The Cultural Algorithm

Culture Matters:Award ceremonies have long been used by people in the media and entertainment industry to make statements about our world. Occasionally controversial, one consistent theme revisited year after year is culture and impact on content. One of the most memorable statements was when, in 1973, Marlon Brando refused the Best Actor Academy Award for his role in "The Godfather." Native American actress Sacheen Littlefeather took to the stage and declined the award due to Brando's views of "the treatment of American Indians by the film industry, of TV movie reruns, and also recent happenings at Wounded Knee." Littlefeather thanked the audience for their indulgence and said her hope was "…in the future, our hearts and understandings will meet with love and generosity."

We spend a lot of time examining how different industries approach culture. One industry that has lessons for media and entertainment is advertising. Like film, advertising tells stories, albeit 30-90 seconds versus 30-90 minutes. Still, advertising's long history of initially getting culture wrong, learning from those mistakes, making relevant changes, and winning market share are valuable lessons for content creators.

Spread across thousands of islands bustling with beautiful flora and fauna, Indonesia is the world's largest island country. Over the centuries, its people have welcomed several cultures they came across through trade and commerce. As a result, we now have a melting pot of cultures in Indonesia to study and appreciate.

Worldwide, 71 countries criminalize same-sex behavior. Eleven can and do legally put people to death for participating in same-sex acts, and 15 more criminalize transgender, cross-dressing, and impersonation. Those countries include sizable Media and Entertainment (M&E) markets. These regulations are challenging for the creators of LGBTQ+ content who want to release it internationally. How do they balance the tension of complying with local regulations and their desire to reach audiences who may enjoy their work and make money? How do they navigate evolving public sentiment with rigid censorship requirements?

While much of the European Union acknowledges and accepts LGBTQ+ rights and relationships, Lithuania has some of the strictest laws in the region. The Baltic Republic was originally part of USSR, which itself has a history of being unfriendly to LGBTQ+ people. In 2020, more than 16 years after joining the EU, Lithuanians continue to oppose granting the LGBTQ+ community the same rights as heterosexuals. According to surveys conducted by the European Commission, only 30% support same-sex marriages .

Pressure on content creators to ensure their productions are suitable for international markets is exponentially increasing. It began in earnest with the release of blockbuster films in the late 70s and 80s, where meeting global demand meant little more than subtitling or language dubs for three or four languages. Very few major films received the complete treatment of multiple language translations that movies and TV shows currently receive because the distribution chain wasn't what it is today, and costs were prohibitively expensive.

On June 11, 2021, Hong Kong’s government expanded its film regulations to more closely reflect mainland China’s censorship rules. The regulations, which went into effect immediately, were issued under the stated purpose of protecting “national security” and attempting to provide balance “between protection of individual rights and freedoms on the one hand, and the protection of such legitimate societal interests on the other.”

In what can be seen as another step towards stifling LGBTQ rights in the only non-democratic government in the European Union, Hungarian lawmakers on June 15th 2021 passed a law that bans the use of any material in schools that can be construed as promoting homosexuality and gender change.

Over the past few months, this blog has examined changes in ratings criteria in India , Australia and reactions to specific titles, such as “ Family Guy ” and “ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” The purpose has been to look at regulation from a cultural perspective and the practical impacts on content creators. In this post, we’re going to take a different perspective: that of the viewing public and their reaction to regulatory changes. In particular we will look at the recently published language guide by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and public reaction to changes impacting U-rated titles.