Bollywoodization?

‘Hollywoodisation’ refers to typical plot format of American film (Klein 2004). Bollywood adopted Hollywood’s production format and successfully incorporated that with Indian traditions, developing into unique style.

Bollywood refers to Mubai-based film industry in India (Schaefer & Karan 2013). Globalisation helps to break down barriers and export of Indian films to countries around the world. In recent years, there is rise of Hindi film industry and it is now the largest film industry in the world. Some even predicted that it will surpass Hollywood in revenues in future (Mazumdar 2013, p.47).

Bollywood is said to be ‘Hollywoodized’ which can be reflected in many Indian film. An example is Bride & Prejudice produced in 2004 which is an adaption of Pride and Prejudice. The film is about a girl who was brought up in traditional Indian family, met American men, which differences arouse. After spending more time with each other, they learned their misunderstanding and fall in love. This film followed typical Hollywood formula, with beautiful actor and actress, love and comedy genre, also a happy ending.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_and_Prejudice

It is true that Bollywood movie adopted production format similar to Hollywood, but to a small extent it has been ‘Hollywoodized’ as it shows strong traditional Indian culture by presenting ‘uniquely Indian’ content (Mazumdar 2013, p.52). In Bride & Prejudice, there are several song and dance numbers, like the wedding scene at the end of the film. This is typical element that defines Bollywood. The film is set in India, showing Indian life, its landmark, village, Hindi language. It also reveals custom like wearing traditional clothing, which illustrated Indian cultural values.

Bollywood films successfully learned and absorbed from Hollywood production style, while retaining traditional unique Indian elements, producing films that attract all. This is the concept of ‘glocalization’ (Kelin 2014), the combination of the word globalization and localization.

Bollywood originally is mainly made for Indian people, so it focuses on traditional dancing and singing with humorous narratives. As it is expanding to international market, Bollywood film content is also changing. Though musical genre is still dominant, more messages are explored in the films, like the hit-film 3 idiots, which criticize the educational system.

References

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

Schaefer, DJ & Karan, K 2013, ‘Bollywood and globalization: researching popular Hindi cinema through the lens of film flows’, in Schaefer, DJ, & Karan, K (eds), Bollywood and Globalisation: the global power of popular Hindi cinema, Routledge, USA and Canada

Mazumdar, S 2013, ‘Transnational elements in the Hong Kong and Hindi film industries: A comparative analysis’, in Schaefer, DJ, & Karan, K (eds), Bollywood and Globalisation: the global power of popular Hindi cinema, Routledge, USA and Canada

Specular economy

The rise of social media contribute to what Marshall (2010, p.498-499) described as ‘specular economy’, which we are more ‘conscious of how we present ourselves and how others perceive us’. This is particularly seen in celebrity culture, like the case of singer Rihanna.

(image from https://twitter.com/rihanna)

Rihanna’s twitter account has over 30 million followers. She frequently sends tweets, sharing with fans her insight of life (Burns 2009, p.59). There are not only photos of her at work, but also her private one like having fun with her friends. That blurs boundaries of public, private and intimate (Marshall 2010, p.499). Private and intimate moment is now shown in public.

(image from http://style.mtv.com/2012/12/05/instagram-selfies/)

Rihanna provides link to her photos on instagram. She posted selfie photos with sexy pose. In most of the photos, she wore little clothes. She was often photographed wearing bikini. And also close-up photo of one part of her body like her butt. This reflected how Rihanna produced her online ‘persona’, her public image (Marshall 2010, p.499). Rihanna is known as one of the world’s sexiest women. Through the choice of photos, Rihanna presented her beauty and sexiness. Her self-taken photo is the way how she communicated to her fans, though some regarded that as narcissistic. Marshall (2010, p.499) perfectly use everyday example which people look into mirror to illustrate that we are conscious of how we look in the eyes of others. It is an act of self-performance (Marshall 2010, p.499). Celebrities’ fame is based on support of fans, so they try to present the best of themselves.

It is also a way to build personal brand (Burns 2009, p.60). Social media provide a place where celebrities can regain control over their public presentation of self, unlike in the past which media did the job. Rihanna promoted her ‘bad girl’ image. It is how she defines her unique self. She is aware of herself as famous celebrities, which her actions will attract attention. Many fans are watching her. Though the wild and sexy photos might lead to criticism, that she is bad model to teenagers, it is a way that identifies who she is, her true self.

References

Burns, KS 2009, Celeb 2.0: how social media foster our fascination with popular culture, ABC-CLIO, LIC, United States of America

Marshal, PD 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502

Participatory culture

Web 2.0 provides environment for user-generated content, leading to rise of participatory media culture. Henry Jenkins defined participatory culture as one which ‘fans and other customers are invited to actively participate in the creation and circulation of new content’ (Burgess and Green 2009, p.10). People not only play the ordinary role of consuming information, but also act as producer. Social media clearly illustrated characteristics of virtuality and connectivity in participatory culture.

(image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kikemb/5428414543/)

According to Heim, virtuality refers to ‘an event or entity that is real in effect but not in fact’ (Raessens 2005, p.374). It is a digitally produced reality. This is seen in social media which simulate virtual communities (Chambers 2013, p.142). Social media allows people to update their status and post photos, sharing with their friends things that happened. People can also send online messages, which enable them to talk to one another and receive reply instantly. This imitates everyday life interactions which people have face-to-face conversation with others and share events that occurred in their daily life. The only difference is that the setting is now online and people face the computer. This virtual community not only helps people to maintain relationship but also reconnect, which can be seen in relation to connectivity.

Connectivity refers to the ability to make connection (Dijck 2013). Social media ties people who have shared values and attitudes (Chambers 2013, p.115). Like when people ‘like’ a page, it then shows people who also like that page, including friends. That bound people together and brings sense of belonging (Chambers 2013, p.144). Social media also allows people to reconnect with past friends through ‘people search’ (Chambers 2013, p.157). They can also enter name of their school, their geographical location, and that will connected to people who also study there or live in that place. This network enables people to regain relationship, finding people they know in the past. This connectivity provided by social media is further enhanced with the convenience of internet connection , where people can access the sites by mobile phones and stay connected.

In sum, social media illustrated virtuality of online community, and connectivity that connect people in network.

References

Chambers, D 2013, Social media and personal relationships: online intimacies and networked friendship, Palgrave Macmillan, UK

Dijck, JV 2013, The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media, Oxford University Press, New York

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

Political microblogging

The rise of Twitter led to formation of Twitterverse, similar to the term blogosphere, where blogs are interconnected (Small, p.113). Some argued Twitter helps to foster democracy, but that over-estimated its influence.

(image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/opensourceway/5364620846/)

Twitter is a microblogging tool, ‘miniature version of the regular blog’ (Larsson & Moe 2011, p.730), which allows people to write short comments within 140 characters and follow others. Some noted Twitter helps to increase political participation. Twitter is used as political blogging. Many political parties and leaders have their Twitter account, spreading information to the public. The retweet function further disseminates information (Larsson & Moe 2011, p.739), raising people’s political awareness. Twitter is praised as ‘a tool for connecting with people on individual level’ (Parmelee 2013, p.8). Leaders engage with public, like President Obama answered public questions in live Twitter chat (Schulman 2012). But that interaction is actually limited. Larsson and Moe’s (2011, p.733) research indicated that Twitter is mainly used for broadcasting information but not for conversation. It is a ‘one-way, top-down communication’ (Larsson & Moe 2011, p.739), which leaders provide updates but rarely have dialogue with public.

Some argued the power of Twitter was seen in Arab Spring Revolution, which led to spread of revolutionary movements in Tunisia, Egypt and overthrown the totalitarian government. It is true that Twitter has potential in calling people to participate in uprising, however, as Larsson and Moe (2011, p.733) noted, ‘it is difficult to say with any certainty what the role of Twitter was’. It was just hyperbole by media.

Another point raised by people is Twitter provide a platform where people can openly exchange ideas. People debate issues where different voices can be heard, especially marginalized and criticize views (Larsson & Moe 2011, p.741). However, that is dominated by a small number of active users like journalists and politicians, who already enjoyed prominent positions (Larsson & Moe 2011, p.740). There is just small amount of citizens who are interested in politics. And many people just receive but rarely sending message (Larsson and Moe 2011, p.741).

So the use of Twitter in achieving democracy is overestimated.


References
Olorf Larsson, A, & Moe, H 2011, ‘Studying political microblogging: Twitter users in the 2010 Swedish election campaign’, New Media and Society, vol. 14, no.5, pp.729-747
Small, TA 2012, ‘What the hashtag? A content analysis of Canadian politics on Twitter’, in Loader, BD, & Mercea, D (ed.), Social media and democracy, Routledge, USA and Canada
Parmelee, JH, & Bichard, SL 2013, Politics and the Twitter Revolution: How Tweets Influence the Relationship between Political Leaders and the Public, Lexington books, Lanham
Schulman, K 2012, ‘President Obama Answers #My2k Questions on Twitter’, The White House blog, accessed 10 September 2013, <http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/12/03/president-obama-answers-my2k-questions-twitter>