6.3 Film and Television

Hollywood and the World

For over a century, Hollywood has been the dominant force in global cinema. American films account for the majority of box-office revenue in most countries, and English-language television series dominate global streaming platforms. This cultural influence is so pervasive that many people around the world grow up as familiar with New York and Los Angeles as with their own national landscapes.

The rise of streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max has accelerated this trend while also complicating it. These platforms distribute English-language content globally while simultaneously investing in local-language productions. The result is a media landscape that is both more dominated by English than ever and more diverse than it has ever been. This chapter examines Hollywood's global influence, the economics behind English-language dominance, the ongoing debate about subtitles versus dubbing, and critical questions about whose stories are being told on screen.

Why Hollywood Dominates -- and the Streaming Paradox

Hollywood -- broadly, the American film industry centred in Los Angeles -- has been the world's most commercially successful film industry since the early twentieth century. Several factors explain its dominance: economic scale (studios spend 100-300 million dollars on a single film), distribution networks (American studios control global distribution through Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, and Sony), a star system that creates globally recognized names, genre expertise in high-budget spectacles like superhero and sci-fi films that cross cultural boundaries, and the language advantage of English already being understood by billions. In most European countries, American films account for 60-80 percent of box-office revenue, though this is lower in markets with strong local industries like Bollywood, Nollywood, and Chinese cinema. Through film, American cultural values and lifestyles are transmitted worldwide, and Hollywood sets global standards for filmmaking technique and narrative structure.

Streaming platforms create a fascinating paradox. Take Netflix: available in over 190 countries with over 230 million subscribers, it reinforces English dominance because its most-watched content tends to be English-language and its algorithm promotes English content globally with the highest production budgets. Yet at the same time, Netflix invests billions in local-language content, and some local productions achieve massive global success -- Squid Game (Korean), Money Heist (Spanish), Dark (German), and Sacred Games (Hindi) -- made accessible through subtitles and dubbing. So streaming platforms simultaneously reinforce English dominance (through algorithm bias and budget allocation) and challenge it (by giving non-English content global distribution). The runaway success of Squid Game suggests audiences are increasingly willing to consume non-English content, potentially loosening English's grip on global entertainment.

Subtitles, Dubbing, and Representation

When English-language content travels to non-English-speaking countries (and vice versa), it must be translated -- and the choice between subtitling and dubbing carries cultural weight. Subtitling displays text translation at the bottom of the screen; it preserves the original actors' voices and linguistic nuances but requires reading and divides attention. It dominates in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Portugal, and much of Asia. Dubbing re-records the dialogue in the target language; it allows full visual engagement but loses original vocal performances. It dominates in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and much of Latin America. There is a notable pattern: subtitling cultures tend to have higher English proficiency. Norway, as a subtitling culture, exposes viewers to English from a young age, contributing to its high English proficiency, while dubbing cultures may be more protective of their national language. Streaming now offers both options, blurring the old divide and empowering viewers to choose.

Film and television do not merely entertain -- they shape how the world understands different peoples, and when Hollywood is the dominant storyteller, its choices about representation have global consequences. Historical issues include whitewashing (casting white actors in roles written for people of colour), stereotyping (reducing cultures to simplistic tropes), erasure (entire communities absent from media), and the "white saviour" narrative (stories about non-Western communities centred on a white protagonist). But there has been progress: films like Black Panther (2018) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018) proved global commercial demand for diverse stories; Parasite (2020, Korean) challenged the English-language monopoly on prestige at the Oscars; and movements like #OscarsSoWhite pushed for greater inclusion. This matters for English learners directly: when you consume English-language media, you are not just learning language -- you are absorbing cultural narratives, so critical awareness of representation helps you engage thoughtfully.

Summary

Hollywood controls the global film industry through economic scale, distribution networks, star power, and the English-language advantage, with American films dominating box offices in most countries. Streaming platforms like Netflix create a paradox: they simultaneously reinforce English dominance and open the door for non-English content, as the global success of Squid Game shows. The choice between subtitling and dubbing reflects cultural attitudes toward language and has measurable effects on English proficiency -- Norway's subtitling tradition contributes to its high English competence. And because English-language media shapes global perceptions, representation matters: historical problems of whitewashing, stereotyping, and erasure are being challenged by films like Black Panther and Parasite and movements like #OscarsSoWhite. Critical consumption -- being aware of how stories are told and by whom -- is essential for informed global citizenship.