Film : Globalization And Cultural Imperialism

Globalization is one of the main words of the 21-st century. We feel its presence in almost every field of our life: in economic life, politics, culture and media. It is believed that globalization of the media tends to undermine national cultures. Media might play necessary and active role concerning the meaning of culture, but is improbably to be called a sufficient condition for cultural resistance or submission. At what degree globalization of media can undermine national culture depends on a particular national culture. This article focuses on the problem of globalization of culture and the role of film in modern world, especially in Indonnesia. This paper will discuss the different definitions of the terms ‘media’, ‘culture’, ‘globalization’, and ‘cultural imperialism’. The article presents current arguments about the relationship between globalization, film and national cultures. The aim of the article is to study the role of media (film) in globalization process, the degree of their influence on national cultures and to determine tasks facing scholars. Cultural Imperialism Theory, used in this article, states that Western nations dominate the media around the world which in return has a powerful effect on Third World Cultures by imposingn them Western views and therefore destroying their native cultures.Western Civilization produces the majority of the film, because they have the money to do so. The rest of the world purchases those productions because it is cheaper for them to do so rather than produce their own. Therefore, Third World countries are watching media filled with the Western world's way of living, believing, and thinking. The third world cultures then start to want and do the same things in their countries and destroy their own culture. Key words: film, globalization,culture, cultural imperialism.