2.3 Entertaining the world: using media across cultural boundaries.

Globalisation.

The current convergence of western style media with a culturally diverse mix from many Asian and Eastern countries is gaining a momentum that couldn't have been dreamed of a decade ago.

The cartoon, an American staple has seen a switch from local characterisations to an increasingly Asian influence. It started with voice and storyline adapted versions of Sailor Moon, Power Rangers and Pokémon, et al becoming the norm and increasingly the cartoons themselves are being created in Asia for an adoring western market.

Music has now diversified and we embrace influences from Jamaica, South America, the Middle East and our own indigenous cultures all blended and mashed into rock and pop and given mainstream releases.

We now have access to and watch movies from just about every corner of the earth and think nothing of it we choose to go to the cinema and watch subtitled film and bring the diverse nature and aspirations of other cultures into our own productions, where there once was a cult following of Bollywood film, they are now created by us for us. Albeit with a western sensability.

The Internet and indigenous Culture.

The first thing I identified about the work of our assigned reading for this week Indigenous, ethnic and cultural articulations of new media.[19] Is a sort of generalisation that all dispossessed cultures are in limbo waiting for a means of connecting with their similarly lost countrymen. If an ethnic group have left their homeland for whatever reason then all connections to that homeland are lost. And it would seem that they are just waiting for our author to provide them with the means to reconnect.

I acknowledge that many ethnic groups struggle when on mass are forced to leave their home due to war, drought, or other natural disaster and may have no way of keeping in touch with other countrymen or even members of their own families when far flung across the globe. It can be just as much of a problem for those, when by their own choice they immigrate to another country and encounter a feeling of becoming lost and alone in a country that bears no similarity to their native land. The internet is a way many people can keep in contact with the familiarity of family and their own culture.

For many this may not be possible due to what is described as the digital divide [20] a situation where those with money, power, infrastructure and education i.e. first world countries have access to the internet while the rest of the world (as much as 80%) doesn't.

In his article The Internet and Indigenous Groups, [21] author Steve Cisler states that many indigenous groups; while having knowledge of, or access to the internet reject its use as not relevant or not a pressing need within the problems facing them, or even worry about the changes that may happen to their cultures and traditions if too much "western" influence or technology is embraced.

At the same time many cultures or ethnic groups are embracing the internet. They see it as a way to preserve their traditions and beliefs and open them up to an audience that may have poor understanding of or stereotypical ideas about a certain culture and it is also seen as a method to educate and inform their own people, The Kitikmeot Inuit Association's website [22] and Australia's indigitube [23] being just two who provide an education service and online meeting and information space for their respective populations. The Native American tribal initiative Tribal Peace [24] is an information portal that endevours to link the 19 native reservations of San Diego County (California) and bring them together in a single database of information.

 

My Chosen Text (re-revisited)

I finally have my two ideas to remediate into a single work. Over the rainbow is definitely something that has been significant to me for as long as I can remember, from deeply personal parts of my life to being the oldest piece of music that I remember ever hearing. The second piece of work is the internet itself, having been a geek from the first days of personal computing and the rudimentary forerunner to what’s now known as ‘online’ I have seen lives lived and life stories told online and it is the blending of these two images that I have that I will try to build into one new story.


Since handing in assignment 2 and discussion with Richard Seale, I have resubmitted the text associated with my remediation. The final work would be one of the remediation of over the rainbow against a story of the  media and news publication and how the message is told, by who and with what meaning.