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.