| Hollywood remakes of foreign films sometimes bear scant resemblance to the originals. A case in point is the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo compared to the Swedish original titled Men Who Hate Women. Hollywood is in the business of making movies that appeal to an American audience and exported for global consumption. The American remake while still set in Sweden, promoted typical American gender roles. Where the Swedish film focused on Lisbeth Salander's mistreatment by the men in her life, the American version made her weaker while building up Mikael Blomkvist's character to fit within the genre of the heroic journalist. The successful placing of this film squarely within the American journalism film genre confirms the original statement that US-led Western nations control the international media trade and export their products of popular culture to other parts of the world, and in that way more or less subtly spread Western values, ideologies and ways of life. |
