International Interview

For my interview with an international student I looked no further than my roommate. His name is Emmanuel Ortigüela and he has lived in two different countries, Spain and Argentina. Two countries, two very different locations; so I thought this was an excellent opportunity to learn a lot about how US media affects different regions of the world.
For the first order of business I began to ask about television programming. I asked if there was a lot of American influence in either Spain or Argentina with television programming. He responded by saying that they get a lot of the same shows such as; C.S.I., Law and Order, Family Guy, and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, all of which are subtitled in Spanish. Other popular shows are The Simpson’s and South Park, which are dubbed in Spanish. I then asked if these shows made them perceive us Americans as the shows imply us to be. His answer was what shocked me the most, though I’m not sure why, it is completely predictable. He said, in both countries, they perceive the American family as The Simpson’s and Family Guy portray us. Which is exactly how I want to be perceived. They also have their own versions of MTV, ESPN, and Disney Channel. Which he followed up by saying that High School Musical is just as popular in both countries as it is here. Other than that he said that they just have their own shows that they watch.
Next I asked him about our movies. He said that movies are released the Thursday following our Friday release. They wait about an extra week to see our films. He said that movies are taken for what they are, entertainment. In Spain everything is translated, however you have the choice to either see the movie with subtitles or dubbed. His favorite movie is Good Will Hunting and his favorite actors are Robert De Niro and Anthony Hopkins.

When it comes to US politics Argentina is very interested with our decisions but Spain is really only interested during election time. He said, “Everyone cares about the elections”. Argentina pays close attention to our politics because they have closer economic ties with America. They have free press in both countries so they don’t have to worry about government-controlled media.
For me, music was the most surprising answer I received. He said artists/bands like Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Eminem, Britney Spears, and Rihanna are popular. The ‘pop’ music is more popular there than hip-hop or R&B. Hip-hop is more of a demographical and personal influence. He did say that hip-hop is more popular in Spain. Some of his favorite artists are Alicia Keys and Tyrese. Other than that it is more local music that is popular and played more often.
When it comes to commercials and advertising there seem to be small similarities. Coke is very popular and is heavily marketed while Pepsi rarely, if ever, marketed. Gum commercials are present but they primarily advertise gum as candy and they aim it towards children. In Spain the most heavily marketed item is cologne and perfumes. The only time that kind of stuff is advertised around here is if celebrities come out with their own line of scents. The way they market things is the same but there isn’t a lot of American influenced commercials.

When it comes to technology he said stuff like that is just more expensive in Argentina and Spain. Microsoft and Apple are geared more for the wealthy. While Microsoft is more affordable, he said that Apple is pretty much for the rich. So people tend to build their own computers because it’s a lot cheaper. Thus computer parts are advertised more than and entire system. Here is a list of things us Americans almost can’t live without and how much it costs in Spain and Argentina: 30GB Ipod = $300, PS3 = $1000, Xbox360 is around $1000.
So all in all it was really cool to see how the US media affects Spain and Argentina, which turns out to be not too much. It was also an awesome opportunity to get to know my roommate a little better.