketch fit between commercials.

 

I'm bothered by how much truly good humor has been ruined by American sitcoms because it ran too long. Bothered and irked. With a healthy dollop of peeved swished about in there.

[Pangloss]

Well I think American sitcoms should be banned in America, but I guess that's a whole 'nuther discussion. (grin)

 

Just to toss another wrinkle into the discussion, my wife and I have been fascinated lately by the films of Japanese animation wonder Hayao Miyazaki (god help my spelling). Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and so forth. They're amazingly different from the kind of movies we see coming from Hollywood. For example, the lack of traditional "good guys and bad guys" separation is just stunning -- people who initially seem to be pure evil turn out to be actually pretty decent people! And the idea of having that kind of complexity in a film intended for young adults and older children is just astonishingly different from Hollywood. (Come to think on it, I gues J. K. Rowling has shown us this as well, in her own way, hasn't she?)

[Kingpin1989]

Keeping national Identity is a very important balance, because on the one hand the economy of most countries balances with immigration, foreign trade, etc. in the mix.

However, a country needs to establish the national identity so that it can be looked at as a true and different country instead of a minor backwater nation run by foreign influence. A very delicate balance must be obtained between the economy and the nation standing out.

[ku]

One important principle protected by most civilized governments is that of freedom and choice. It is a fact that if the Australian TV market were left alone, American shows would dominate--I assume because American TV shows are simply better (better being defined by what consumers want).

 

Don't you think it's odd for someone to say that television viewers should be denied from getting what they want and be forced to view something they don't want simply for a vague concept called "national identity"? Is "national identity" just another empty virtue-word?

 

Who defines national identity? A small group of elitists or the people? If the people, then why not let consumer demand dictate the content of TV?

 

Anyway, here in Australia there is a protectionist law (and I don't know if it is followed or enforced by TV stations) that states that a certain propertion of TV shows after 6 p.m. must be Australian made. What I have found, however, is that instead of "preserving Australian identity," Australian media executives simply take American shows and then label it so that it appears superficially Australian. For example, Australian Idol and Australian Big Brother, both are technically made in Australia.

[atinymonkey]

For example, Australian Idol and Australian Big Brother[/i'], both are technically made in Australia.

Although I agree with you, those shows are British and Norwegian respectively. It may not seem important, but it is if you bear in mind our insidious plot to replace informative television with reality shows (thus negating any education that the audience may have once had).

 

Now, go vote for your housemate to be evicted. Quick, your vote counts!

[Skye]

One important principle protected by most civilized governments is that of freedom and choice. It is a fact that if the Australian TV market were left alone, American shows would dominate--I assume because American TV shows are simply better (better being defined by what consumers want).

It's not a fact, it is quite likely though. This is simply because it costs much more to make a show from scratch than to buy one from OS.

[Pangloss]

Wow, those are interesting points about the foreign versions of American shows, and whether they're reflecting local culture or not.

 

You know many of those shows are based on shows from other countries, right? Both of the two cited above (American Idol and Big Brother) have foreign origins. Big Brother was based on a program in the Netherlands, and American Idol was based on the British program "Pop Idol".

[Kingpin1989]

I think National Identity is a point of view. There are so many aspects of your average country that just about everyone has a different view of it. So if a powerful person were to think "hmm, my country is defined by our markets and unique products" they would, if to preserve Nat. Id., probably constrict market trade to keep them from importing or exporting too much.

[Phi for All]

National identity could be construed as the stories a nation and it's citizens are brought up on. If this is the case, television has changed our national identities quite a bit. People still read stories to their children, but where 50 years ago the stories were about mostly historical or literary figures and events, at present pop culture has superceded them.

 

I dislike that sitcoms have become our national "stories". Like Pangloss, I appreciate that people like Miyazaki and Rowling are helping to change that. As much as I liked the TV series Friends, I was angry with the episode where two of the characters bought identical apothecary tables from Pottery Barn and had to hide this fact from another character. The catalog got several plugs, the merchandise was shown over and over and Pottery Barn was held up as an icon of popular good taste. It may have been an American story and full of cultural flavor but I also heard Pottery Barn sold a LOT of apothecary tables that week.

[Pangloss]

Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more!

[DV8 2XL]

The truth in the Canadian market is that the catch phrase: "protecting national identity," was in fact a euphemism for:"protecting entertainment industry jobs." Having said that I must admit that the Canadian Content Laws have wound up giving me more choise than I would have if U.S. programing had displaced local productions.

[Pangloss]

Here's a question: Does it constitute a protectionist trade practice?

 

In other words, what is the difference between, for example, the US protecting its clothing industry, and Canada protecting its entertainment industry?

[Madanthony]

SCTV had a hilarious bit, the Bob and Doug Mackenzie show. It was certified as 100% Canadian content (it said so on their album) and was about two idiots who sit around drinking beer all day. Definately a great comment on these riduculous Canadian/French/Whatever content laws. Protectionism only serves to lower the standards of what's available in a given country. Make the local guys compete. They have the advantage of truly understanding the local market and can always rip off the best ideas from overseas. As mentioned in earlier posts, we here in the US certainly aren't afraid to incorporate ideas from other countrys.

[atinymonkey]

Wow. I have no idea what SCTV is, who Bob and Doug are, or what content laws entail. Something tells me I don't want to know.

[Douglas]

Protectionism only serves to lower the standards of what's available in a given country.

Until recently, the Canadians did not allow Fox news to be on cable TV......not sure of the reasons.

[Glider]

I think if 'national identity' is that weak that it depends on, or is affected signficantly by the crap shown on TV, then it's not really worth bothering about.

[Kingpin1989]

Maybe its just that some people are trying to pull out of a free trade agreement because of being too proud of their country's individual history. In any case, a country cannot restrict entertainment laws because they feel it threatens national Identity, the entertainment industry is too expansive to keep seperated. That's like putting the ban on file sharing or bootleg DVDs, just on a national level.