Hollywoodisation vs Asianisation

Throughout today’s society, we are living in a technology driven modern era, where human culture is often being dominated by a significant amount of art and media movements, regardless of whether we notice it or not. An example of a movement that has contributed significantly to our technology driven era is the ever-growing television and film industry. Specifically, the Hollywood film industry in particular has always had a dominant presence in the production worldwide films.

It is often argued that Hollywood plays an extremely significant role in the development of global uniformity, by instilling the Western values and ways of life into other cultured films. Klein (2004), made comments regarding Hollywood’s fascination with Asian cinema, stating that this is ‘seen evidently throughout a number of great Hollywood films, with actors such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li appearing regularly in Hollywood martial arts films that are all influenced by Asian cinema and its creators.’ Klein also states that the Hollywoodisation of Jackie Chan is ‘undeniable’ as he has been ‘squeezed, patted, nipped and tucked in order to fit into a different culture history’ (2004, pg. 365)

In terms of the statement that Klein has made in regards to this, I feel that Jackie Chan would appear differently within his own cultural framework, as he has been under the influence of Hollywood cinema for the most part of his filmmaking career. 

                                                                 Image source: aintitcool.com

‘Asianisation’ is defined by Klein (2004) as the ‘transnationalisation of the Hollywood film industry’. In stating this, Klein is arguing that Hollywood films are clearly defined in their own stereotypical representation of the Asian genre and culture. The concept of Hollywoodisation, on the other hand, is one that greatly intrigues me. Every country in the world is full of filmmakers, and a film culture, yet one industry has managed to take control of the entire world’s film industry. The film industry today is dominated by Hollywood’s ideas, values, culture and humour.

Sources:

Klein, Christina 2004, ‘Martial arts and globalisation of US and Asian film industries’, Comparative America Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-384.

The Specular Economy: Celebrities online

Throughout today’s digital technology driven society, we are now living in what is known as a ‘specular economy’. This specular economy has risen due to the technology that outlines the constant need to interact via social media – especially when it comes to interacting with and keeping tabs on celebrities via social media.  According to Marshall (2010), celebrities use social media in order to show how the ‘famous’ really live, and to allow their fans to have an insight into their life. ‘ Celebrities are now sharing their lives publicly online throughout social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and it is out there for virtually anyone to see.

Adding to the use of social media in order to keep their fans up to date with their lives, celebrities are now also utilizing social media in order to present themselves in a certain way that they feel will benefit their public appearance, whilst at the same time creating an online public version of themselves. According to Marshall (2010), this ‘tactic’ is referred to as ‘presentational media’. This specular model of how others perceive us encourages society to consume the celebrity culture that is constantly being ‘fed’ to them, whilst at the same time articulates a certain way of thinking about the individual self in the public world – as I know I am constantly worrying about how others are perceiving my online self through Facebook, it only makes sense that celebrities too are extremely careful with how they present themselves online, given that they are often well known throughout society, it is important for them to uphold a certain image of themselves when posting online.

In my personal experience, I have also found that celebrity Twitter accounts and online gossip pages have always been something that I actively participate in. As much as I hate to admit it, ‘following’ celebrities on Twitter often provides me with a distraction from the everyday stresses of work and uni life. I tend to follow celebrities with a comedic aspect to them, or celebrities who are involved in television shows or bands that I am interested in. A celebrity Twitter account who constantly keeps me amused is Aaron Paul, who (seen below) is constantly updating his account with a variety of comedic posts. This again reflects the notion that we as a society consume ourselves with the online personas of celebrities.  

                                                                Image source: Twitter.com 

Sources:

Marshall, P D (2010); ‘The promotion and presentation of the self: celebrity as marker of presentational media’, Celebrity Studies, vol. 1, no. 1

Marshall, P D (2010), ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 489 – 502

Marshall, P D (2013) ‘Persona studies: Mapping the proliferation of the Public Self, Journalism, June 4. Online Edition

Participatory media culture: Connecting via Instagram

According to Raessens, (2005), participatory media is any form of media, which is a precise alternative for interactivity to characterize not only computer games but also the media culture that has formed around them. He cleverly notes the view that participatory media is not a new concept, and is also not a concept that centers around just computer games. He states that ‘radio, film and television, for example, each have their own versions of this concept.’ (Raessens, J, 2005). In stating this, Raessens is implying that participatory media culture varies with each form of media, and does not relate strictly to only computer games.  

In regards to this week’s topic, the non-game participatory media culture that I chose to demonstrate is my use of Instagram, particularly linked with Raessens’ element of connectivity. In regards to connectivity, Raessens (2005) observes that connectivity allows the ‘ability to exchange ideas and knowledge amongst each other via the Internet (pg 374). Reading this encouraged me to consider the topic of Instagram, and how I use Instagram on a daily basis in order to connect to those who are connected with me via this application.

                                                                  Image source: www.emtel.com

Instagram is a mobile application that encourages the use of photo and video sharing throughout users. It allows a user to take a picture and edit it using the variety of filters that the application has available, before instantly sharing it on the Instagram network. As well as sharing it on the Instagram network, this application encourages the images to be shared on other social networks also, including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Foursquare. This demonstrates the idea of connectivity as outlined by Raessens (2005), as the opportunity to connect and share with others is exactly what Instagram offers, and is what all users participate in when they are connecting via the Instagram application.

Instagram is something that I use regularly every day. It allows for me to connect with practically anybody in the world who has the Instagram application and uses it on a regular basis also. I interact with other users by liking and commenting on their content, following various other people and creating and using hashtags on my photo in order for other people to connect with my content.

                                                                 Image source: www.zdnet.com

Sources:

Raessens, J (2005) ‘Computer games as a participatory media culture’ Handbook of Computer Game Studies, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, pp. 373-388

Employment & the Blogosphere

With the increasing use of the Internet and its ever-increasing pervasiveness throughout our everyday lives, blogging in relation to the workplace is an issue that is certainly arising throughout society.  Work blogging is a matter that is increasingly becoming more commonly associated with employees of organizations that wish to express their views and opinions, and even vent frustrations and cynicisms that relate to their corporate culture throughout the workplace.

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr have made it easily accessible for employees to publish posts which relate to their employment, due to their ease and common use by a large majority of individuals.  These forums provide employees with an opportunity to vent any frustrations or anger that they may have towards their workplace or corporate culture, as well as providing employees with a ‘voice’ that they feel they may not have had whilst cooperating in the workplace environment, and at the same time  is allowing them the opportunity to vent their frustrations without having to worry about any consequences which may have resulted from lashing out at their employers in person.  In addition to this argument, Richards J, and Kosmala K (2013), have stated that ‘Blogging platforms have become forums for employees to either individually or collectively vent frustration at the corporate culture’. I believe that this is a valid statement, as the Internet, specifically these blogging platforms and forums, are an innovative way to discuss and/or vent any issues or frustrations, and being a digital structure, has made it easier and more accessible for employees to vent whenever they feel the need.

However, at the same time, it is imperative that employees take caution when publishing any content that may attach negative affiliations to an organization. When content is posted on the blogosphere, it is put on display for anybody to read, and it is becoming more and more common that fellow employees and employers are now discovering these forums which discuss and/or bad mouth their workplace on a public website, resulting in consequences such as suspensions, written warnings, and in some cases, termination of employment. 

I have had my fair share of personal experiences in terms of employment and the blogosphere, one example including a former supervisor of mine being terminated from the organization due to comments made via Facebook about my boss’s children and him and his wife’s parenting skills. As I, and a majority of my fellow employees were ‘friends’ with our supervisor on Facebook, her status update was soon reported to my boss, resulting in her immediate termination of employment, and a new social media policy being input into our workplace. Waddington, S (2012), has stated that ‘it is important to note that many organizations now have social media guidelines in place. They basically outline how to engage with social media on behalf of an organization, and more importantly to aid employees in understanding the boundaries when engaging with social media.’ In relation to this, I believe that all organizations should have some form of a social media policy implemented, as it discourages the use of social media in order to bad mouth and discuss the workplace in a negative manner, which could then lead to a decrease in customers as well as giving the organization a bad name, as word of mouth is of vital importance in the reputation of a business throughout today’s society. 

The following screengrabs are taken from Facebook pages which are created for the sole purpose of venting or badmouthing employee's experiences with both customers and their workplaces. These posts are both a perfect example of how the blogosphere allows employees the opportunity to 'vent' out their frustration via social media forums.

Sources:

Richards, J and Kosmala, K (2013); ‘In the end you can only slag people off for so long: employee cynicism through work blogging’ New Technology, Work and Employment, vol. 28, no. 1 pp. 68-77

Waddington, S, 2012 ‘Share this: The social media handbook for PR professionals’, John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex