The arguments in favor of European cinema can be defended by emphasizing the persistence with which the various national cinemas have positioned themselves in opposition to Hollywood, at least since the end of the First World War, and more more after the Second. World War... In all of the binary oppositions which usually constitute the field of academic studies on cinema, American cinema is invariably the (Bad) Significant Other, around which both national cinemas and "art" cinemas are defined. /author"... -Thomas Elsaesser, European Cinema: Face to Face with Hollywood, pp. 16-17. At first glance, Elsaesser's quote seems simple. However, upon closer examination of his book, he often returns to this statement. What may seem contradictory and reductive is in reality a poignant remark on the colors between black and white. Although this seems accurate, to characterize American cinema as the “bad other” is to miss the point of the complex and difficult relationship that America and Europe have had over the past 115 years. Although this may have been true at one time, the cinema that binds and/or separates them has changed, as has the political, cultural and economic spectrum of the two countries. A new point of view is needed as globalization takes hold. This essay sets out to refute the notion of Hollywood as simply the "bad" other by exploring the changing climate of the European and Hollywood industries. We need to start with a little history, though. Although invented simultaneously in 1895 in France and America, it is important to note that cinemas were inherently different, with Thomas Edison developing his camera with massive international sales and copyrights in mind, a mere spectacle, as opposed to ... ... middle of paper ... identity is something that has been gained through rallying against, and sometimes with, Hollywood. While this may be true to some extent, European identity as a whole has not been achieved and would in fact be very difficult to achieve. One need only think of the problems of television as a new form of representation of the nation, of the disparity between the countries of Western, Central and Eastern Europe and their cinemas, and of the growing role of the EU to see that conclusions that have been drawn in this essay cannot reach all of Europe. However, it is worth noting here that although much work remains to be done in this area, but space does not permit me to visit it, there has been an attempt to break down the most fundamental binary system that binds too often the work of film students and theorists: Hollywood is the bad other of the European self.