Session Five Part 3: Americanization I Imposing Culture (?): The Case of Hollywood’s Postwar Tour of Europe Department of Film and Audiovisual Culture Dr. Richard Nowell ¨ ¨12:45-14:20 ¨It Started in Naples(1960) ¨ ¨14:20 – 14:30 ¨Break ¨ ¨14:30 – 15:45 ¨The Postwar Tour of Europe Films ¨ ¨ ¨ roman_holiday_ver3.jpg it_started_in_naples.jpg ¨Targeting (some) Europeans as Europeans ¨ ¨Post-WWII Hollywood and Major European Markets ¨ ¨Selling “American” Hollywood in Europe roman_holiday_ver3.jpg it_started_in_naples.jpg ¨“Americanization” stresses public acquiescence to foreign agents, yet we might note that movie-going is a voluntary activity which is encouraged by compromising content to the assumed preferences of local audiences. Hollywood only has a certain amount of confidence in the exportability of “American” movies, and is aware that its association with the US can be a liability. ¨ ¨Hollywood’s global operations therefore tend to be framed in terms of an imposition of outside culture ¨ ¨It is also important to bear in mind the concessions Hollywood has made – and continues to make – to its non-US audiences ¨ ¨Depictions of Europeans are often identified as central to Hollywood’s “Americanizing” agenda ¨ ¨Characters are posited as surrogates for viewers, who are invited to acquiesce to an outside culture ¨ ¨One such case is made by Toby Miller about a scene he extractes from It Started in Naples ¨ ¨An American showing an Italian child to make a hamburger is imbued with imperialistic resonance ¨ ¨Yet, could this scene not be read quite differently when re-contextualized textually and industrially? ¨ naples 2.jpg americanization.jpg naples burger 2.jpg ¨1. How does this film reach out to some Europeans (as Europeans)? ¨ ¨2. How is the interaction of Americans and Italians represented in the film? ¨ ¨3. Does this film express a position on Hollywood’s role in Europe? it_started_in_naples.jpg ¨Targeting (some) Europeans as Europeans ¨ ¨Post-WWII Hollywood and Major European Markets ¨ ¨Selling “American” Hollywood in Europe roman_holiday_ver3.jpg it_started_in_naples.jpg ¨Historically, Hollywood’s cultivation of overseas markets has oscillated between a general inclination toward one of two approaches ¨ ¨1. Accessibility ¨Largely relies on the broad international appeal of its films ¨ ¨Preeminent when the domestic market is particularly robust ¨For example, 1910s, WWII, and the late 1960s to the early1990s ¨ ¨2. Concessions ¨Tailors some films specifically for the US and major overseas markets ¨ ¨Preeminent when domestic market falls well short of supporting cost: such as the 1950s to late 1960s, and the late 1990s to the present day ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨Concessions are thus made when needed ¨ ¨However, we should remember that: ¨ ¨The US remains the prime market, and no single overseas market approaches it ¨ ¨1. Efforts made to retain domestic market ¨ ¨2. Steps taken to not alienate small markets ¨ ¨3. Steps taken to appeal to major markets … [usually in various combinations] ¨ gone_with_the_wind_ver1.jpg sound_of_music_ver2.jpg jaws.jpg titanic_ver2.jpg ¨To reduce risk and maximize returns by … ¨ ¨1. Maximizing marketability of individual films ¨2. Maximize pleasure to increase +ive word of mouth ¨3. Generate long-term “brand” loyalty to Hollywood ¨ ¨Industry shaped by speculation and opportunism ¨ ¨1 Elements of hits are replicated and recombined ¨2. General strategies therefore develop rapidly ¨ ¨This explains how assembly can be both a calculated practice and naturalized within a production culture ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨w three_coins_in_the_fountain.jpg to_catch_a_thief.jpg funny_face_ver2.jpg ¨One of the most prominent periods in which concessions were made was 1950s and 1960s ¨ ¨During this time, tales of “Americans” in Europe were made in large numbers ¨ ¨Many of these films were romances, often read as allegories of transatlantic harmony ¨ ¨Trend ended when the it became associated with overspending and box office failure ¨ ¨Hollywood turned to underserved Americans like blacks and youth, and home delivery ¨ ¨ american_in_paris.jpg one_hundred_and_one_dalmatians.jpg mary_poppins_ver2.jpg paris_when_it_sizzles.jpg ¨ ¨ ¨What does Kramer idenitify as some of the conditions that incentivized the production of Euro-friendly fare like Roman Holiday (and by extension similar films)? ¨Post-WWII domestic slump – caused by suburbanization and the baby boom – means Hollywood needs overseas and US viewers to survive ¨ ¨[Failure to offset losses through an unlikely plan to dominate East Europe leads Hollywood to look to western European markets] ¨ ¨UK is shrinking but still large; but Italy and Germany are increasing ¨ ¨Guaranteed exhibition there as Hollywood owns some theatres ¨ ¨Hollywood also has backlog of pre-WWII films ready to be released ¨ ¨Off-shoring: cheap labor, use frozen assets, secure state subsidies ¨ ¨The cultivation of European markets was potentially problematized by notions of Anti-Americanism directed at Washington and Hollywood ¨ ¨Some Europeans were concerned that the US would undermine their sovereign powers as nation-states by interfering in European affairs ¨ ¨Meanwhile, some elites lambasted Hollywood as part of a broader threat posed by imported “American” commercialized culture ¨ ¨Hollywood was framed as a threat that might transform Europeans into labotomized distracted avatars who would be prone to totalitarianism ¨ ¨Crucially, Hollywood was also framed as a threat to the ongoing purity of nominally indigenous culture – as spoiling its distinctiveness ¨ ¨ ¨We can conceptualize Hollywood’s European content-tailoring strategies as three complementary, overlapping discourses: ¨ ¨Familiarization ¨Practice: Mobilize local reference points; romanticize Target markets ¨Logic: Europeans tend to gravitate to what they think is domestic fare ¨ ¨Dilution ¨Practice Temper perceived American-ness formally and thematiCally ¨Logic: Some Europeans thought to be ambivalent about “US” culture ¨ ¨Cultural Diplomacy ¨Practice: Posit the normalcy and benefits of a US presence overseas ¨Logic: Anti-American sentiments can ultimately be overcome ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨How does Kramer suggest that the content and themes of Roman Holiday were tailored for certain European audiences? ¨ roman_holiday_ver3.jpg ¨Integrated European taste promises to simplify the assembly of films with pan-European appeal ¨ ¨Exemplified by shared heritage of Cinderella story, “multinational” Hepburn, and royalty ¨ ¨Kramer argues film also uses Peck character to symbolize the postwar role of the United States ¨ ¨US is thus positioned as an anodyne facilitator of pan-European and transatlantic cooperation ¨ ¨But, its presence is framed as not extending to the political sphere (although the film is political!) ¨ roman holiday ann.jpg Roman Holiday 16.jpg roman holiday cafe.jpg 2. ¨ ¨ ¨Do the makers of this film also try to communicate something about Hollywood to European audiences? ¨Peck character soothes fears of the piratical, propagandistic nature of US media in Europe ¨ ¨He is presented an American presence abroad; but as an émigré and therefore not as integrated ¨ ¨He is also a penniless, moral, off-shored media worker: thus an emblem of US media overseas ¨ ¨His role is to provide relief to weary young Europeans by helping them to have fun ¨ ¨Hollywood is thus posited as an anodyne supplier of apolitical “American” entertainment ¨ ¨ ¨ Roman-Holiday-Wallpaper-Classic-Love-Movie-2.jpg roman-holiday-2.jpg roman holiday dance.jpg ¨1. How does this film reach out to some Europeans (as Europeans)? ¨ ¨2. How is the interaction of Americans and Italians represented in the film? ¨ ¨3. Does this film express a position on Hollywood’s role in Europe? it_started_in_naples.jpg ¨Gable is framed as a symbol of US and Hollywood; Loren as a symbol of Italian cinema ¨ ¨The film shows shared appreciation of the two, their coexistence, and gradual negotiated exchange ¨ ¨Custardy battle can thus be read as suggesting what is best for the new Italian moviegoer ¨ ¨It suggests the next generation of Italian will benefit from this harmonious cultural duality ¨ ¨Italians are not pictured as dupes, but as discerning consumers who make choices for themselves ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ _It_Started_in_Naples_263.jpg naples.png naples 2.jpg ¨Mid-1980s, Hollywood anticipates a new reliance on major overseas markets ¨ ¨Gentrifies European exhibition circuit, and capitalizes on deregulation of TV, and VHS ¨ ¨By Early1990s, international returns surpass US returns, as costs sky-rocket ¨ ¨Again prioritizes films with appeal to major overseas markers: W. Europe, Pacific rim ¨ ¨Only this time, it portrays itself less as a US institution and more as an international one cars_two_ver2.jpg pirates_of_the_caribbean_ver3.jpg xmen_first_class_ver7.jpg adventures_of_tintin_the_secret_of_the_unicorn_ver2.jpg ¨Hollywood’s postwar European operations are often framed as an e.g. of Americanization: a piratical institution imposing outside culture ¨ ¨But decline of the domestic market, and of the Soviet Sphere Project, meant Hollywood needed US and western European markets to survive ¨ ¨This led Hollywood to make concessions vis-à-vis content, in part by tapping into a perceived European predilection for domestic fare ¨ ¨Some films sought to quell fears of Americanization, depicting Americans as moral, unthreatening, and at times financially subordinate ¨ ¨They posited the notion that Hollywood embodied such qualities: it was really just an anodyne supplier of harmless American entertainment … ¨ ¨ ¨