Hollywood and transcultural sensitivities

When we say sports and entertainment know no boundaries, we contextualise them in cross-border politics and warfare. The strained relationships between two South Asian arch rivals – Pakistan and India – have marred their sports and entertainment. The sports teams of the two countries don't play on each other's soil, but at neutral venues. The artists are similarly barred from performing across the border. But the saner voices rally against the politicising of sports and entertainment.

There is another factor that stops the exchange of entertainment between nations. That's the culture. The moral differences between the Eastern and the Western cultures have deprived the Eastern viewers of all the opportunities of enjoying Western entertainment in their family time. Pakistani viewers are suffering comparatively more because of the quality of their native entertainment. Commonly known as Lollywood, in imitation of Bollywood and Hollywood, Pakistani film industry produces movies that are shorn of all the literary maturity and artistic diligence. The entertainment is also shallow subject-wise. The Lollywood productions don't ever treat international issues. On the other hand, whenever Bollywood endeavours to internationalise its subjects, it gravitates towards churning out propaganda, usually peddled either against Pakistan or China.

The only entertainment the Pakistani viewers are left with for their family time is the dramas telecast on private channels. The subjects here, too, are parochial and shopworn. Currently, Pakistani drama stands at its lowest ebb, bordering melodrama.

Though the Pakistani viewers subscribe to streaming platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime, they rarely resort to these channels for family time entertainment. One may argue that the international entertainment on these channels is properly rated as 13+, 16+ or 18+. So this type of entertainment is not the family type. Most parents like me fail to make the most of the subscriptions of the streaming channels. Then, what are Eastern families left with? Animations, for-all-ages animals movies or Barbie movies. But this innocuous category is not prolific. The frequency of new productions in it is much slower than that in the other categories. An entertainment devoid of variety or freedom of choice is no entertainment at all.

The onus lies on Hollywood. As entertainment knows no borders, it must also know no culture. Or it must be sensitive to other cultures to lend itself an internationalised character. When it respects viewers' ages, it must also respect their cultures. For instance, in Western cultures, it is normal to display spousal affection in public. So, in Hollywood movies, scenes of intimacy become part of the entertainment. It would be normal in their cultures to watch suggestive content in the family. But, in Asian cultures, it goes beyond the family decorum. Explicitness can't be equated with realism.

When Hollywood has a separate category of adult entertainment, what's the need, then, for showing intimate scenes in the action or thriller movies? I have subscribed to a video streaming website, but when my children crave some action movie at the weekend, I can't satisfy their craving. I decide to watch the movie myself first, and every time I fail to find a Hollywood movie without any carnal innuendos. The scenes showing tender moments are fast-forwarded to escape family embarrassment. All the above cultural sensitivities force the family members to glue to the digital rectangle for hours. That's the death of family entertainment. And we all know the havoc solo entertainment can wreak with familial cohesion. Remember the mini-series Adolescence.

The children, while surfing social media, come across shorts of the movies like James Bond, Indiana Jones or Mission Impossible. They read their names in textbooks of foreign publishers being taught in our schools. They insist on watching those movies, but parents divert their attention to something acceptable like cartoons.

Why can't Hollywood be kosher enough to find a berth in family entertainment? Being the world story teller, it must cater to cultural sensitivities because one culture can't be treated as a universal dress code. Sensitivity is not censorship. Globalisation demands global awareness.