A "reel" experience in Italy...

Piazza San Marco, Venice.

The Trevi Fountain, a dish of spaghetti, the Grand Canal, gondolas floating gracefully on the many canals, these sights and ideas about Italy were something I experienced long before my study abroad experience to Italy. Although I never visited a city abroad before, I had a picture painted in my head of what Italy would look like if I ever had the chance to visit. These ideas were shaped by the common American perceptions and different ideas that arise from watching films that are set in Italian cities. Over the summer, prior to my study abroad visit to Italy and Turkey, and throughout the weeks after my participation in the program, I researched the difference between films’ depictions of the cities of Rome and Venice and compared them to the experiences I had while in these Italian cities.

Once I had arrived in Italy, I was instantly interested in comparing certain sights, like the Coliseum and the Spanish Steps in Rome and Piazza San Marco in Venice to what I had seen the films I watched, would they look the same in person? The excitement of having an idea of what Italy looked like, due to watching films, is kind of like watching a movie trailer before seeing a movie, the trailer gives you a good idea of what the movie will be like, but it doesn’t reveal everything, that’s what the films I watched prior to traveling did for me. They gave me a broad idea, but it would differ in some ways to what I experienced when I was on the Spanish Steps or standing on the Rialto Bridge in Venice looking out at the Grand Canal for the first time.

The Coliseum, Rome.

Many of the films I watched before my first visit to Italy told exciting stories about the cities of Rome and Venice, they created great excitement for me, a first time traveler, and someone who would be studying and living for a short time in these cities. They seemed to depict Rome and Venice as romantic places where adventures can happen for the common tourist. These cities would play host to a place where you could become immersed in a culture different than your own, especially for an English-speaking American, where the language that surrounds you would be Italian and the occasional English for those Italian who really want to speak and appeal to tourists who don’t have any idea how to pronounce a word of Italian. In Rome, you could indulge in delicious cuisines, while in Venice, stumble upon an Italian and find yourself falling in love with them during your stay in the city.

Many films manage to depict Rome and Venice accurately, but they don’t forget about the entertainment factor that they must uphold, as movies are a product of the entertainment business, after all. The experiences that characters have in films may not be as accurate or true to the experience I had in these cities because they’re a part of a film, a narrative, a story about a fictional character’s experience. The experience I had in Rome and Venice was my very own, however it was influenced by what I watched in many films, wanting to see certain sights, like the Trevi Fountain to throw my coin in, or visiting Piazza San Marco at night just to sit at a sidewalk café in the piazza, or even wanting to indulge in a whole pizza pie. I was influenced by films to have a comparable experience to what I may have analyzed in films, the idea of being able to relate to a character that is similar to myself, may not be unrealistic at all. However, the experience I had in Rome and Venice was one that would be appealing to many tourists, to people who have never seen Italy before because it captured the excitement of these beautiful cities and managed to live up to certain expectations that I’ve always had. Of course, I never imagined the pizza, spaghetti and gelato to be as good as it was, or for the famous sights to be as amazing as they were, once I learned more about them, but perhaps that’s one of the perks of actually seeing these cities instead of just watching a film about them.

My research gave me the desire to continue to explore similar media studies in my academic career, as I search to better understand how influential the media is and how it shapes our ideas about places we’ve never been to. The search to understand a place in its true light, or at least from my perspective is something I’m very fortunate to have had, as I had the opportunity to realize from my research and my study abroad experience. As I complete my research, I wonder what cities I can explore next and what films I can view to continue to paint pictures of the places I’ve never seen, until I see them for myself.

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