With sandals in hand, my friends and I took the scenic route along the beach of Isla Negra, Chile. The rocky beaches, fresh seafood and the house of famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda make this tiny seaside town worth the two-hour bus ride from Santiago.

Three houses of Neruda, one of Chile’s most famous and eccentric writers of the 20th century, were made into museums by the Pablo Neruda Foundation. His love of the ocean and trains inspired the design and collections within his Isla Negra house.

Chances are, if you have taken a Spanish class at Syracuse University, you’ve read Chilean stories or poetry. Well known writers like Gabriela Mistral, Isabel Allende or Vicente Huidobro would call Chile home. But other countries, like the United States, still dominate the cultural scene especially when it comes to movies and TV shows.

United States culture enters the homes across the globe in the form of old episodes of “Friends” and bootlegged copies of summer blockbusters. Americans should watch international movies to reciprocate in this exchange. From taking the suggestions of my friends and host family here, I’ve learned that international movies are as entertaining and thought provoking as American ones.

Santiago, unlike Buenos Aires, Bollywood or Hollywood, isn’t well known for its film industry. This gives international movies more influence. A lot of Spanish-language movies my friends and host family recommend to me are from Argentina or Spain. It surprised me how much influence American movies and television have here. When I go to the movie theater, the selection is basically the same as in the U.S., with the addition of movies from Spanish-speaking countries.

My host dad has watched more classic movies from the U.S. than I have. He has decorated the TV room with posters from the golden age of film, and he owns at least 100 American movies.

That’s not to say that Chile doesn’t have its own cinema culture. Directors such as Andrés Wood make movies and TV shows that captivate international attention. I’ve started binge watching the series “El Reemplazante,” or “The Replacement,” a TV series about a formerly wealthy businessman who starts a job as a substitute teacher in a poor neighborhood in Santiago.

The screenwriters depict the challenges from the characters of the poor neighborhood in a 3-D way. The series has opened my eyes to the politics of education reform and generational poverty.

For example, the “bad student” character in the show stabbed the new substitute teacher with a fake knife on his first day of class. Then in subsequent episodes, we saw that he basically lives alone with his little sister. When he opens his fridge, there’s nothing in it.

Chilean movies, TV and music have brought to my attention to the culture and politics here. I have started to enter the world of Chilean culture through these means, but this cultural exchange has existed one-sidedly from the U.S. to Chile for a while. However, it’s my understanding that this exchange exists just for entertainment — not because they’re curious about American culture. They turn on “The Simpsons” because it’s funny and syndicated by a major channel.

It’s not like all the media that’s consumed is from the United States. It’s possible that I notice this influence more just because of my foreigner status. Either way, it’d be worthwhile for Americans to reciprocate in this exchange and consume more international media. Start by reading a love poem by the great winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature, Pablo Neruda.

Danielle Roth is a junior majoring in magazine journalism and international relations. She is following her desires for good food and adventure in Santiago, Chile. Email her at [email protected] or tweet at her @danielleroth_.

Published on October 28, 2014 at 12:01 am