Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating, or artificially injecting the culture of one society into another. It is usually the case that the former belongs to a large, economically or militarily powerful nation and the latter belongs to a smaller, less powerful one. Cultural imperialism can take the form of an active, formal policy or a general attitude. A metaphor of colonialism is employed: the cultural products of the first world "invade" the third-world and "conquer" local culture. In the stronger variants of the term, world domination (in a cultural sense) is the explicit goal of the nation-states or corporations that export the culture. The term is usually used in a pejorative sense, usually in conjunction with a call to reject foreign influence.
Since early 80s, Chinese government started to introduce American TV shows to China like Garrisons Gorillas, Growing Pains. Thirty years later, there are myriads of American TV shows available on line (not allowed to be on show on TV though). More and more Chinese teenagers and young professionals choose to watch American TV shows rather than Chinese TV shows. Gossip Girls, CSI, Friends, Weeds, Sex and City… become very popular in China; however, there are more and more concerns about the “American TV show heat” in society. I collected some points of views as following which I think really interesting.
1.TV shows are tools to spread cultural value
These values include Individualism, Hedonism and Heroism. There are lots of –Man on TV like Superman, Ironman, Batman, Spiderman, and Watchman. The other example is shows like Gossip Girls. They are stories about girls, boys, relationships, parties, sex and fashion… They are rich, good-looking and powerful. They can do whatever they want and always get whatever they like.
2.The influence on audience
According to a research, people from 16-25 are the main body of audience of American TV shows. They are with very unstable values which are easy to be influenced. Those values mentioned above will corrupt them.
However, it is free market today provides us more and more choices which make our lives interesting than ever before. They reason of the growing interest in American TV shows is that they are close to our lives and show what we want and what we cannot get. Compared with Chinese historical shows, American TV shows are more real. They are about people like us, about their sorrows and troubles which we have been through every day. The TV show makers are smart enough to show what people want to see and what people want to do. At the same time, there is a keen competition among American TV shows which guarantees their quality.
Everybody has uncountable choices about TV programs and movies, however, more and more of them choose American ones. It is nothing about Cultural Imperialism or Cultural Infiltration, it is unnecessary to relate every cultural phenomenon to politics. Free market provides us free choice which results in the choice of American TV shows.
That's a good point Skylar, and it might interest you to know that there are even groups in the US which also are concerned with the "values" presented in television shows, movies, and music in the United States. Like the second idea you raised, there are often concerns that these types of media will "corrupt" young people.
ReplyDeleteI think some people might argue that it is cultural imperialism, because while it is the free market, it's presenting people with a choice that didn't arise from the native culture. So while it may be soft imperialism, it still has an influence.
I don't personally believe that media can negatively influence behavior, as its one of many potential influences in a young person's life. The danger I see from it to international communication though is the images of the foreign culture it creates. If the only things a Chinese person knows about life in America are shows like Sex in the City or Batman, I wonder how that would influence them when they dealt with Americans?
Television has been under scrutiny for "corrupting" audiences since it was first released to a public audience. There have been numerous laws passed within the US at different times that are supposed to guarantee educational content, limit ads during times when children would be watching, and, of course, enforce the ratings system. These have all fluctuated and changed over the years.
ReplyDeleteModernization Theory would propose that access to international programming in developing nations will raise the store of knowledge in that nation. I agree with what you are saying though. Countries that can not or do not produce entertaining, informative, and above all competitive television programming for their TV owners are going o have a hard time creating their own popular culture (or news media culture).
I also agree that a lack of realistic presentations of a country in its film exports could alter the perceptions of a society with less global awareness or access to alternative sources of information.
I won't go so far as to say that I am challenging Sam's comment (as that would require a response, which I am not sure that this cyber world will inform me of) that media cannot negatively influence behavior, but I will certainly disagree with it. I certainly think that the media has a profound impact on the behavior of individuals. Take a gander at Richard Poplak's latest work "The Sheik's Batmobile". It will unravel the belief that the Middle East shuts out and shuns American pop-culture, and will further go on to explain how deeply it has rooted and influence society in this region of the world. Or take a look at US Cultural Hegemony (http://sis640.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/us-cultural-hegemony-an-undeniable-force/) and you will see the impact that media can have on an individual who knows nothing about America expects the messages in the media.
ReplyDeleteAlthough called “reality tv,” I would have to disagree about the actual realism of American TV programming. It is true that producers understand what type of material will grip certain segments of the American public, which is why they have had such success in marketing their shows as portraying “normal” people. The reason for their popularity is our sick fascination with watching people go through things that many of us could only imagine; we are curious and desire to live vicariously through these people who are portrayed as being just like us. However, I would argue that there is little semblance of actual reality on the majority of these shows, although we can often draw parallels to our own lives from the drama and plotlines depicted.
ReplyDeleteThe Real World, the longest running program in MTV history, portrays the growing pains of a group of young people who all go to work together, play together, breakup and make up all while living together in the same house. However, very little about their living situation, their jobs as orchestrated by MTV, etc constitute reality for the average 18-25 year old. While you will certainly encounter people such as these, the “characters” are chosen for the show because of specific character traits which producers know will incite drama and make for more interesting viewing as the season unravels. On the other hand, people who choose to subject their lives to public consumption are certainly a unique breed as well, who do not represent the average person. Similarly, Jon & Kate +8 and the Newlyweds were popular reality shows because of the simplicity of their premises. Nevertheless, there is nothing natural or realistic about having a camera in your home 24/7, magnifying what normally are private lovers’ quarrels and family dynamics, editing and displaying it for the world to see. Is it any wonder that so many of these relationships crumble, when private dysfunction becomes fodder for public criticism? People on these shows certainly learn how to act naturally as if there were no camera present, but the reality that every aspect of your life is being recorded for public viewing is inescapable and inseparable from your actions, which is not a natural or arguably healthy state of being. While I agree that not every cultural phenomenon must be related to politics, I am not convinced that the realism of American reality TV can account for its popularity internationally, in place of the theory of cultural imperialism.
I agree with Skylar that the Free Market, rather than intentional Cultural Imperialism, results in audiences abroad choosing to watch American programming. German sociologist Habermas' concern with media driven by capitalist interest and advertisement, is that they will dilute content to meet the lowest common denominator, in order to appeal to the widest possible audience. I think that is exactly what is happening, and applies to foreign audiences. Incidentally, the lowest common denominator appears to be the stimulation of our shared basic human emotions- romance, humor, sadness, fear.
ReplyDeleteAmerican television might do this through storylines that are more closely based on real-life situations (compared to China), but there is definitely a caricatural nature that influences foreign perception of America and Americans. Abroad I have encountered the following assumptions based on American movies and television: California is all beach, palm trees, and silicone (a la Baywatch); habitants of a small city in Provence nicknamed the bad neighborhood in their town "Chicago" (courtesy of "The Untouchables"); Americans are meatheads (thanks to Sylvester Stallone's entire body of work).
With respect to reality television, it is interesting that different countries will export the formula, but not the actual programming. Many countries have their own versions of Real World, Survivor, American Idol, Amazing Race, Star Academy, Fear Factor, the Bachelor and (gasp) Temptation Island. What does this tell us? We like to see people that we can identify with, and as we watch, wonder how we would fare in the same situation. It cultivates our sense of connectedness because the 'stars' are people from all walks of life, just like us.
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