FILM: a FacILItator oF cULtUre For those abroad

By Julia Marques Da Silva

Film is probably one of the most important ways of importing different cultures abroad, and allowing people access to new spaces that they might not be able to enter otherwise. While streaming services such as Netflix offer media from different countries and different national identities, they do not facilitate the transnational network of culture provided by internationally distributed film and their streamed content sometimes fails to grasp cultural nuances. In some cases, Netflix’s content, which is designed to appeal to a specific region in the world, promotes stereotypes of or romanticizes different cultures, packaging them in a more easily consumed and globalized way. Consequently, the audience that this media attempts to appeal to is not always the same audience that it reaches. However, the rise in localized streaming services has made Netflix largely irrelevant in the race to form transnationally significant cultural exchanges between host and origin countries.

My own transnational background as a Brazilian American has allowed me a personal insight into these phenomena. Having gained access to a Brazilian streaming service called GloboPlay, I have found myself amongst a treasure trove of Brazilian media. The service was created by TV Globo, the largest Latin American TV network, and the second-largest commercial TV network after the American Broadcasting Company. As a network, Globo produces a variety of content, including four telenovelas aired from Monday through Saturday evenings, news coverage, and special coverage for events such as Carnival and Brazilian football league games. Globo has been one of the biggest producers of Brazilian content for many decades. Before Globo’s streaming platform opened access to its content from outside the country, people would go to great lengths to remain in touch with the comforts of home media. Maxine L. Margolis’ ethnography of Brazilians living in New York City shares how some, on their return to Brazil would record hours of Globo’s novellas onto videocassettes and share them with their friends back in the U.S., so as to stay in touch with the culture of their home country. Now, with GloboPlay, much of this media can be accessed around the world, allowing the Brazilian diaspora to stay in touch with the pop culture back home. The impact of Globo within transnational spaces can also be seen throughout the decades in other Lusophone countries. Brazilian telenovelas have become so popular in Portugal, that there have been discussions about the impact of Brazilian media on Portuguese culture, language, and the Portuguese accent in particular.

Globo provides an important link for Brazilians living in their host country. Telenovelas set in the present recognize when holidays are coming up, depict cultural events like Carnival, and consider contemporary issues such as climate change and internet safety. These telenovelas exhibit a Brazil-focused approach, which platforms like Netflix are unable to do despite their global audience. They also recognize the nuances of regional accents, slang, dress, and food, among other cultural aspects, which might not be appreciated on larger streaming platforms. Importantly, GloboPlay has given me access to shows that my mother, grandparents, and aunt are watching, allowing me to watch along with them, just as I did when I was little. When I visit them, we still share a common interest that would not exist without the transnational exchange of film and media content. GloboPlay, and other streaming services like it, have facilitated these transnational connections for people living in host countries, giving them the chance to stay more in touch with their own culture than ever.