Lioudmila Berlejung 3

Hollywood is the dominant film industry worldwide. Its audience increases annually. This powerful  medium has a strong impact on the national identities and cultures. Movies stars are worshipped by millions of fans. The social consciousness of the audience is influenced. They try not only to imitate the star itself but his/her behavior that mostly contradicts the national standards and their belief systems.  Elliot Aronson defines this phenomenon as conformity. It means " a change in a person's behavior or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people". Through this pressure people consider to be " hot and happening" that means binge drinking, smoking, night clubbing and other socially frowned upon behaviors only problems can arise.

 Such contradiction widen the gaps between western and eastern cultures and often lead to prejudice that American film industry aims at destroying of national identity and leads to moral degradation.

It is my intention to lump everything together. Of course intelligent people distinguish between movies of good and bad quality. It the bad quality movies that damage the image of Hollywood and are the reason of concerns by many sociologists. The main reasons for criticizing Hollywood are explicit sex content, horrific violence , drug addiction etc. These features are mostly for teenagers attractive. Films are the first place to give orientation to the youth in searching their identity.

Hollywood gives an opportunity for the audience to have a look at other cultures. It goes without saying that the lifestyle of the USA is presented to the billions of people.

In the conclusion I'd like to write something about my experience with Hollywood movies. I grew up in Russia and as a teeny I used to watch a lot of movies especially soap operas.  My  favorite ones were Dallas and Santa Barbara. People used to believe that all Americans are rich as the main characters in these soap operas. My fellow-student from the USA denied this viewpoint. She told that only 5% of the population in the USA enjoy such wealth.  Are these soap-opera so kind of manipulation? If you have no idea of cultural studies, yes. Intelligent people are able to explore the films critically.

Stella Lamari 2

http://www.thehumanist.org/humanist/articles/essay3mayjune04.pdf

The essay “Cultural Imperialism: An American Tradition” by Julia Galeota which was published 2004 in “The Humanist”, criticizes how the American culture and industry affect people from all over the world. Julia Galeota explains different methods how American products can be spread everywhere and the important role of marketing. Culture and economy relate to each other and they can bring problems with.                                                          

According to Julia Galeota many cultures around the world are disappearing due to American culture.       She also claims that America wants to control 95% of the world’s consumers and takes as examples the dissemination of the American film industry (Disney) and McDonald’s (p.22). Sure every country wants to be successful and powerful. A solid economy permits to live in prosperity. Germany produces cars like Mercedes, Opel and VW and sells them everywhere. France exports vine and agricultural products.                          

Why America should not exports fast food and films?

Walt Disney filmed animated films like “Cinderella”, “Snow White” and “Pinocchio”. These animated films do not endanger the Asian, European or other cultures. They teach children to distinguish between justice and injustice and always have an educational sense. To create such animated films was a great idea. It was a hazard that Walt Disney who had the idea was an American. Why should America not export Disney films? If Walt Disney had lived in Germany, the German film industry would have exported his films worldwide, too. Another aspect is globalization. Not only is fast food from McDonald’s available for nearly everyone. Now we have the chance to eat Chinese, Greek, Turkish and Asian food. The society has changed, especially the woman role. Male and female, both are working now and are equal. They live in stress and do not have the time to cook. It does not matter, if they eat a burger, Pizza or a doner, because they have the possibility to choose.

Julia Galeota also claims that Americans believe in the superiority of their culture. We should consider the example of the Jingoists and the concept of social Darwinism. The concept is that the “stronger”, “superior” cultures will overtake the “weaker”, “inferior” cultures (p.22). The Jingoists were not the only population who interpreted Darwin’s theory in a special way. There are many interpretations of his theory (Germany during World War II).  I think every nation is proud of its culture (Greek, Spanish, French people). The difference is that they are not enough motivated to spread their culture worldwide! The main aim is to export American products and not to erase other cultures! I do not think that the United States force us to accept its opinion about what is “good”, “just” or “modern” (p.24), because every national should be major to decide by himself what is good or not. According to Immanuel Kant (Sapere aude) every national should use his mind and reach a decision without be affected by others. People who live in a country without oppression have the possibility to decide how far American culture and products will affect their lives!

Claudia Otto 2

http://www.mcspotlight.org/people/interviews/ritzer_george.html

The sociologist George Ritzer introduced the term "McDonaldization" for a cultural process in which a society adopts the characteristic features of a fast-food restaurant. These usually include efficiency, calculability, predictability and control. Conversely, creativity and unpredictability are minimized in this process and central aspects of human life such as innovations and creations do not take place. It also changes the way people live and think: Soon people will apply the principles of "McDonald's" to all aspects in their life, creating a faster and impatient society. According to Ritzer America is very far along in this process of McDonaldization and it will probably continue due to the fact that children are born into this kind of society and socialized by this system.

 

If this process can be found in the United States what does it have to do with cultural transmission?

 

"McDonald's", along with many other American fast-food chains and similar companies, is very present in countries all over the world and a perfect example of the so-called Americanisation of other cultures. As stated before, this in itself is not necessarily a bad thing and it is assumed that products of American origin are not just blindly consumed but adapted to the needs in the different countries. But what if this process of Americanisation stands for something more than just the product itself and changes the structure of society, its morals and values and ultimately its way of life?

According to Ritzer this process is actually taking place in a lot of countries especially in Western Europe. Here "McDonald's" has actually changed the way of how people eat and also how they think about food and the role it plays in their life. Ritzer's example of France makes that very clear. But he also says that Europe is not as McDonaldised as the United States and there are still enough parts of the culture that are untouched by this process. Therefor people there are less affected by McDonaldization and do still reflect upon and also criticize this process. In conclusion the cultural transmission of social and cultural changes maybe is not as great as one might fear, at least as long as there are still people that deal with this subject critically and call attention to its dangers.

 

Ending on a positive note even for the United States, Ritzer has also created the term "De-McDonaldization" which is the opposite movement to the cultural process described, focusing on preserving cultural values and traditions. So there is always hope.

Lioudmila Berlejung 2

www.stateofnature.org/globalizationandculture/html.

This article treats the phenomenon of the ongoing globalization which is linked to the spread of American values, wealth, economic systems and goods.

Various viewpoints of some famous personalities are represented  in it. Some of them state that America imposes its own culture and destroys cultural diversities. The others maintain that the transmission of American culture contributes to establishing capitalism , wealth and prosperity and it goes without saying democracy.

Dr.Henry  Kissinger, a former Secretary of State, in the course of a lecture at the Trinity College in Dublin on 12.10.99 said"... the previous phase of globalization was under the British hegemony, the current phase has to be under the US domination.

Thomas L. Friedman explained the process of homogeneity like that "...globalization has its own dominant culture," that`s why it tends to be homogenizing.

American food habits are spread with the establishing coffeehouse chain Starbucks worldwide. It is impossible to ignore that America is the most advanced capitalist society in the world.

Francis Fukuyama rejects the view that the globalization leads to cultural homogeneity. From his viewpoint political, social and economic realms are products of homogenization. The cultural realm is mostly independent from the globalization. He gives an example of Asian perception of the American culture. There is probably less mutual liking, more distant and greater emphasis on the difference between the cultures of the United States and Asia today than there was 40 years ago. In 1950s and 1960s Asia looked up to the United States as a model of modernization. Communication technology has allowed both Asians and Americans to see each other more clearly and it turns out they have very different value systems.

An important feature of present day globalization is the invention of consumer credit society. Credit cards give consumers an opportunity to purchase throughout the world without having any cash.

An importance of English as global language has been rapidly increasing as it becomes the most important medium of telecommunication.

Globalization limits the economic and commercial independence of every single state in the world. The governments  are forced to cooperate with each other and guarantee wealth and prosperity to their citizens . Some scientist describe the relationship between the cultural identity and globalization as reciprocal.

Globalization brings interdependence into social and technology worlds. The borders are wiped away. Advantages and disadvantages are never ending arguing points in the social and linguistic studies.

As for me it is hard to share a certain viewpoint to this phenomenon. Each of it has its own part of truth.