menjadi

Welcome to the Global Village (essay)

KosMag Magazine, NYC, issue 2, May 2005
http://www.kosmag.com/

Marshal McLuhan is right; we do live in a global village. People in a village in India or Malaysia can talk about Prince Charles’ latest marriage like he’s one of their neighbors. They can watch the whole event “with their own eyes” on television, and gather gossip about this trans-oceanic neighbor’s impending marriage from that magic box and tabloid page 6 news. With globalization, the whole world is given a chance to be a part of Prince Charles’ marriage; global media provides people in the world new identities and new boundaries.

The main problem with this new global media culture is power imbalance. Mass media, the most powerful cultural agent, always acts as a propaganda machine for the whole capitalist industry. Indeed, they are supported by and depend on fashion and household industry, food chains, sports, apparel, and other consumer impulses to fund film and television programs. Not only does mass media create global culture but it creates global consumers. It creates myths about these products and consumption, making people in the world attach new meanings to stuff they buy and the money they spend. A diamond ring is not merely a stone with metal around your finger, it is a sign of wealth, beauty, loyalty, and eternity. Having a cell phone symbolizes reliability, connectivity. Not being able to discuss the latest box office smash –or the royal marriage- around the water cooler can make one feel out of the loop. Wearing expensive clothes simply makes people confident. And damn, consuming always makes me feel good.

And who can blame Hong Kong hip-hop artists with oversized costumes doing what they like if the image can make money? Can we really tell perennial couch potatos how unproductive their lives have become by channel surfing from one gossip show to soap operas? But then, who is considered responsible for resisting these vehicles for capitalist propaganda?

The dynamics of supply and demand within global culture can be surprising. Hollywood movies have difficulties reaching Indian audiences, where the preference lies with Bollywood musicals. Similarly, there are almost no imported programs in prime time Indonesian television, even though producing local programs is at least four times more expensive than buying the imported ones. On the other hand, mainstream industry is losing when it comes to competing with newer forms of underground-non-industrial media. In 1997, I heard ska for the first time at an underground stage in a Jakarta ghetto. Around the same time the economic crisis crippled Indonesia and it was years before I finally saw an “original” ska music video on Indonesian MTV.

Our global community has to be understood in terms of how, regionally, the dominant economy is latent to be the dominant culture. We can say Hollywood dominated the world, but Bombay’s Bollywood is more powerful in South Asia and Egypt’s social industries dictate much of the media culture in the Middle East. Just like New York and Los Angeles culture represents the United States’ global cultural face, a Jakarta dialect is considered the coolest everyday language by youth in Indonesian big cities. A friend of mine from Jakarta went to college in another town and got a side job as a radio DJ. Because he speaks in a Jakarta dialect, he became more and more popular and ended up taking over the station.

Since competition exists within industries, it is hard to predict what is going to be popular among whom. Native celebrities might be more popular than Hollywood actors in smaller towns, domestic brands can be more popular than “expensive” Levi’s, but at the same time, these local “brands” might be following trends coming from international influences. On the other hand, it is hurtful to see how multinational companies co-opt the “ethnic” without crediting local artisans or giving much thought to context and usage. But this tide also has a flip-side. When some of my colleagues visited a remote village in Indonesia that can only be reached by walking five hours from the closest river in the middle of Borneo, they asked if some local artists could give them tattoos of traditional patterns. This seemingly harmless request reflected a classic division between generations. Traditional tattoos could only be found on elder members of the village while the younger generation relied on “western” tattoos. The tattoo artists in the closest city decorated their client’s bodies with “classic” symbols like the Buddhist swastika, yin yang signs, anchors or “ethnic” patterns from Hawaii, Aboriginal tribes, or Irish celtic symbols. Some people in that village even had tattoos of airplanes or words like, “I love you”. Not until members of the younger generation saw that people from the outside valued their traditional patterns did they begin exploring their own identity.

While large corporations take local images out of context, they also make efforts to tailor their products to successfully market to specific communities. To be successful in Asia, American fast food chains adapt and offer familiar flavors to reach the Asian consumer tongue. In addition to the American triumverate of ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, all fast food chains in Indonesia serve hot chili ketchup as the most crucial condiment along with rice options. Pizza Hut and Burger King offer pizza, pasta and burgers using “local” ingredients and recipes. Coca-Cola has renamed their original product as “classic” when they had to differentiate the taste –and the ingredients– for a more and more segmented market. All western restaurants in predominantly Muslim populations have to have a halal sign, pork-free and special handling of the meat in accordance to Islamic teaching, to serve the local community.
Some would say that these localized changes show that multinationals care about their consumers. Naah, the only thing they care about is money. Still, I don’t know whether McLuhan happy or upset with this situation. I still don’t care about Prince Charles Marriage, but I know shopping makes me feel good, and I always miss eating my KFC with rice and hot chili sauce.

posted by menjadi @ 1:02 AM