Comunicazioni audiovisive

Unit 3: The audiovisual media

Homework hints for conversation

Name one of each of the following and say what you think of them:

• An American TV programme that is popular in your country.
• An American movie that is popular in your country at the moment.
• Your favourite American movie star.

American cultural product is popular all over the world. Some people think, however, that too much of it has a negative effect on the culture of other countries. What do you think?

• Do you think that TV stations in your country should be obliged to show a high percentage of home produced programmes, or do you think they should be allowed to show whatever they want, even if most of it is American?
• Do you think that cinemas in your country should show home produced movies rather than Hollywood ones, even if fewer people want to go and see them?
• Would you rather go and see a play about issues in your country, starring actors from your country, or well-known American plays starring famous Hollywood stars? Why?

Text 1: American dominance in the West End by Michael Billington

American fare dominates the West End, the television, and British cinemas. We hear a lot about London theatre's domination by stars. Less noticed has been its surrender to the stars and stripes. Whole weeks now go by in which, as a critic, I see nothing but American product and I learn far more about life in Manhattan or the midwest than Manchester or Midlothian. But that is merely a symbol of a far wider phenomenon in which Britain's cultural and political agenda is increasingly set by the world's one surviving superpower.

Some will argue that this is merely a healthy symptom of cultural free trade and of a historical tit for tat. Britain has long dominated Broadway; now American theatre is getting its revenge. But I share the view of critic Robert Brustein, who argues, from an American perspective, that the anglicising of New York theatre "has not only worked to exclude the best work coming out of Europe, but has also managed to eclipse our native traditions".

I am not asking for the erection of cultural barriers, simply a measure of moderation and a recognition that both Britain and America need to nurture their native talent. What really appals me is Britain's capitulation to American economic and cultural power. It's hard to find a non-American film at the local cinema. Only last week, mainstream television showed 34 of 46 movies that were American, while only one came from continental Europe. American fast-food chains and coffee shops cover the country. And now there is even talk of the Booker prize, which has done an immense amount to stimulate British, Irish, and Commonwealth writing, being open to American fiction at the behest of a financial services company.

Does it matter? Isn't this merely a symptom of the new globalised era in which we all live? Without descending into little-Englandism, I think it matters deeply because we are increasingly cutting ourselves off from other sources of supply and neglecting our native strengths. In purely theatrical terms, we would much rather do a mediocre American play than a good one from Europe, Africa, Australia, or Canada. And the traditional British belief that theatre is a means of analysing society as well as exploring character is in danger of being eroded by the American fixation with personal psychology. American plays habitually ask, "Why am I not happy?" British plays, at their best, ask, "What's wrong with the world?"

None of this means that I want to prohibit the best American work: I still want to see great American plays like The Producers, Edward Albee's The Goat, and Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses in Britain. What I am against is the lazy belief that everything American is invested with a glamour and radical edge lacking in Britain.

For what it's worth, my own observation, after a week recently spent in New York, was that articulated by Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian's opinion pages: America is a society that currently stifles genuine debate and dissent. And, although I saw a handful of good shows in New York theatre, I came away convinced that our slavish submission to everything American is unwarranted. We are in danger, given the current artistic deluge, of becoming the 51st state. It's high time our cultural arbiters woke up to the fact that there is a world elsewhere.

The Guardian Weekly, 6-6-2002

Glossary

Over- / v (r); AmE o -/ prefix (in nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) 1 more than usual; too much, excessive: overproduction, overload, over-optimistic, overconfident 2 completely: overjoyed 3 upper; outer; extra: overcoat, overtime 4 over; above: overcast, overhang (see also super- as in superpower a few lines below in the text)

Hype /ha p/ noun, verb noun [U] (informal, disapproving) advertisements and discussion on television, radio, etc., telling the public about a product and about how good or important it is: marketing/media hype