Al-Rodhan (2006, pp. 4-5) defines globalisation as a process "that
has been impacting communities, cultures, and economies for hundreds of years.
It is a result of the transnational and transcultural integration that have
occurred globally." This phenomenon is not totally new, but it has
occurred for the past few decades, in particular Americanisation. The American
culture has successfully spread and influenced other foreign cultures through
various platforms, mainly through its film industry. Thus, American values has
accumulated, concentrated and transformed the Malay film industry in Southeast
Asia (SEA) region, influencing Malaysia films.
Hollywood films are being showcased worldwide and the industry has vast
expanded over the years. The high quality of its plot, cinematography and
production line has resulted in a constant demand for Hollywood films in the
international market. The Malay culture in SEA has been exposed and influenced
by the sexual and violent characteristic of Hollywood films. This has resulted
in mixed reaction among the Malay community on a moral basis that compromises
the acceptance of certain cultural practice or action that contains traits of
the American culture, derived from Hollywood films. With sex and violence, two
components that are highly associated with American films in general, Malay
conservatives showed concern and distress towards these traits that is seen as
deteriorating the Malay values, which is shaped by Islamic beliefs. The
exposure of American culture is inevitable with the creation of Internet and
social media platforms which have enabled Hollywood news and gossips to be
known easily and vastly. Various websites that is dedicated to Hollywood news
like 'hollywoodlife.com', 'accesshollywood.com' and the likes of video sharing
websites such as 'YouTube' has allowed the American film industry to mark its
presence more distinctly. Transcultural integration has made American cultures
being adopted and adapted after constant exposure through numerous American
films.
A survey conducted has shown that seventy-five percent of Americans felt
that television had too much sexually explicit material (Anderson, 2007).
Hooberman (2011), a clinical psychologist, states that sex and violence are
intertwined, interrelated in some form that makes them a unit. With almost all
American films contains some scenes of nudity at some part of the movie, this
creates some sexual arousal that grabs audiences to view the film. As such, the
Malay film industry of SEA has been bold in its concept and plot. More sexual
intimate scenes are now seen in Malay films such as 'Bohsia' and 'Sepet',
compared to the films in the olden days in the 1950’s to 1980’s where sex is
viewed as a taboo topic. Thus Malay films usually constraint from having sex
scenes which are deemed immoral. The concept of including some sex scene in
films could be seen as trending. Furthermore, American films that portray
violence in sensational outline have influenced Malay film producers to make
more gangster theme movies. The rise of ‘KL Gangster', which was one of the
first Malaysian-made films to reach the collection point of 10.3 million in
local cinemas, is a prominent example (“KL Gangster,” 2013). The plot follows
the basic outline of a Hollywood Action movie that has exaggerated scenes of
violence. Critics have sparked an outcry of new Malay films that are trending
to follow their Hollywood counterpart, contrary to the subtle nature of the
Malay culture through the portrayal of violence and sex in the plot.
Various measures have been done to ensure the public viewed filtered
content of Malay films that are controversial, such as the setting up of the
Film Censorship Board. This board of censorship is responsible for rating each
Malay film that is produced. Each movie will be strictly reviewed to ensure
appropriate rating with regards to the content of the movie, preventing
unnecessary controversies. As such, the rating of 18SG and 18SX informs viewer
of some violent and sexual elements respectively (“Film Classification,” 2012).
This will create awareness, especially to parents, on deciding the suitability
and expected content of films that their children will be exposed to. The Film
Censorship Board has been a success, whereby their rating of a Malay movie is reflective
of its content. This has force the production team to re-edit their film to
suit the guidelines made for suitable viewing. However, this has not hindered
some films to refrain from producing sex and violence themed movies. The board
of censorship are not able to impose strict restriction to Malay producers to
hinder them from producing such movies. Furthermore, the production team needs
to think of profit and publicity for each film and they need to produce films
that have high interest from the public. Eventually, sex and violence has now
developed into a common trait of Malay films in this 21st century.
The Malay culture in SEA has certainly been affected and influenced
greatly by American media, which has now produced Malay films that mimicked and
moulded from American films. Integration of culture through film is highly
influential as the film is a form of culture that is easily received and
accepted. We can filter out the negative values with certain acts but
inevitably, the liberty of cultural adaptation has produced cultural products
of mixed values.
References
Al-Rodhan, N. (2006,
June 19). Definitions of Globalization: A Comprehensive Overview and a Proposed
Definition (pp. 4-5). Retrieved October 7, 2013, from Sustainablehistory Web
site: www.sustainablehistory.com/articles/definitions-of-globalization.pdf
Anderson, K. (2007,
March 4). Sex and Violence on Television - A Christian Worldview Perspective.
Retrieved October 8, 2013, from www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4217947/k.37E8/Sex_and_Violence_on_Television.htm
Film Classification.
(2012). Retrieved October 13, 2013, from Ministry of Home Affairs Web Site:
http://www.moha.gov.my/index.php/en/lpf-klasifikasi-filem
Hooberman, J. (2011,
May 6). Bloodlust in America: Sex and Violence are Comfortable Bedfellows.
Retrieved October 7, 2013, from
http://hypervocal.com/culture/2011/bloodlust-in-america-sex-and-violence-are-comfortable-bedfellows/
KL Gangster. (2013).
In Wikipedia online. Retrieved October 12, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KL_Gangster
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