Just Some Thoughts On…How American Culture No Longer Exports Itself In Film

This is probably the most political I’ll get on this blog. I’m not sure if it’s even really political. It’s more discussing a shift from what was to what currently is. A shift I have seen occur in my lifetime.

At one point American entertainment and thus American culture exported itself around the world via film and television. It may not have been noticeable to anyone who spent most of their life inside the borders of the United States of America but if you ever traveled outside of those very borders it was certainly something you couldn’t miss. Going to a party and seeing a bunch of people who don’t speak English sing along with “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang or going to the movies and they are all American films with dialogue dubbed or with subtitles in that language you couldn’t help but miss it. For example while it was a television film in the US, I saw the movie Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land in a theater overseas.

In some regards the entertainment was distinctly American. It was a projection of the nation across the globe. Commando is probably the best and most intriguing example of this-a former bodybuilder with a thick Austrian accent as an American commando aside. It was apparently quite popular in the USSR despite it being essentially illegal. So popular in fact that one filmmaker did a nearly shot for shot remake of the film called Den D (2008) by director Mikhail Porechenkov but substituted Russian locations for those of Southern California featured in the Schwarzenegger classic. Has any other film been able to even come close to that? There was a time people risked something just to see a movie.

What movies does Hollywood make that creates that kind of passion around the globe? You could say maybe Avengers: Endgame but is that something distinctly American or is it of a more broad appeal? There are British films and Argentinian films and Mexican films and even Canadian films. I’m talking about movies with a flavor and vibe that identifies to the viewer exactly where they’re from. We don’t have that anymore in this country. 

Maybe that’s part of the problem with Hollywood. Once great studios that had a distinctly American though not exclusively appealing American flavor no longer export movies with a particular vibe to them. They often water down the film in order to appeal to as many people as possible but once you eliminate something’s distinct spirit that limits the appeal. Customers or viewers or whatever you wish to call them embrace authenticity and an identity and when  you accidentally or purposely take away both quality suffers and the viewers know it. 

Every country needs movies which project their identity. I’m not saying as a means of national identity or some kind of jingoism. I’m saying as way to introduce themselves internationally. It helps to have a TV show or movie that not only a neighbor but a stranger is aware of if not very familiar with. It allows for a bonding experience which ultimately helps everyone. Have you ever bonded with a biker over nerd stuff?  It certainly opens you up to a whole new world when you can do stuff like that. Think about someone from another country. It gives us all a bridge from which to start from. It opens a dialogue and gives something which all can connect over and build upon that connection to learn more about one other.

That inability to export American culture is something that is noticeable but we need today. Not only to help the studios but to help us all connect.