Global strategies and local practices in film consumption

Abstract

Media and popular culture in late modernity are commodified, as cultural industries distribute products (ways of life) via the market to their users. The growth of investment and the ongoing battle between media groups at an international level raises many questions about cinema practice, experience, meaning, esthetics and cultural practices in general. Greek cinema exhibition constitutes a specific case study which can be used to scrutinize the relationships between local cultural practices and transnational consumption models. This paper centers on the role played by multinational companies in a globalized society, focusing on cinema outlets, movie houses and in particular on film exhibition sites. It seeks to shed light upon mutations produced in modern societies by management, as well as the global strategies of international corporations.