"Noodles, NOT Potatoes": Media Localization in Taiwan

A paper presented at the "Border Crossings: Popular, Mass and Global Culture" Symposium held at Australia's Monash University in October 2003.

Introduction

This paper summarizes a series of preliminary findings from a research project on the localization of Western media products in Taiwan. In recent years, popular films and television programs produced in countries such as Australia, the Great Britain and the United States are increasingly introduced to Taiwan. Most of them are widely embraced by local audiences. However, an even more interesting phenomenon is that these films and television programs are often modified in various ways, in order to attract the attention of Taiwan's local audiences. This phenomenon is gaining much attention from media workers and researchers in both Taiwan and Australia.

In the case of television programs, examples of this phenomenon range from South Park and Temptation Island in 2001, to McLeod's Daughters in 2002, then to The Wiggles in 2003, In the case of movies, examples include Charlie's Angels, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Ice Age, Spider Man, Stuart Little, Shrek, and Babe.

The Wiggles in Taiwan

The most significant example of the localization of Western media and television programs in Taiwan is The Wiggles from Australia. Back in July 2002, Melbourne-based newspaper The Age covered the news that The Wiggles had struck a deal with Disney. In this deal, The Wiggles signed an exclusive licensing agreement to allow others to perform their material. Their first step was to have a Wiggles clone audition and perform in Taiwan by the end of 2002, closely followed by a Japanese version. Meanwhile, business representatives of The Wiggles were also investigating the possibility of licensing in other non-English-speaking countries, such as France, Italy and Germany. In fact, a woman in Brazil was already singing Wiggles songs in Portuguese for local audiences.

This unprecedented deal indicates the beginning of the internationalization, or globalization, of the Australian Wiggles. Not only will children in Taiwan be able to listen to Australian music, but there will also be Japanese Wiggles, French Wiggles, Italian Wiggles, German Wiggles, Brazilian Wiggles -- and perhaps South Korean Wiggles and Thai Wiggles as well.

However, one of the results of the internationalization or globalization of the Australian Wiggles is their localization in Taiwan. All of the Wiggles songs would be virtually the same, except that they would be sung in Mandarin, Taiwan's official language. The lyrics of the songs would also be localized. This means that their hit song "Hot Potato" would probably become "Hot Noodles", or "Hot Rice Balls".

Meanwhile, the Taiwanese Wiggles would be the same as their Australian counterparts in almost every way. This means the four members of the group would have their own behavioral traits and each would wear a unique colored suit. Their companions would also remain the same, which include Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus and Wags the Dog. The result is as the following:

The Taiwanese Wiggles and their companions.

As one looks at this photograph carefully, one realizes that the biggest difference between the Taiwanese Wiggles and their Australian counterparts is that the Taiwanese group has launched the first ever female Wiggle. The following is a better shot of the group:

The Taiwanese Wiggles and Captain Feathersword.

The woman in this photograph is Anni, the Red Wiggle. In a news report published in Taiwan in June 2003, Anni points out that it is important to have a female in the group. In her words: "The addition of a female Wiggle gives Taiwanese children something homely and motherly to relate to. Traditionally it is the mother, or female relative at any rate, who spends more time with the children in Taiwan."

These words of the female Wiggle from Taiwan lead to more issues that are worthy of further exploration. For example, when the promoters of Western media products try to open a market in Taiwan, what do they have to do to attract the attention of local audiences, how and why? How can Western media products become acceptable to the Taiwanese, who consider themselves as a people who are politically, socially and culturally different from the Chinese in China, who have inherited more traditional Chinese cultural heritage than their counterparts in the Chinese mainland, but whose lives have long been internationalized and who are now progressively acting as proper global citizens?

To answer these questions, let us look at some examples first. Based on the aforementioned preliminary findings from a research project on the localization of Western media products in Taiwan, we can suggest that there are four different levels of localization.

Level One: Western Media Products with Chinese Titles and/or Captions

In the first level of localization, Western films and television programs are given Chinese titles and/or captions. This appears to be the most common approach to localize Western media products. In the case of movies, the translation of English titles into Chinese very much depends on the creative talents of their local distributors. For example, "Matrix" is translated as "The Mission of Hackers". While "Stuart Little" becomes "The Mouse that Heads the House", "Ice Age" becomes "Adventures on the Icy Fields". The most intriguing example is perhaps Australia's internationally acclaimed "Babe", which is translated as "I am Smart, So I've Got Something to Say".

Meanwhile, in the case of television, captions in Chinese writing are often added to English-language programs. The production of these Chinese captions, again, very much depends on the creative talents of local translators. The advantage of this approach is that the audiences in Taiwan can all read the same system of Chinese writing characters on screen, no matter what kind of local dialects they speak, such as Fukienese and Hokkienese.

However, this approach also has its disadvantage. That is, whether the translation from English to Chinese can be successful very much depends on the type of television programs. Local translators have found that it is extremely difficult to produce Chinese captions for Western comedies. For instance, in 1997, the movie Beavis and Butthead was shown on television in Taiwan. Promoters of the movie found that direct translations of its profanity and jokes are not funny at all in Chinese. This is because once these profanity and jokes are translated into Chinese, they become even more offensive for local audiences than their original meanings in English.

Level Two: Western Media Products are Presented and/or Interpreted by Local Hosts

In the second level of localization, Western films and television programs are presented and/or interpreted by local hosts. This approach appears to be more common in the localization of Western television programs than films. The good thing about this approach is that these local hosts are already well known in Taiwan, so that a sense of familiarity is produced. Many of these local hosts are also famous stars, so that they help boost the popularity of these Western media products. One example in the case of movies is Spider Man. Local distributors of the movie hired a famous Hong Kong male singer to sing the Chinese version of its theme song, and the movie immediately became a smash hit in Taiwan.

Another example is the American television show The World's Most Amazing Videos, which was presented by a famous Taiwanese stuntman. The show featured home videos of disasters, silly accidents, daring feats and embarrassing situations. The addition of this Taiwanese stuntman made the show so popular that the whole series enjoyed several re-runs. One of the show's promoters pointed out: "The show was really popular. We purchased the original show and simply added film of [the local host] in place of the show's original host. We did try to make localized additions with locally recorded videos, but after about a month we had used u all the videos we received. I don't think people in Taiwan like the thought of being seen on television making fools of themselves or getting hurt. I think it's a question of face."

Level Three: Western Media Products are Dubbed into Mandarin and/or Other Dialects

In the third level of localization, Western films and television programs are dubbed into Mandarin, Taiwan's official language, or various local dialects, such as Fukienese and Hokkienese. Again, the advantage of this approach is that these Western films and television programs are introduced to local audiences in a language that they are already familiar with. This is despite the fact that some people do not want to see a blond cowboy or a FBI special agent on television who speaks perfect Mandarin. On the other hand, the disadvantage of this approach is that very often, local context and content need to be added into these Western films and television programs.

One famous example that was successful is South Park. Promoters of the television show have found that it is absolutely impossible to directly translate its American sense of humor into Chinese. So they decided to virtually rewrite the entire script, and to include jokes with references to issues, people and places that are relevant to local audiences in Taiwan. In 2000, two of the most popular episodes of the show were screened on television during Taiwan's presidential election campaign. The computer-animated kids in the show made fun of all three presidential candidates. In particular, they ridiculed then president Lee Teng-hui for his controversial interpretation of China-Taiwan relations. The result is that South Park has become one of the most popular shows ever shown on Taiwanese television.

Another example that was a failure is Golden Girls, a famous American television show. In one of its episodes there was a joke about the smell of cheese. Promoters of the show did not think the smell of cheese was relevant in Taiwan, so they replaced cheese with "stinky tofu", a famous Taiwanese dish. The result is that the promoters were bombarded by phone calls from outraged television viewers who felt the use of "stinky tofu" in a purely American television show was absolutely unacceptable, entirely fake.

It is indeed very difficult to predict the taste of Taiwanese audiences. While movies such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings are extremely popular in Taiwan, the movie Shrek is a complete failure. This is perhaps because Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings are so-called "self-contained" stories. Their characters and plots are independently designed, so the audiences do not have to go through a lot of trouble to accept and believe in them. On the contrary, in Shrek there are many jokes that are based on Western children's stories or folk traditions. The audiences in Taiwan find it hard to understand or appreciate these jokes because they are not familiar with these Western stories and traditions.

Level Four: Western Media Products are Entirely Reproduced with Local Actors

In the final level of localization, Western films and television programs are entirely reproduced with local actors. The aforementioned Taiwanese Wiggles is a good example of this approach. Since the group's debut on television in March 2003, results of local surveys have found that a staggering 3.2 percent of the population in Taiwan tune into the evening Wiggles show on a daily basis.

The good thing about reproducing Western films and television programs with local actors is, again, to add a sense of familiarity. Also, well known actors can help boost popularity.

However, very often, promoters of these Western film and television programs have to be careful about their choices of what to reproduce. For example, in 2001, local promoters decided to produce a Chinese version of the American television show Temptation Island, and to send twelve Taiwanese couples to either Malaysia or Indonesia for two weeks. The government in Taiwan became so worried about this project, that they contacted the promoters to express their concern. This is because Temptation Island is a reality show that encourages its participants to flirt with people other than their partners -- that is, to be unfaithful to their partners. The government was also concerned whether they would be any "inappropriate" behaviors in the project, such as nudity and sex. These were considered as having a negative influence on young audiences in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, a less controversial case is the reproduction of the American movie Charlie's Angels. A Taiwanese news article reported in 2001 that local promoters of the movie decided to produce a television show called Asian Charlie's Angels, with the three angels coming from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. This appears to be a project that struggles to find a geographical and political balance among the three Chinese societies.

Conclusion and Future Research Directions

Each of the four levels of localization discussed above gives a glimpse into the complex and continuous conversations and negotiations between media globalization and localization, between border crossing and border mapping, between translation and interpretation, and between what are commonly assumed to be the fundamental values of "Asian" and "Western" cultures. Based on these findings, four future research directions in which the localization of Western media products in Taiwan may be further analyzed:

The first research direction is to study media globalization and localization. For example, are cultural differences such as language, religion and lifestyle the only factors that contribute to the success or failure of media globalization? What is the nature and significance of "localization" as the world's cultures become increasingly globalized?

The second research direction is about cultural conversations and negotiations. For example, in our world today, what kind of ethnic and cultural values are being communicated via the media? What kind of "global community" is being imagined, represented and interpreted for us? Is "authenticity" a crucial matter in our eager search of an "Other"?

The third research direction is about gender issues. This is particularly inspired by the Australian television show McLeod's Daughters, which has become extremely popular in Asia in the past year, particularly in countries and regions such as Singapore, Thailand, India, the Philippines and Hong Kong. According to a news article published by Melbourne-based newspaper The Age in May 2002, the show has become popular in Asia because it is about family values. The show's focus on female characters and self-determination also captures a growing trend of women's empowerment in Asia. One of the show's promoters said: "In general, I think an Asian woman is a lot more aware of her individuality, her role in society, and the various roles she plays. Women are driving viewership, so it's a good time for us to have something like [McLeod's Daughters] on." Because of this, the show has been promoted more as a show about gender issues and family values, than about its "Australianness" -- which is an interesting issue that deserves further investigation.

Finally, the fourth research direction is to conduct a case study specifically on media localization in Taiwan. As aforementioned, the people in Taiwan have long considered themselves to be under the influences of both traditional Chinese culture and modern Western culture. Therefore, "What is the role of the media in Taiwan's search for an identity that fits in both local and international societies?" is a question that may attract different answers from different people, and for different reasons.

Copyright: Christine Sun, Taiwan.com.au Portal, 2003-2006. All rights reserved.