Lab 7 Instructions: International Television Screening

1. Last week, we focused on the ways that American television enacted core values or debates within American culture, a theme to which David Thorburn will explore in his lecture. How might these same programs be experienced differently when they are exported for consumption in foreign cultures? How might the prevalence of American television in foreign markets make it difficult for those countries to use television to articulate their own values and ideologies, to tell their own stories, and to perpetuate their own traditions?

2. The first two clips you will see show the ways that SESAME STREET's producers have sought to collaborate with local television producers to remake its basic format and content to reflect the particular needs of different national cultures. What changes as we compare the American, Dutch, and Turkish versions of the series? How much impact do these local cultures have in the format and content of the series? How effective is this attempt to "localize" television content? To what degree does SESAME STREET still transmit American culture and values to these foreign countries and their children?

3. The second set of clips shows German remakes of American television series. Can you identify the two series represented here? How much continuity exists between the American and German versions of the series? What changes do you observe in the series as they are recast and remade for German television? Why do you think these particular series were chosen to be remade for German television? What are the advantages and disadvantages of remaking series as opposed to exporting the original series?

4. THE FUNKY SQUAD and THE GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS suggest another model for how a national culture might respond to American imports. How do these two series draw upon the viewers' familiarity with American television as a basis for their own entertainment? Australian television depends heavily on camp, spoof, and parody. How might these forms be an effective form of expression for a culture which struggles to define its own identities caught between two powerful cultural influences, that of the United States and that of the British commonwealth?

5. Would the coverage of the SYDNEY GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS been likely to appear on American television? Why or why not? Identify some of the factors on the program which suggest a very different political and moral climate in Australia than in the United States?

6. The final program we saw focuses on attempts by the indigenous peoples of Australia to use broadcasting to construct their own identities, to unify their communities, and to express their cultural traditions. What arguments do the characters make in the documentary to explain why they see an aboriginal radio station as desirable? What role(s) does this station play for its listening community? How have the people in the film confronted the contradiction of using modern technology to preserve a traditional culture?

7. Consider the role which foreign television imports play on American television.

mehopper@mit.edu