In recent years, people watch more movies from overseas? What are the reasons for this? Should the government give financial support to local cinema to produce local films? It is unquestionably the case that there is a growing trend for people to watch foreign films in preference to films made in their home country. In this essay, I will discuss why this is the case and why I believe national governments ought to support home grown cinema financially. Perhaps the principal reason for the popularity of foreign made films is the globalisation of culture in the internet age.
In the past, children growing up only had access to the culture and traditions of their own country and so preferred to watch films about their own land. Now in the era of Youtube, young people grow up with easy access to an international culture and so when they go to the cinema, they expect to see films that reflect that international culture and for them a Hollywood blockbuster is much “cooler” than a serious film in their own language. A second reason why internationally produced films tend to dominate the domestic market is financial.
The two great centres of world cinema, Bollywood and Hollywood, have studios with budgets of billions of dollars which can make films with exciting special effects and high production values. In contrast, locally produced films often have much smaller budgets are sometimes therefore less attractive to the mass market. Personally, I believe that this globalisation of culture is not entirely positive and governments should take action to promote local films.
If countries had their own film industries which could compete with the international studios, this would not only help preserve national culture, but would also create more choice for the public as global films offer little variety. In conclusion, the main reasons for the expansion of international films are a new globalised world culture caused by the internet and the financial power of a few film studios in Hollywood and Bollywood. We would have more choice if the governments subsidised local films.
