Navigating the Global

As one navigates through an ever changing and unknown world it becomes difficult for one to distinguish between the global and the local. For individuals the global can become the local or the local may become the global at once. As a conscious choice one must decide whether to accept, warily acknowledge or wholly retreat from the ‘new world.’ These notions and concepts are explored widely within Sophia Coppola’s 2003 film ‘Lost In Translation.’ As the two central protagonists Bob and Charlotte navigate through the unknown jungle of Tokyo they find each other hauntingly similar and form a bond, which exposes many truths. Furthermore these notions of navigation through knowledge, values and culture are expressed in Ang Lee’s 2012 theatrical motion picture ‘Life of Pi,’ Derek Walcott’s poem ‘A Cry From Africa,’ Kanye West’s popular culture commentary ‘Who Will Survive in America?’ and Jan Nederveen Pieterse’s complex essay ‘Globalisation as Hybridisation.’

Clearly evident within ‘Lost in Translation’ the central protagonists Bob and Charlotte are both searching for something more within their lives. Brought to Tokyo by her husband Charlotte just does not “know what [she’s] supposed to be.” It is through this search that Charlotte navigates through the unknown world of Tokyo. As the camera circles around Charlotte in a close up shot of her viewing busy Tokyo from her window audiences are exposed to a sense of entrapment and unease as she overlooks the city curled up in a fetal position. The use of this body positioning allowed Coppola to communicate Charlotte’s sense of discomfort when confronted with the large city. Almost retreating from the global culture Charlotte looks afraid as it reminds her of the large-scale cities in her home of America. This sense of social insecurity emerges the protagonists local into a global standardizing and unifying the technological, commercial and cultural synchronization that Charlotte fears. These thematic concerns of social