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07-06-2013, 04:21 AM | #22571 (permalink) | |
Partying on the inside
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 5,584
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Honestly, I don't think there even needs to be an argument here. It's like wondering why Americans spell things differently than other English speaking countries. We can go out just assuming that Americans are all idiots that cannot spell, or we can explore the possibility that it's a different country operating under different cultural expectations and norms that have nothing to do with intelligence at all. Still, though, it should be pretty obvious that the change was an intentional marketing move, regardless of the fact that it worked and why it worked. But, in America, Sorcerers seem more magical than Philosophers. Seems like a pretty logical reason to market it as such. Unless you're simply marketing the movie based on who read the book or not, which probably wouldn't get you all that much gain.
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07-06-2013, 04:31 AM | #22572 (permalink) | |
we are stardust
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,894
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Anyway, I'm not saying it was the wrong decision to make by the publisher, however I just find it weird that so many things are changed in order to be palatable for Americans... Why, when we receive American cultural imports, they aren't changed to suit our cultural norms? In fact I'm glad that they aren't, because I would find it a shame if everything was always changed and altered to suit our country's norms, rather than the beauty of experiencing different cultures per se. I just find it strange, is all. EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm in no way saying "Americans are stupid," in fact I was arguing the opposite - why think that a single word in the title of a book needs to be changed in order to appeal to Americans? It's like they're selling the American population short. I think it's silly that they feel that Americans need to have something changed to suit their cultural norms, personally I would think that citizens of the US are open-minded and intelligent individuals who don't need alterations to cultural imports in order to comprehend them for what they are. Last edited by Astronomer; 07-06-2013 at 04:44 AM. |
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07-06-2013, 04:43 AM | #22573 (permalink) | |
Partying on the inside
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 5,584
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Honestly, the entire issue feels like straw grasping. The truth of the matter is that whether Americans would give a damn about the title or not, they loved the movie. And if someone could tie that enjoyment to a lower intelligence level, then that doesn't say much for non-Americans who also enjoyed the movie... And certainly we're not basing something like this on whether a movie title contained this or that... It should be pretty obvious that one was just more accessible to the culture than the other, but it doesn't simultaneously say that the culture doesn't know what philosophy is.
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07-06-2013, 04:52 AM | #22574 (permalink) | |
we are stardust
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Location: Australia
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My main thing is that I don't see how the word "sorcerer" is an American word, making the book more relatable to American culture? How is sorcerer more American than philosopher? It just seems weird to me. I'm not saying your argument is invalid or that I disagree with it. It just seems pointless to change a title of a book (I am talking about the book that was published in 1997 with very little marketing campaigns, whereas I think you are talking about the more recent movie when HP has become a marketing conglomerate) to become accessible to a culture when I'm pretty sure the book would have been just as accessible to the literary population using the word "philosopher." It would be different if they were changing the word to a cultural-specific term but neither of those words are culturally specific. There is no way that "sorcerer" or "philosopher" and culturally specific words. In fact, they aren't even synonyms. |
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07-06-2013, 05:02 AM | #22575 (permalink) | |
Partying on the inside
Join Date: Mar 2009
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I'm not thinking so deeply about this. It's a simple marketing thing. In America, things that relate will probably be more cohesive to an audience, and I'm thinking that's why that happened. It doesn't go further than that, really.
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07-06-2013, 05:19 AM | #22576 (permalink) | |
we are stardust
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07-06-2013, 06:17 AM | #22577 (permalink) |
Mate, Spawn & Die
Join Date: May 2007
Location: The Rapping Community
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I agree with you. It's dumb that they changed it, just like any of the other "translations" I've heard done on British books sold in the US are also dumb ("torch" changed to "flashlight", that kind of thing). Americans are not idiots overall, it would be nice if publishers stopped treating us that way.
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07-06-2013, 10:05 AM | #22579 (permalink) | |
Zum Henker Defätist!!
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Beating GNR at DDR and keying Axl's new car
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And he was a kangaroo I'm assuming?
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07-06-2013, 10:24 AM | #22580 (permalink) | |
David Hasselhoff
Join Date: Feb 2013
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