In Gitlin’s piece, “Under the Sign of the Mickey Mouse & Co.,” he talked about how the streams of rhetoric pour out of America and affect other cultures. America’s pop culture influences the entire world, and draws the “urban and young into a common cultural zone where dreams of freedom, wealth, comforting, innocence, and power—and perhaps most of all, youth as a state of mind” (826). Things like Mickey Mouse and Coke are recognized everywhere and are often enjoyed. Gitlin also gave the example of how in the champagne cellar of Piper-Heidsieck the tour was dedicated to Marie Antoinette, yet it focuses on celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Clint Eastwood, both American icons. Other cultures often resent America’s influence on their culture calling it American imperialism, but “the images are not even faintly force-fed by American corporate, political, or military power” (827).
I agree that the American culture is taking a more dominant affect on other cultures, and that many countries are upset that their culture is essentially being lost. However, if countries are going to continue to complain about the American culture, they need to be the ones to do something about it and stop promoting our products. Moreover, the loss of culture is never a good thing either, but this is where you get into the idea of melting pot, and how to keep individual characteristics.
1 comment:
I thought the most interesting part of this blog was the second paragraph, where you suggest that if other countries don't like how the U.S. is inundating their cultures with Americanized products, then that they just need to stop accepting our product. I don't think it would be as easy as just stopping that product from being distributed in the country... I feel like it's a more complex issue than that. I disagree with your statement about how the loss of culture is a melting pot, but that's more of a definitional argument. I think a melting pot is where a multitude of cultures can come together and build off one another - not chip pieces off of one another (if that makes sense). I don't think Americanized goods creating a loss of culture in a foreign country creates a melting pot - I think that's just a loss of culture.
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