Amid the smoldering economic fires that threaten to consume studios and publishers burns a different kind of spark. Heavy Oscar wins by movies like Slumdog Millionaire and multi-award winning books like Message Stick point to something long ignored by entertainment execs: audiences enjoy multicultural fare. Book Manager Tracey Yellowhorse from Sun Dogs Creations weighs in.
Hillsborough, NC (PRWeb) Mar 3, 2009
Something strange is happening in entertainment these days. A-list celebrities no longer guarantee blockbuster openings. Boomers and generations that grew up in the world they created drive publishing trends. Suddenly color is in…and the more of it, the better.
Hollywood and Bollywood are pooling creativity, talent and finances on a host of films. Books from bestselling authors are disproving the decades-long assumption that only ethnic people will read literature where ethnic characters take central roles. Box office figures and Oscars are burying multicultural fare under mountains of gold while a new surge in reading rates just might gild publishing again.
Call it The Obama Nation Effect. Blame it on a nation weary of strife caused by a lack of cultural communication. Point your finger wherever you’d like but there’s no denying that entertainment as we know it is changing.
Tracey Yellowhorse, book manager at Sun Dogs Creations, is on the leading edge. She’s seen the trend growing from some time and is happy to find that large studios and publishing houses have finally picked up on it. “America’s arts and entertainment forms reflect our global society,” Yellowhorse says. “It’s truly a celebration of our multinational, multicultural world.”
Today, the concept that readers are armchair travelers is outdated. People only have to step outside their front doors to see the many nations and cultures that thrive in America. Here are eight books and movies that everyone must know. They’ll take you from India to Africa, from Australia to Russia and back to America.
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. A darkly comic debut novel set in India. Chauffeur Balram murders his employer, claiming he is acting as a social entrepreneur. He blames his transformation from a rural waif to determined killer on India’s greedy elite. In the process, he manages to take on social class divisions, First World cultural imperialism, and the anger of the world’s dispossessed. New York Times bestseller, winner of the Man Booker Prize…and a breezier read than Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games.
Slumdog Millionaire. Director Danny Boyle was between screenings of his rags-to-riches drama when the terrorists attacked Mumbai. Although the tragedy gave the film a solemn backdrop, its feel-good story continues to thrill audiences. Like everyone else today, the protagonist copes with profound adversity and eventually triumphs. Eight Academy Awards, the most for any film this year, including Best Picture and Best Director. Adapted from the award-winning novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup.
Message Stick by Laine Cunningham. In this suspense thriller, Gabriel Branch searches the outback for his best friend. He must face a murderous shaman and the Aboriginal heritage he lost as a child. Gabe was removed from his biological family under the government’s assimilation policy, an official attempt at genocide that lasted until 1972. Message Stick has won two national awards for its unflinching look at the suffering of modern Aboriginal people.
Australia. Baz Luhrmann’s historic epic set in WWII-era Australia. Sweeping cinematography and a weepy love story pairs a cattleman played by Hugh Jackman with a proper English heiress played by Nicole Kidman. Stuffed in among the romance/adventure/historic/drama subplots are Aboriginal shamanism and the early days of the Australian government’s genocide efforts. Academy Award nomination for Costume Design.
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. Set in 1950’s Soviet Union, this debut suspense thriller pits MGB agent Leo Stepanovich Demidov against a Stalinist state. He can’t investigate a murder because officially, murder can’t occur in a perfect society. Based heavily on the true crimes of Andrei Chikatilo, the Rostov Ripper, Child 44 was nominated for the Man Booker Prize and was a Booklist Editor’s Choice.
Watchmen. Director Zack Snyder of 300 adapted this from the award-winning graphic novel published by DC Comics. Set in an alternate 1985 America, costumed superheroes fight to stop a conspiracy that threatens all humanity. The Soviet Union lives on in this film, and national tensions have the Doomsday Clock permanently set at five minutes to midnight. The novel was named a Time magazine 100 Best English Language Novels from 1923 to the Present.
Cross Country by James Patterson. Number fourteen in the Alex Cross thriller series. The detective takes on Tiger, a serial killer with ties to the African underworld, and pursues him through Washington, DC to Nigeria. The novel debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list; the author was listed as one of Forbes’ Top 100 Celebrities.
Blood Diamond. Edward Zwick’s film takes place amid Sierra Leone’s explosive 1999 civil war. In recovering a rare pink diamond and saving a fisherman’s son, DiCaprio’s character reveals the ugly side of these precious gems. Although eventually uplifting, the movie’s message doesn’t water down the strife and horror of Africa’s civil upheaval. Nominated for five Academy Awards and winner of three Critics’ Choice Awards.
