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'Netflix Is the Most Intoxicating Portal To Planet Earth' (nytimes.com)
Instead of trying to sell American ideas to a foreign audience, it's aiming to sell international ideas to a global audience. From an op-ed: In 2016, the company expanded to 190 countries, and last year, for the first time, a majority of its subscribers and most of its revenue came from outside the United States. To serve this audience, Netflix now commissions and licenses hundreds of shows meant to echo life in every one of its markets and, in some cases, to blend languages and sensibilities across its markets. In the process, Netflix has discovered something startling: Despite a supposed surge in nationalism across the globe, many people like to watch movies and TV shows from other countries. "What we're learning is that people have very diverse and eclectic tastes, and if you provide them with the world's stories, they will be really adventurous, and they will find something unexpected," Cindy Holland, Netflix's vice president for original content, told me.
The strategy may sound familiar; Hollywood and Silicon Valley have long pursued expansion internationally. But Netflix's strategy is fundamentally different. Instead of trying to sell American ideas to a foreign audience, it's aiming to sell international ideas to a global audience. A list of Netflix's most watched and most culturally significant recent productions looks like a Model United Nations: Besides Ms. Kondo's show, there's the comedian Hannah Gadsby's "Nanette" from Australia; from Britain, "Sex Education" and "You"; "Elite" from Spain; "The Protector" from Turkey; and "Baby" from Italy. I'll admit there's something credulous and naive embedded in my narrative so far. Let me get this straight, you're thinking: A tech company wants to bring the world closer together? As social networks help foster misinformation and populist fervor across the globe, you're right to be skeptical. But there is a crucial difference between Netflix and other tech giants: Netflix makes money from subscriptions, not advertising.
The strategy may sound familiar; Hollywood and Silicon Valley have long pursued expansion internationally. But Netflix's strategy is fundamentally different. Instead of trying to sell American ideas to a foreign audience, it's aiming to sell international ideas to a global audience. A list of Netflix's most watched and most culturally significant recent productions looks like a Model United Nations: Besides Ms. Kondo's show, there's the comedian Hannah Gadsby's "Nanette" from Australia; from Britain, "Sex Education" and "You"; "Elite" from Spain; "The Protector" from Turkey; and "Baby" from Italy. I'll admit there's something credulous and naive embedded in my narrative so far. Let me get this straight, you're thinking: A tech company wants to bring the world closer together? As social networks help foster misinformation and populist fervor across the globe, you're right to be skeptical. But there is a crucial difference between Netflix and other tech giants: Netflix makes money from subscriptions, not advertising.
Someone help me. I can't parse the issue here.
Instead of trying to sell American ideas to a foreign audience, it's aiming to sell international ideas to a global audience.
So what? It's a business strategy, not a social agenda. If it works and that's what people want, bully for them.
News flash, for most people what being a "nationalist" means is enjoying and celebrating the uniqueness of your culture. It doesn't mean they want everyone and everything else to be like them - quite the opposite.
Anyone who enjoys travel and visiting people across the world is inherently a nationalist, someone who would not welcome all cultures being ironed out into one boring mass.
So of course people are interested in watching shows that explore other cultures around the world, even if that is secondary to the purpose of the show...
I really like some of the foreign shows Netflix for a unique cultural perspective they bring - my favorite of those is "3%", a show from Brazil that anyone would enjoy. Others like Babylon Berlin are really interesting...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Is there a German or Argentinian version of 'Game of Thrones'
No, but there is a British one on Netflix called "The Crown". However nudity is limited to the occassional ankle, violence is just seemingly polite but extremely biting remarks, weddings are white not red and Hadrian built the wall in the north but once they get to the Brexit era UKIP are will be just like the white-riders that threaten to destroy the kingdom. Try it out - it just might be your cup of tea!
South Korea is definitely a rising pop culture global power.
In terms of films produced, the most prolific countries are (in order): India, Nigeria, the US, China, Japan, France, UK, then South Korea. Nigeria is a regional film superpower in Africa, but its cinema largely unknown by American audiences. Likewise while China is the second must *lucrative* film industry in the world after the US, not many of the films made there are seen internationally.
Bollywood by sheer numbers is bound to produce some content that would appeal to American audiences, but I think South Korea is the one to watch. They produce a variety of historical epics, modern drama and fantasy that would appeal to significant American audiences.
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Bad news: It is Netflix.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact