week 8: blogging task (not extended)

In the reading this week Klein (2004: 361) suggests, “Hollywood is becoming Asianized in diverse ways, while Asian film industries are in turn becoming Hollywoodized.”

Klein (2004: 268) writes that the “ … transnationalization of labor and style is clearly leading to the Asianization of Hollywood – but this Asianization is taking diverse forms.”

Globalisation has had a mad influence on film industries in the USA and Asia. These industries have become more closely integrated with one another both materially and aesthetically, and that this in turn is leading to the denationalization of individual films and film industries on both side of the Pacific. Globalisation is experienced differently by different film industries and by different sectors within individual industries.

It is through this expansion into the Asian market that Hollywood has gained a new market. The pressures to impress a multi-national audience have been vital in pursuing success.  A sense of multinationalism has emerged within Hollywood as it grows to a world-wide scale.As Klein (2004) states, "The result is a denationalization of film industries on both sides of the Pacific, as Hollywood produces foreign language films for foreign markets, and as Asian industries become increasingly integrated into a corporate system headquartered in the USA".


But, who better to know the Asian marketplace than someone who is from Asia? Jackie Chan is a great example of Hollywood being subject to Asianization. Jackie Chan, after 20 years of attempts, broke into Hollywood s radar in the hit film Rush Hour.  It was through his martial arts and quick wit that Hollywood fell for Jackie Chan, "making him the first Asian to majorly break into the film industry" (Klein, 2004). 

But the introduction of Asian actors into Hollywood is not the only way which Hollywood has become 'Asianized'. It can be seen that directors, producers, writers and other film related workplace opportunities are opening up for Asian workers, "In still other cases, the use of Asian labor has no visible effect on style at all, but affects the financial organization and strength of both Hollywood and Asian film industries"(Klein, 2004). 

Hollywood largely depends on not only the influence of Asian film, but the opinions of the multinational culture which has been created through the popularity of Hollywood films in Asia. 

Reference list

Klein, Christina 2004, ‘Martial arts and globalisation of US and Asian film industries’, Comparative America Studies, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 360-384.