Thu 31 Aug 2006 6:00 AM
Will Smith Saves America, Again
Posted by kaxline under Cross-culture , Economics , Fatalism , Film , Media , Politics , War
One news story last week that got lost in the mire was Will Smith trying to break into India’s film market after being excluded from China. If only Smith could court China’s censorship board like his character Alex Hitchens woos the ladies in 2005’s Hitch - a lukewarm romantic footbath for a princess-and-the-pea middle class. One might be inclined to view this as evidence of China’s good taste, but considering only 20 foreign movies made the cut, this turns out to just be a happy coincidence.
Making its way into the global awareness, India’s film market seems primed to welcome Smith with open arms. Bhaliwood’s been the next big thing for so long, shouldn’t it be the big thing by now?
This is a rare boon for US foreign policy. The fresh prince is an ideal cultural colonist: Talented, hardworking; an embodiment of the American dream; a guru of media plurality; and an icon of America’s pretext of racial synthesis and acceptance. How can the rest of the world reject our lifestyle when they see it’s all about punching aliens and shagging coworkers?
This is actually the kind of imperialism I can endorse. It’s always great when there’s a non-violent transmission of ideas between countries. There may be a backlash against the perception that Smith’s brand of the stars and stripes is being shoved down the throat of an audience who’d like to see more movies about their own cultural identity. On the other hand, anyone who’s been to a McDonalds in another country knows that even the most rigid forms of Americanism reach a compromise of interpretation with the receiving culture. This is, perhaps, a bad example given the evil practices of the golden arches, but at least Smith probably won’t slaughter thousands of cows to make his films, and it seems unlikely that you’d become a 25-year-old diabetic from watching his movies since you were six.
Though Smith most likely plans to use the low production costs in India to increase the profit margin on unvetted projects, he’ll inevitably be a bridge between the two economies, both monetarily and creatively.
All in all this means that you’ll feel less and less special when you find that gem of an obscure Italian movie on Netflix and get to brag about it to all your friends. On the plus side, perhaps when we’re approaching the next country that’s entertaining the idea of nuclear warheads, we can point out that they’ve been entertained by our cinematic antics for years, so lighten up a little, eh?
September 1st, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Very fitting the way you round off that last post - a sacharrine sweet hollywood ending.
Hollywood is perhaps worse than McDonalds precisely because it’s sinister and immaterial and stuffs our psyche with crap. The myth-making machine that condemns us to life in a bad sitcom. Or condemns those who bend over because they’re third world and stupid (or first world and stupid) and they think a b-side existence is where it’s at. Or they’ve been eating bigmacs since day one — they just don’t know better, the poor fucks. All the Indians are dead.
Say no to this brand of intercultural confluence, if only because it WOULD slow down nuclear obliteration, a much more savory option to getting Hall & Oates “Kiss on My List” inextricably stuck in my head, ONCE AGAIN.
…pesky UN
…goddam meddling IAEA
Yes, Chile is full of douchebags who gobble this shit up, but to be fair, they didn’t start it. It was U.S. And I quote, “damn I miss Hall & Oates”
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22your+kiss+your+kiss+is+what+I+miss%22&btnG=Search
*Muah!*
September 3rd, 2006 at 8:44 am
I first had a similarly vitriolic take on the story, but my anger felt routine and pompous. Does it really make me mad, or have I just been trained to find the ominous doom in seemingly trivial events?
Neither interpretation really hits home for me anymore. No country exists in a pristine vacuum of culture that we rape with our imperial tentacles of capitalist media. We’re all going to have to come in contact with each other eventually and in light of the very direct and horrifying contact now taking place elsewhere, maybe the perceived evils of Will Smith making movies in India aren’t such a bad thing.
I guess I just don’t see a way to reasonably expect a different series of events. I’ve lost my nerve to say I know a better way to live other than watching shitty movies and eating shitty food.
The machine of oppression is one without a driver to curse. We’re all running gears that eventually power its functions. Cause and effect no longer have a straight or understandable line, and I hesitate to ineffectually make a mountain out of a mole hill.
But yes, I agree with you (more or less). Perhaps it’s time to get angry again…
September 5th, 2006 at 5:59 pm
On the China front I think it’s pretty worth noting that the old school state reps aren’t just banning American films from entry but have continued their Communist era ban on hometown productions due to content… Pretty sure a movie I caught some years back, Mang jin (Blind Shaft) was a victim due to the bleak exposure of capitalism and corruption among Mao’s chosen… Then again we’re talking about a company which censors websites accessible by their people so, really, what’s so shocking…