"Why are locals more than happy to pay $500 for a Taylor Swift concert but not even $12 to watch a movie by a local filmmaker." part 1

During this recent talk "Conversations on Storytelling in Singapore" a question raised struck a chord.

"Why are locals more than happy to pay $500 for a Taylor Swift concert but not even $12 to watch a movie by a local filmmaker."

These are accomplished film makers that entered/won prestigious film awards and have fought + struggled to get their film made but yet no one here is interested to watch in the cinema while "How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies" and "Deadpool/Wolverine" made bank at the local box office. 

And over the decades, I have heard similar questions and you might have heard several different explanations so this question finally triggered me to finish this post that has been simmering in the back of my head for over a 3 years or so. I was curious + invested enough to go on a bit of a dive into the reason behind the distaste a lot of us have for local media and also their consequences.

So for me, it boils down to 3 fundamental and related issues.

1. ) Cynicism - A distrust and lack of empathy for locally produced content which leads to

2.) Lack of Budget - Perceived inferior quality of local shows. 

Resulting in

3.) Cultural Cringe- A deep rooted prejudice against all things local.

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1.) Cynicism.

I feel that after decades of parents convincing their kids to take up careers that values monetary values over all others, we have a society that do not understand and therefore care for the value art to society. Not its monetary value but its ability for us to appreciate and understand the world around us. Not just its physical and aesthetic attributes but also our emotional understanding, fulfilment as human beings and in the words of Kit Chan, "Where I belong".

If a huge percentage of society cannot appreciate or undervalue its own art, why would they trust that the quality of artwork (including shows/movies) coming out of artists locally? We are after all a pragmatic society. Even a minister flew to LA and paid Taylor Swift millions so that Singapore is the exclusive stop in South East Asia. (Brilliant business move, douchy neighbor move) That really says all you need about the perception of local arts in Singapore.

But I think the main contributing factor is actually more nuanced. Its OB markers and self censorship we have in society. There is a video that reasons better than I can. 

Essentially to me, state run TV station's primary function is to disperse and explain policies and promote social cohesion etc in the guise of entertainment. Not to question, not to offer counter perspectives or comparison. No nuances. All conflicts are surface levels or just the same old regurgitated over the last decades. So why as audience should we expect any difference in the cinema what we don't even watch for free at home? 

On top of that, as a producer if your show and movie is banned in Singapore, its money down the drain especially if the target audience is local. The financial risk is too high for a lot of companies to even tackle these topics. And with the rules being vague and obtuse, this means avoidance of hard to deal with or taboo issues. Which ironically are subjects that might make audience want to watch the show.

The solution is of course MORE VFX and virtual production! Who cares about better stories that resonate with audience when we can just throw a flying dragon and 4K resolution on the volume!

I sadly jest but it leads nicely to the 2nd issue.

2.) Lack of Budget.

If as a society, we do not appreciate art, how are we still able to create memorable shows in the 80s, 90s and up to the early 00s?

Like most things in Singapore, we have been importing expertise and manpower even before  colonialisation.  

A lot of Chinese TV shows in the 80s were created by Hong Kong writers and directors who have years of experiences over there. And the quality showed. There were also local apprentices who understudied them that gained experience and developed shows in the 90s.

Even the English sitcoms like Under One Roof and Phua Chu Kang and comics like Mr Kiasu had relatively huge success because the writers had time to actually refine their craft. 

This brings up 2 questions. 

a.) What afforded them the time to refine and work on their stories?

b.) Why if society did not have regards for arts care to watch these shows and make them a hit?

So here is the 1st one. 

a.) What afforded them the time to refine and work on their stories?

Short answer - Much bigger markets in the 80s and 90s before internet and Netflix that TCS can sell to. Their shows travel to China and regionally because their markets were not yet as developed and the quality of the shows showed compared to what they have. And with more market to sell to, they have more money to make better shows. Compared to the HK industry during that time we are ikan bilis to their shark. But once China opened up in the 00s and start making their own shows, the budget they had and the sheer volume of shows to make drained everyone there cutting off a huge revenue source. Regional countries that used to buy our shows also had their industry maturing.  

So talent drain and increasing cuts to budget are what we are now.   

b.) Why if society did not have regards for arts care to watch these shows and make them a hit?

Resonance and engagement. Regardless of which country the shows were made, stories that are successful all have one thing in common. Audience have an emotional resonance to the characters and/or their dreams and fears. But writing good stories is a very time consuming skill that takes years of experience to be good. the uniqueness is the audience actually is engaged to the story, other will too. 

Again Taylor Swift is about female empowerment and that resonates to girls around the world. And the dads that have to fetch them to and from the concerts. 

Consequences.

Unfortunately the lack of budget over the years have hindered the quality of the scripts locally coming out and discourage the writers to come up with ideas that might be interesting to create since creating and developing a show is laborious work. The really good ones have either moved overseas (as some in the talk) or switched to more profitable careers.

Now imagine working and aspiring to create stories in this environment and mindset. Why bother to create engaging stories and characters that resonate if there is no money to make them? 

The long term implication of this have been that the writers do not get the chance to revise and improve on their scripts. So they are stuck in a circle of mediocrity or improving at a much slower pace. Hiring overseas experienced writers might help provided they understand the cultural context but then budget rears its ugly head again.

What about "new" media? Like local Youtube content creators? Over the last few years, there have been a growing number of channels. 

The nature of that eco system means that they have to fit a particular formula for the view count and/or for advertising/monetizing. With video length in the minutes instead of hours, and constantly pressured to come up with new content regularly to retain subscribers, the consequence is the type of content that can be produced is often vapid, click baity and predominately "listicles" in Singapore. 

Again this video illustrates rather well the issue and discontent with the local youtubers.

Now some of these creators have attempted to create narrative shorts and while applauding the effort for the production quality, the lack of craftsmanship in story development is evident but more importantly their initial target audience are not looking for that on youtube. And after a few shorts where the cost of shorts can mount up, most do revert back to the tried and tested because the motivation again is to get eyeballs for the moolah. With so little competition, there is very little incentive for originality. But there are more of them coming up with more substantial content compared to 3-4 years ago. Channels like OGS, Rice Media etc. 

3.) Cultural Cringe.

"This is a phenomenon particularly noticeable in our country, where we are quick to feel embarrassed (or make self-deprecating jokes) about almost anything made in Singapore."

And therefore not good enough for us.

This is a phenomenon that is not exclusive to Singapore .  
Here lies the dichotomy. The incessant need to be number 1 at everything. To be punching above our weight. Desperately yelling to the world, “Hey! Hey! Look at me.” 

We are so insecure in who we are that we are constantly seeking validation from others all the time And so we have been taught if it is not good enough for the world, its not good enough for us since we deserved the best. Because "Why would I want to support or see shows that are not worthy of my time"

Our environment have been replaced so quickly in the last few decades that it is unrecognisable with  very few anchors for locals to maintain a connection to. 

The result are local audiences conditioned with Hollywood superhero blockbusters skeptical, dismissive of local produced shows even if its won awards. 

Subconsciously, I believe we have been conditioned not to care. And this is with me being a non essential lecturer saying this. 

BUT here lies the silver lining. How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies topped the local box office record. And a majority of the audiences were young people. (spoilers)

Audience will still spend money watch a movie that resonate with them. 

In an eventual follow up post, I will look at the consequences and effects it has on not just the audiences but our cultural landscapes and the near impossible solutions.   

"Share and comment below if you agree or disagree" 

Thanks.