Do they really think that a british accent is so different that making an american version makes sense instead of simply importing it?
Er, while I don't disagree that sometimes the reasons for a remake are too heavily weighted on the financial, and there are some genuinely stupid people who produce shows, the US and UK culture are not quite that interchangeable. Compatible, sure. Thank god. But look at Queer as Folk.
Directly importing that show to the US would not work except as an imported show. And there's nothing wrong with it along those lines, at all. But a lot of things that will resonate strongly with a UK audience won't with a US audience. Not because we're stupid or uninformed, but just because there are significant differences in the culture, language, laws, and references. Gay in the UK is very different than gay in the US. Similar, sure. Enough that one can watch both shows and enjoy them.
But they aren't the same at all. Our cultures are different, no matter how many similarities we can point to. And sometimes exploring those differences is worth it.
Now, all that said, Being Human is not a show that particularly suffers from that issue and this is just a stupid idea all around.
But it's not so simple as me needing closed captioning when I watch Masterpiece Theater.
Our cultures are different, no matter how many similarities we can point to.
See, in my country it's not an issue. Shows are imported (from the US, from other parts of Europe, from south America, from Japan, etc. etc. etc.), they are dubbed or subtitled, and then aired. The closest I've ever seen to trying to soften the cultural blow was this summer, when they aired a bunch of Bollywood movies and they edited the musical numbers out (I was so mad, personally! I kept watching the movies specifically for the big dance-song sequences!)
They edited the musical numbers?! Um, how can it be Bollywood without those numbers!
That's like watching The Sound of Music with no music!!
Weird.
The US isn't very good at importing media wholesale. We're a lot better with movies, and we certainly consume a lot of it, as a generic mass of users - foreign films, BBC, PBS, and our newfound addiction to torrenting make it easier.
But when it comes to TV shows, the idea of watching something that 'someone made overseas' just... doesn't really fly (there are exceptions, of course, just... not a lot*). People will complain that it's not American enough.
Personally, I find this beyond stupid. I consume quite a lot of media not based in the US with enthusiasm and I'm probably better for it. But the idea of taking a show from, say, France and dubbing it for mainstream? No way.
* One of the biggest exceptions to this is stuff from Japan. We'll dub their anime and their cheesy terrible kids-turn-into-fighters shows, like Power Rangers, with great enthusiasm cause it's cheap as hell and it's easy to make a buck and nobody but kids and purists care.
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Er, while I don't disagree that sometimes the reasons for a remake are too heavily weighted on the financial, and there are some genuinely stupid people who produce shows, the US and UK culture are not quite that interchangeable. Compatible, sure. Thank god. But look at Queer as Folk.
Directly importing that show to the US would not work except as an imported show. And there's nothing wrong with it along those lines, at all. But a lot of things that will resonate strongly with a UK audience won't with a US audience. Not because we're stupid or uninformed, but just because there are significant differences in the culture, language, laws, and references. Gay in the UK is very different than gay in the US. Similar, sure. Enough that one can watch both shows and enjoy them.
But they aren't the same at all. Our cultures are different, no matter how many similarities we can point to. And sometimes exploring those differences is worth it.
Now, all that said, Being Human is not a show that particularly suffers from that issue and this is just a stupid idea all around.
But it's not so simple as me needing closed captioning when I watch Masterpiece Theater.
no subject
See, in my country it's not an issue. Shows are imported (from the US, from other parts of Europe, from south America, from Japan, etc. etc. etc.), they are dubbed or subtitled, and then aired. The closest I've ever seen to trying to soften the cultural blow was this summer, when they aired a bunch of Bollywood movies and they edited the musical numbers out (I was so mad, personally! I kept watching the movies specifically for the big dance-song sequences!)
no subject
That's like watching The Sound of Music with no music!!
Weird.
The US isn't very good at importing media wholesale. We're a lot better with movies, and we certainly consume a lot of it, as a generic mass of users - foreign films, BBC, PBS, and our newfound addiction to torrenting make it easier.
But when it comes to TV shows, the idea of watching something that 'someone made overseas' just... doesn't really fly (there are exceptions, of course, just... not a lot*). People will complain that it's not American enough.
Personally, I find this beyond stupid. I consume quite a lot of media not based in the US with enthusiasm and I'm probably better for it. But the idea of taking a show from, say, France and dubbing it for mainstream? No way.
* One of the biggest exceptions to this is stuff from Japan. We'll dub their anime and their cheesy terrible kids-turn-into-fighters shows, like Power Rangers, with great enthusiasm cause it's cheap as hell and it's easy to make a buck and nobody but kids and purists care.