It is hard for an ordinary person to understand some of the aspects with regard to a foreign culture, for instance, religion language, gender roles, and the strategies that are employed in other foreign cultures when it comes to problem solving (Balio, 2005). With this in mind, the rationale of the paper is to evaluate how Hollywood movies influence the national culture of other nations beyond the United States. In addition, focus will be put on evaluating the different aspects of the United States culture that are promoted through Hollywood movies to other parts of the world. The other issues that the paper will examine include: the positive effects that the Hollywood movies have in the society, the role that movies play with regard to influencing the management of businesses around the world, reasons as to why foreign movies do not do well in the European market especially in the United States, why Hollywood movies find a cutting edge in foreign markets such as Japan and Latin America; and finally ways that foreign movie producers can use to improve the marketability of their products.
Aspects of a given culture are in most cases largely invisible, especially with casual observers. Films from any part of the world are a cultural mirror, and it also happens to be the most valuable reflection of people’s attitude toward certain issues, their philosophies, lifestyles of the people as well as the values they have. The influence that Hollywood works of art has on the world dates to sometimes back after world war one. It was after the Second World War that images of America started being projected to other parts of the world (Balio, 2005).
Culture can be learned according to a given theory. It was therefore, assumed that with the wide expansion of the American culture through the film industry, this culture would be learnt by foreign people in their foreign nations (Espejo, 2009). Hollywood promotes several aspects of the United States culture to the rest of the world. Different people in the world have learnt social values from the United States from their film as well as fashion and life styles. The effect that the Hollywood’s work has on different people in the world varies depending on different individuals. Some of the individuals have been said to admire the lifestyle shown as the culture of the people of the United States (Espejo, 2009). Other people from different parts of the world have learnt the culture of the American from the films and have adopted it to emulate them. On the same note, there are other people who have seen the culture of the people of the United States through the Hollywood films and have not been impressed by the culture. To them there is nothing to admire and emulate (Donovan, 2008).
There are many positive effects that Hollywood movies have on the people culture across the world. Among the effects that the Hollywood work of art has on people is that people from other parts of the world are able to learn the Americans way of life. Hollywood movies have been said to promote understanding among nations globally. The film therefore helps in creating goodwill ambassadors, who understand the culture of the American hence promoting integration. There are negative aspects of the American culture that the Hollywood is said to spread to the world (Donovan, 2008).
Another positive effect that films have been said to have on the world is that they act as regulators of the minds of the people across the world and said to be among the most powerful. This is because though people have different national cultures; most of them have a common perception as well as learning with regard to what they watch whether it relates to gender issues, religion or approaches towards conflict resolution (Donovan, 2008).
Culture is on record to have had great influence on the way business is carried out in the world. The film industry and especially Hollywood has played a great role in that it has influenced company’s activities as well as managerial tasks. Movies have helped many people in the world to conduct business as well as be good managers. People have learnt numerous ways of conducting business locally and internationally through viewing movies from different part of the world (Donovan, 2008). For instance, through watching movies that are related to certain business phenomenons, managers are able to learn new skills that could help them in decision making, one of the vital managerial tasks. Managers are on record familiarizing themselves with the current state of affairs with regard to business management and other company’s activities through watching movies acted incorporating this kind of information (Espejo, 2009).
It is worth noting that watching film can be one of the most efficient ways to learn how business is done in other parts of the world. From the movies people interested in carrying out business abroad have learnt the basic requirements that have to be fulfilled especially where they are dealing with partners from other countries. Through movies, people have learnt the laws with regard to immigration as well as travel that business person have to put into consideration especially if they are moving to other countries, for instance, the United States (Balio, 2005). The movies have given their viewers an opportunity to learn the most booming business in the world today and the investment requirements to be successful. Business people have learnt the recent technology that is in use with regard to conducting business to ensure effectiveness, efficiency and high profits.
In the world, Hollywood movies are the most dominant in the world of film with a wide range of viewers especially in the United States. Movies from other parts of the world have failed to make an impact among the film viewers in the United States, leaving Hollywood products as the most proffered (Donovan, 2008). There are several factors that have made Hollywood movies to be the most dominant in the United States and in the world at large. The comparative advantage theory can help us explain the reason as to why Hollywood movies have a competitive edge compared to the other film producers in the world.
According to the theory, a country should invest its effort in what it does best and this does not exclude the movie industry. United States is said to have what it takes to produce the best of entertainment products and eventually export them to the rest of the world. In addition to that, the federal government of the United States has engaged in cultural protectionism where the government have come up with strategies and measure geared towards protecting the local film industry. These strategies and measures put up by the government ensure that their local film industry is not threatened and swamped by the imports that United States imports (Balio, 2005).
Some of the measures and strategies that the government has put in place is enacting and erecting trade barriers that are heavily bureaucratic such that traders are discouraged. The federal government has gone notch higher and introduced quotas where they restrict the number of film products that the country shall import from other parts of the world. In addition to that, the government has put in place quotas that require a given number of movies be produced in their country before importing other film products. It is also important to note that the federal government of the United States plays a great role toward ensuring that the Hollywood film industry remains relevant by giving them some incentives (Balio, 2005). For instance, the federal government gives subsidies to the film maker locally such that their growth as well as their survival is ensured.
Foreign movies have very little demand in the United States. Among the reasons as to why foreign movies have low demand is the quality of the movies as well as the substitutes available. The American market is flooded with quality movies and have therefore used to their movies and from different renowned film industries in the United States and there are many television channels from where the people watch as an alternative to foreign movies (Donovan, 2008).
Foreign film makers can be able to penetrate the United States market if they are ready to adopt several measures which will help their increase their popularity among the American people. One of the things that the foreign film makers should do is invest more resources in advertisement so that the population of the United States is aware of their existence (Balio, 2005). Another thing that filmmakers should do is ensuring that their scripts are strong so that their ultimate product is quality. To achieve this, the filmmakers are required to do much study with regard to script writing and work with film directors who have the right experience.
In conclusion, the paper have identified the various ways in which Hollywood movies have impacted on nations cultures beyond the United States both positively and negatively. In the paper we have examine the different ways in which movies influence the management of businesses across the world as well as how foreign movies can help a person carry out business in other parts of the world. The paper has also analyzed the reasons as to why Hollywood movies are popular across the world and the reasons for their high demand. In addition to that, the paper evaluated the reasons why foreign movies have a low demand in the United States and ways in which they can improve their product to have a high demand.
References
Donovan, B. W. (2008). The Asian influence on Hollywood action films. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co.
Balio, T. (2005). The American film industry. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press.
Espejo, R. (2009). The film industry. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
