Fairy Tales And Culture Industry Media Essay

Fairy Tales And Culture attention Media EssayThe western fag tales perk up basically undergone three major stages of transitions the oral form the literary form and finally the digital form. Originally, faery tales in the western civilization atomic number 18 oral tribe tale of magic which serve to express lower classes wishes to satisfy their needs and requisites. (Jack, )Toward the end of 17th century, effect press altered oral tales into a refreshful literary genre. The rationalization of sprite tales, due to hinderance of gatekeepers in blocking fantasy fairy tales while publishing those stresses christian morality, has hindered creativity. At the same time, change magnitude production of new tales for amusement illustrates Adornos culture industry which mars pagan heritage and imagination for increase production and net income.Then came to the era of digital form, one of the most successful genres of fairy tales, during World struggle II and Great Depression. Wid espread misery brought in the idea of producing fairy-tale deals to make money from peoples longing for happiness.(Jack, ) Standards were base in the first place on consumers needs, and for that reason were accepted with so little resistance. The result is the roach of manipulation and retroactive need in which the unity of the system grows even heavyer. (Adorno Horkheimer, 1976)Fairy tales give way been commodified and influenced by proliferation of adaptations for gos. Today, fairy tales become a form of entertainment, embracing the concept of marketing and advertisement. The change is in short letter with two main roles of culture industry to create profits and to stimulate economic changes.Case regard Walt Disney CompanyThe fairy-tale film industryWalt Disney, the ever successful model of fairy-tale film industry, is said to keep fairy tales alive by films and makeup parks.Bringing us back to the standard structure of western fairy tales as shown in the classic stor ies corresponding The Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty the white princess who soon gets into trouble and carry through by Prince Charming, followed by an inheritant end of the story and they lived happily ever aft(prenominal), we realize that the idea of pseudo-individualization in Disneys archeozoic films may be square(a). This maybe strategy to reduce quality uncertainty as well as risk of trying to be innovative and to assure profitability by providing consumers something they familiar to or previously successful storylines.However, realizing the fact that consumers are no longer as passive and uncritical as what Adorno critiqued, Disney close(a) to adapt to the ever-demanding consumers by moving in sup rising slope and interesting ways instead of imitating or reproducing what had been done before. modernization has contributed to a switch-over in power to the consumers.Disney gives birth to its first black princess, Tiana, in its recent animated fairy-tale film The Princess and the Frog inspired by old tale The Frog Prince. E realone knows the story in which a princess finds true love by kissing a toad frog that magically turns into her handsome prince. Tiana still kisses a frog but the result is quite different. Besides trying to surprise its audiences with a fresh twist in the mix of humour, thrills and melody, Disney as well moved away from its usual macho genre by protraying a strong and independent girl who is so determined in pursuing her dreams instead of waiting to be rescued as other princesses. By using familiar characters and title, Disney tends to appear to the public with a simple, immediate and well recognizable identity which helps to reduce the uncertainty and to attract consumers while manifesting the differences from the original story based on their similarities.Since film is considered an experiential commodity that quality isnt vexible prior consumption, successful branding becomes essential as it is emotionally reward ing to consumers and financially rewarding for the line of work. What Disney differentiates itself from other competitors is making people blissful.In order to fight more effectively, besides using advanced technology to stand place among competitors, Disney as well relies on advertising to lure consumers to watch its movie which again reflects self-renewal nature of culture industry of creating artificial needs through advertising and satisfying those needs through consumers consumption. Cult of stars and famous creators are also used to convince the consumers of the films quality by their celebrity place in the field.Windowing is not new to Disney. Disney has expanded its line from VCDs, DVDs to Blu-ray in recent years as part of efforts in ext goal the life-cycle of its films by moving to smaller theaters.Due to the rising cost of production and racy risk of failure, Disney has a wide repertoire of cultural unspoileds under it as part of risk management. As one of the wo rlds largest conglomerates, Disney dominates in various media business encompassing movies, music, publising, TV and theme parks.As Negus (1999) stated, Culture produces an industry. Corporate culture impacts the workers and the cultural products they produce then affect the economic profits. As one of the worlds best company to work in, Disney has always been promoting a vibrant culture that allows risk winning and innovation. It also promotes positive and inclusive ideas about families, passion and dedication among its employees.As in other wait on business, the quality of service offer make or break Disney. In order to keep up with consumers ever-more-demanding expectations, quality and service are built into all the training programs taught by Disney University. Benchmarks are set to vizor employees quality or service. This illustrates the manipulation of emotional labour as workers are increasingly being expect to display certain emotions but to suppress others in order to provide quality function. Although workers are not passive and may react or fight back, in most cases, they tend to comply to the incorporated norms as job market is very competitive.New Trends in Disney Fairy-tale Film Industry Threats OpportunitiesDigital Piracy-As in other industry, piracy is not a new issue facing Disney. But the coming of file sharing system and availability of free films on the Internet further undermine the industry. copyright protection becomes louter as users can always develop new methods to bypass.With the advent of downloading technology, consumers are able to entre to free movies just within hours after their release in theaters. Since then, consumers dont perceive a need to turn out more for cinema tickets for just once and even more expensive home basevideos.In addition, fairy-tale films lack of the spare effects that underlying the difference between the enjoyment of the movie at the cinema or at the home is of the factors as well. Therefo re, Disneys emphasizing on 3D fairy-tale films production may be part of strategies to repair the cinema as the priviledged place for film experience and high quality entertainment.Competition TV cxxxWith new features much(prenominal) as streaming Internet movies and 3D capabilities added to the digital TVs, Disney is fighting a sadder trend.Sony, Panasonic and Samsung have continually come out with new digital TVs with Internet hook-ups that can grab Flickr photos and directly get in touch to sources such(prenominal) as Netflix and YouTube videos and news stories through a broadband connection. In addition, Dell and HP also sell computers with HDMI outputs that can be hooked up directly to a TV. This is especially convenient for those running(a) people who are too busy to catch movies in cinema.It is predicted that more valued-priced TVs with Internet connection go out be born in the future. Watching films online with swelled-screen TV will also become a mainstream and big wa ve in the industry.DigitalizationDigitalization becomes a landmark development in Disneys evolution of home entertainment. Recognizing the pervasiveness of digital consumption especially among young audiences, Disney comes to embrace digitalization to expand its market and gain access to new revenue resources while meeting consumers demands.Recently, Walt Disney Corporation released KeyChest, a new technology that enables films distribution using computers and cell phone rather than DVDs and TVs. To compete more effectively, Disney provides value and above that provided by free films such as easy storage, higher quality, virus and legal threat protection, and acccess in multiple form and locations. KeyChest is also intended to be a multie-corporate venture as consumers wont have much of a medley to choose from if only Disney is involved.Digitalization which is more cost effective than physical one expose Disney to a big audience. Digital medium like the Internet can serve as a new platform for its established practice of windowing . In addition, being able to clinch the opportunity of digital distribution, it is believed that Disney can better control and fight against digital piracy since it ultimately has control over consumption of the content. Neverthe little, the digitalization movement may seem to widen digital divide as some people have very limited or no access to digital and information technology at all.The high performance at box office of Disneys films indicates that consumers are still willing to pay more for good movies. While computer screen maynot where consumers want to access their films, the industry also need to cater to those consumers who like to own a physical product. By applying value-based pricing policy, consumers can watch the films in the price that matches their values, thus expanding Disneys market and increasing economic profits.It is predicted that the digital distribution of films will expand significantly and transform Dis neys film from a product to a service in the recent future. Taking lessons from the music industry, the digitalisation is a great opportunity to sustain well in global market.Tie-ins and Spin-off Selling of disneys productsDisneys brand is recognise through the characters marketed in their films and mechandise. trade comes with a long history, but the packages grow larger and even larger today.Fairy-tale films, especially those gain popularity, have always been the center-piece of a package with all other accessories like book, diet, toys and clothes. Disney increases its productions ledge life and extracts money by generating peoples interest and enjoyment on it and though the succession of new audience-generations. Merchandising which starts even before the release of the film, is able to enhance the value of a movie that performs badly at the box office.By creating cute and appealing characters targeted mainly at children, Disney seeks to entice children who are more vulnerabl e to such appeals by satisfying artificial needs it creates. Since consumers tend to attribute their own value to the goods, resulting in almost worship of cultural goods. The fanatical consumption of the latest release of The Princess and the Frog wide rank of merchandises is a testament to this.In addition, some tactics such as strategic positioning of outlets are used to increase consumers inclination to consume even though they never intend to do so. This brings us to realize what Bryaman (2004) called Disneyization, a process of creating variety and differences and removing of basic needs to entice consumers into consumption beyond necessity. As mentioned, consumers are not passive but most of the time, we are still unconsicously falling into the trap of consumerism.Nowadays, Disneys tie-ins to fast food restaurants seems to be a norm and results in what we call hybrid consumption. By giving consumers the merchandises they want either for free or at a lower price through fast food consumption, the fast food industry increases its patronage whereas Disney gains constant publicity for its existing or forthcoming films and makes profits from the process while keeping Disney in peoples mind.According to Disneys vice-president of marketing at Buena Vista UK, These movies are very expensive to make and release and these tie-ins get us exposure we couldnt afford to buy.Globalization disneyficationOver the years, Disney has been expanding its business in a coordinated manner to almost every corner of the planet.Robertson argued that the production and promotion of goods and services on a global scale requires close, ongoing sensitivity to cultural differences in local circumstances. Its resound success can be attributed to its transformation into a truly global enterprise and transculturation by victorious account into cultural differences while maintaining cultural authenticity American culture. In order to ensure its films dont ascertain so different as to allienate the nonwestern audiences, Disney always seeks to modify its products to fit consumers tastes in each market well-nigh the world. Therefore, local managers are rendered more power and accountability to increase the globalization of Disneys products by ensuring the products are topically relevant to the consumers, leading to more strategic distribution and marketing planning. The company also transforms the mode of demonstration to which the non-western audiences can respond such as different language subtitles in the films. In China, for example, products are locate to appeal to Chinese consumers.As globalization is no longer one way homogenous cultural flow from the West to the East but multiple processes that spreads heterogenous global culture through enrichment by variety and diversity of local cultures, Disney starts to absorb and extend its narrative repertoire to include more or less distinct cultures and non-western characters in films such as Aladdin (Middle E ast), The Lion King (Africa) and Mulan (china). From the production perspective, the extension may be seen as marketing gimmick aimed at capturing more diverse audiences and thus expands its service reporting into international markets when it acquires more markets in these cultures.Besides catering to the needs of global audiences, Disney also creates a find of cultural autheticity in globalizing its local cultural products. In The Princess and the Frog, there is dialectical tension between particularism and generalism. In order to capture cultural autheticity of New Orleans, one the oldest cities in America, distinctly American sound such as Jazz and gospel is used in the film. By universalising the culture to the other side of the world, Disney came out with a natural love story blended with advernturous storytelling, offbeat comedy, captivating characters built on universal longing for happiness. The fateful kiss between Tiana and the frog from different world and social stat us brings them on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous. The intricate love story and characters flaws give consumers a sense of realistic. Disney also took advantage of feminism and wove it in the film to attract audiences, especially effeminates, by protraying a strong and independent girl who has motivation desire in pursuing her dreams.As in reality, it is no longer a love at first sight but a couple who rightfully dont like each other at first sight fall for each other after spending time together. Tiana doesnt know how to appreciate live whereas Prince Naveen is spoiled and irresponsible. A prince that really influences a heroin, he teaches Tiana how to appreciate her life. Their flaws reflects the reality which consumers can identify. Showing family love. who then facing problems of expressing love openly. The most striking fea ture is the female protagonist, Tiana. took advantage of a feminist touch to attract Asian audiences, esp women. Focuses on a tough wome n and wove the feminism into the film. true love can really thriump, to strive for an ending where everyone lives happile ever after. Tiana has her own motivating desire, motivations and decisions that drive her and make her interested and sympathetic.In fact, the film impressed the global audiences not really because of its singularity and exotics, but it pertains to their lives and cultures. Tiana is appealing as the female consumers can identify themselves with her and even want to cheer her on. The manufacturer maintains a global-local perspective, exploiting the particularity of local culture on the one hand and universalizing it for the world on the other. By fusing the fairy tale, advernture, music and comedy together, the film is reproduced and presented in a new style to the global audiences. The fairy tale genre, the use of English language, the setting of New Orleans, the American music and so on served to bring forth a strong sense of cultural authenticity.In a nutshel l, besides the ability to adapt to transculturation, the budding success of technology investment, the growing conglomeration to mobilize resources and pursue opportunities more effectively, and the elevated status of English as a global language all together provide a halcyon environment for the globalization of Disneys fairy-tale films.ConclusionDisney continues to sustain our dreams despite the cruelty of reality. It is Disneys ability to make people happy captivates a large audiences over the globe, thus it would be better with innovation without changing the happy ending that audiences emotionally attached to. Through various strategic management and its fast adaptation to threats and firm grasp of opportunities, Disney is coping well in going globalization. In fact, Disneys fairy-tale films do leave more or less some impacts on its audiences. Some love Disney as it make them feel like kids again, while some may think Disney brainwashes the audiences by adding subliminal messa ges in its films and gives girls delusion that Prince Charming is going to knock on their door one day.