Happily Ever After?

…and they all lived happily ever after. This is an ideal Americans are socialized to expect if not in their own lives, in the movies we watch. We go to the movies for an escape from reality. Often times our own lives are too stressful and we need to enter an alternate reality, where indeed everyone lives “happily ever after”. I find that European movies, including the Spanish movies I have seen while in Spain are more true to life. The characters and the plots don’t always end up just as the audience would expect or prefer. This past week I was fortunate enough to attend a Movie and Tapas night at school. We watched “Los Dias de Futbol”. I absolutely loved it! This wasn’t the most realistic movie of all times. It was a hilarious comedy, and so of course had some exaggerated characters and situations. However, at the end of the movie my friends and I were left disappointed when one of the main characters, Jorge, stays with girlfriend Violeta- who turned down his proposal and cheated on him! I have noticed this slight let down with characters or plot several times when watching European movies. Some of “the knots” are left untied or the ending is slightly different then the audience would have “liked”. To American audiences this can be unsettling at first. I am growing to appreciate these types of movies, because they really are more representative of real people and real life. Is it really necessary for everyone to “live happily ever after”? For me, the unexpected or slightly “unhappy” ending for some characters does not take away at all from the quality of the movie.

A Night at the Movies

I find Spain’s movie industry very interesting. According to what we discussed in class, the Spanish government actually helps fund the production of Spanish movies. The movies are seen as an art form that must be protected. The government helps fund these movies and actually requires a quota; a certain percentage of Spanish movies to be played in theaters. In America movies have historically been more for entertainment. Of course there is a very successful but smaller independent film movement in the United States; however the more popular American movies are funded by private producers. Americans would probably be outraged if their tax dollars went towards the creation of a movie, this would be a foreign concept to us. I was interested to learn that many Spanish movie theaters offer 'dia del Espectador' discounts. At these theaters each Wednesday is ‘dia del Espectador, when the theaters offer reduced entry prices. Last weekend a group of friends and I went to a theater in Plaza de Sol to enjoy a movie night. There was a long line to buy our tickets for the movie, but the theater itself wasn’t full. Although in the past Spain’s culture was somewhat ethnocentric and rejected anything from the U.S, with increased globalization they have increasingly adopted aspects of the American culture such as our movies. We chose to see The Karate Kid. It was a great night at the movies! That night with my friends there were several American movies playing at the theater, evidence of this Americanization of their film industry. When talking to my senora I was interested to learn that she doesn’t like Spanish movies. She finds them boring and according to her many other Spaniards also prefer American movies over the more traditional and artistic Spanish films. It was very interesting to visit a Spanish movie theater and to also receive an insider’s point of view.

Spanish Newspapers

As newspapers worldwide are declining in readership and more publishing companies are turning to the web, it is interesting to note the differences in Spanish and U.S newspapers. As I have gained a slightly firmer grasp on the Spanish language, I have started to read more newspapers. My senora buys the newspaper daily. This is a refreshing change because at home in the United States, my family now relies solely on the TV and internet for the news. In America I feel that people read newspapers for objective news. In Madrid it is just the opposite, the newspapers are very subjective. People know where they stand politically and they choose to read newspapers which reflect this opinion. Largely circulated Spanish newspapers can have cover stories with a very blatant bias. According to “journalistic standards” in the United States, this would never happen. Large U.S newspapers attempt to publish the news with as little bias as possible. A slanted story in a popular U.S newspaper would receive great criticism. In America people go on the internet to find their more subjective version of the news. I feel that this is another difference in Spain, if people want the straight facts they will go online. There is an obvious difference in journalistic style; Spanish newspapers being more subjective, U.S newspapers more objective. However, they are both at risk as internet takes over the news world. I fear that in the U.S Americans have become accustomed to reading “objective” newspapers, where journalists have pre-balanced both sides of the issue at hand. This causes Americans to believe everything they read. I believe Spaniards are more analytical and opinionated than most Americans in how they read the news. This is of course a good thing to be analytical and opinionated, but we can’t forget that are always two sides to an issue. It is important to try to see these different points of views. Do Spaniards fail to do this, when relying only on their biased news papers?