TRANSNATIONAL FILM THROUGH THE EYES OF BATMAN

Let’s face it, transnationalism is a mammoth concept to tackle. In fact anything ‘global ’ is.  This is all thanks to the fact that the earth we inhabit is a huge one and we are accompanied by over 7 billion other humans, and therefore a plethora of varying cultures, nationalities, traditions and customs are carrying on around us. But how cool is that? Transnationalism is all about transcending borders and going global. And one of the coolest and most creative forms of transnationalism, is transnational film.

“Transnationalism is a social phenomenon and scholarly research agenda grown out of the heightened interconnectivity between people and the receding economic and social significance of boundaries among nation states.”

So if that is transnationalism, what is transnational film all about? Well, what better way to explain it than through one of our favourite characters…

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Yes. It is he, Batman.

When we think about Hollywood films, we likely anticipate a very “Americanised” production, a classic box-office Hollywood money maker. And that’s exactly what this is; if we were to look at the end product. You see transnational film is all about integrating different cultures, and different nationalities, about the appeal and interests of not only one nation, but of a handful.

There is no denying, Hollywood is the main stage when it comes to western films, and as Ezra and Rowden  state “the performance of Americanness is increasingly becoming a “universal” characteristic in world cinema” (“What is Transnational Cinema”) however as our favourite hero Batman teaches us, there’s a little more to it.

 

Our beloved Aussie, the late Heath Ledger as our favourite bad guy, The Joker, and Christian Bale, main protagonist, “The Batman” are both foreigners in America (Ledger hailing from down under and Bale a native of Britain). Michael Caine, another main protagonist is also British.

The actors themselves are an example of transnational film, reaching out to the interests of Australian’s and English alike. Not only do the lead actors hail from Britain, but also the director of the film, along with the costume designer, producer, and art director (aka most of the production team), making it a pretty good pitch for classification as an “English film” however the editors and cinematographers were from the United States, and the construct of the film is highly Americanised allowing us to see the mix of cultures and interests that are present.

And there we have it folks, hopefully this ironed out the concept of transnational film as much as it made you feel like stacking up on chocolate and watching Batman.

References:

Transnational Cinema and Online Culture – “What is Transnational Cinema” http://358695.weebly.com/what-is-transnational-cinema.html

Wikipedia – “Transnationalism” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnationalism

Image Source – http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/bdax36su2nbecapijz3l.jpg

Ageless Trailers (Youtube Channel) – The Dark Knight (2008) Trailer (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ql0v5Lqn9E

THE DICE IS IN OUR COLLECTIVE, GLOBAL, HAND.

“The more you look at difference as potential, the less it looks like a problem” – the wise words of HSBC. Think about it, no-one ever grew or gained from ignorance. No-one ever bettered themselves because they deflected the ideas, thoughts and perspectives of people around them and solely focused on what they thought.  In our growing global community, we have everything at our fingertips. We have access stretching across every side of the globe, reaching so many fascinating cultures. Cultures which seem to be living historically, and cultures that seem to be one step ahead of the future, and what does this give us, more than anything? Ability.

What we do with this ability is in the hands of each of us; individually, as a group, a nation or collectively as a human race.

The effect can be both positive and negative.

Positive:

• ---

  Economics

• Technology
• Culture
• Growth
• Transcending borders

Or Negative;

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• Exploitation
• Terrorism
• Inequality

Globalisation is happening to us, whether we like or not. Though it excites some, to others it incites fear about loss of diversity, among many things. The two terms often thrown around in this debate are homogenisation and heterogenisation.

With globalisation being such a young concept, it is hard to foresee it’s future effect on the world and our way of life, however the argument has been raised; will it celebrate and create diversity or destroy it?

“Globalisation could lead to the homogenisation of world cultures, or to hybridisation and multiculturalism’ (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 458).

So far, we’ve seen both. We’ve seen the development of ideas, “ideoscapes”; have both a positive and negative effect. Ideas have spread globally about the standard of human rights and empowerment of women in countries which were previously only subject to ideas of their own suppressive governments.

The video above is an example of the way ideas are globally transferred and global education is shared and supported through the movement of ideas across borders and nations.

However we’ve also seen, through mediascapes and the virtual world, extremist ideas spread globally, a current growing concern for our global community. Terrorism is unfortunately a current fear that has spread to many countries, due to an ideology spread that is sweeping across may countries through extremist groups and individual. With globalisation, comes this ability for the fast movement of ideas regardless of their value or nature which can in some negative cases be alarming.

The reality is, as these national borders are transcended and the world seemingly shrinks, we are faced with difference and ability. This difference can either empower us or divide us, the choice is in our collective, global, hand.

References:

CCTV Africa – “Somali Women Join Global Campaign To End The Violence Against Women – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmREbbopkx0

Facebook (Youtube Channel) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh_-jXimuWQ

Olivier Ejderyan and Norman Backhaus – “Homogenisation” – http://www.glopp.ch/A4/en/multimedia/homogenisation.pdf

The World of Labour – “Causes and Effects of Globalisation” – https://laboureconomics.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/causes-and-effects-of-globalization-6/

O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 458 – (2008) ‘Globalisation’ Media and Society (fifth edition) Oxford: Oxford University Press

Does it Matter Who Owns Media? Oh C’mon.

A big fat yes. In my eyes there is no denying that the people behind one of the biggest influences in society matters. If our life is the game, the media is the playmaker. Yes, it sounds dramatic, but when we accelerate into that big scary world there is no stopping the abundance of media that filters into our brains and influences our way of thinking, our way of being. 

So the question of whether who owns the media matters, isn’t a question to me. Let’s jump into a real world example, and jump across the world to see first hand the media manipulation of thoughts. Think of the loads of propaganda and media manipulation in war torn countries. Children just blossoming into adolescence (and even younger) are confronted with forceful ideas about different groups or cultures within their region. This media hugely affects the view of the people exposed to it and the country they live in to the global community.

So what media landscape do we want to live in?

Back in Australia the media is quite tame. It would be hard to even imagine that kind of media filtering into our magazines and newspapers and being dropped on the doorstep of everyday Australians and young families. But although the effects aren’t painted on the walls, they are still there in more inconspicuous doses. With a few individuals or “families” controlling what is released and what ideas or opinions are shown through the media we are subconsciously being weaned into categorisation by these ideas which seem to belong to the “majority” as is presented in the media but are really the ideas of single individuals who own the majority of media.

“The greatest threat to freedom of expression in the United States or elsewhere is the possibility that private entrepreneurs will always tend to monopolise the marketplace of ideas in the name of economic efficiency and private profit” (Melody 1978)

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If you’re like me, you probably would have skipped over the complicated flow chart above because really “ain’t nobody got time fo dat”, but it’s actually quite important to realise. Just like Melody points out, with such a tight hold on expression how is one man/women meant to oppose or rally the ideas represented or innovate and present new ideas in a media landscape where the underdog is caged by tightly controlled fences around these establishments? Four words ladies… Power to the People!

Youtube Video – Power to the People (John Lennon)

All in all I think it’s fair to say, in a country like ours, where the media is controlled by a small group of corporations and individuals, we are lucky that it hasn’t fallen radically into the wrong hands. However other countries are examples of how this can happen. I say unleash those caged underdogs and start spreading new ideas, power to the people!