Page 20 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

4 Policy and Industry

film industry. The French decided to protect their domestic audiovisual
industries at a time when talks were underway to “ liberalize ” world trade.
Liberalization makes trade between countries as free as possible from gov-
ernment control by removing barriers such as tariffs, quotas, and customs
restrictions. Such world trade talks were initially meant to cover all com-
mercial goods. But in 1994, France declared culture to be an exception
and argued that cultural goods, because they had a high degree of idea-
tional content and were bound up with the health of the national culture,
were not in fact commercial in character. Yes, they were bought and sold,
but their cultural value in maintaining a distinct French cultural way of
life had also to be taken into account. They helped to defi ne French
culture. If all French cultural production disappeared because it could not
match the market power of American cultural products, harm would be
done to the idea and the reality of a distinct French cultural identity.

There would be no more French film or distinctly French literature. The
argument assumed that one culture, because of language, history, and a
common way of life, is different from another and has a distinct identity
apart from others. The French argued that American mass cultural prod-
ucts such as Steven Spielberg ’ s fi lm Jurassic Park create an international
“ monoculture, ” much as McDonald ’ s, when spread all over the world,
runs the risk of fostering international culinary uniformity. In monocul-
ture, culture everywhere would be the same. There would be no Chinese
movies, no Australian movies, and no African movies. Only Hollywood
would thrive because it is the most efficient, skilled, and popular fi lm

production source. According to David Ricardo, whose theories of inter-
national economic liberalization guide the effort to make the world mar-
ketplace entirely free of government supervision, some countries do some
things better than others. If American makes better movies, then others
should buy films from America and ship to America the things that they

make best, such as French wine and cheese. France should stop trying to
make films if they cannot compete on the world market. Let American

make the movies since they do that more efficiently, and let France stick
to what it does best – cooking, wine, and tourism.
The pure theory of economic liberalization clearly ignores the question
of cultural identity and marginalizes the issue of cultural survival. The
French made their case by noting that, were the market allowed to
determine what audiovisual cultural products the French consumed,
French products would not fare well, and French cultural production
would wane, especially in film and television. American fi lms account