Sabotage of Culture

Picture with me… The scene is the small town outside of Xianjiang in Northeastern China,

a place seemingly transported from many decades ago. It is Sunday afternoon, time for the

weekly public market as peasants sell snacks, crafts and spices on the ground. Wagons full of

produces and fruits are pulled around by store owners. But in this very traditional rural farming

community, something is a little out of place. In the middle of the market, stands a group of fresh

swagged out Chinese kids, decked in their American street-wear, flat brim hats, tight jeans, high

top shoes listening to the newest track of American rapper Kanye West on their MP3 players.

Xiao-Bao, my friend the host of my recent exchange trip to China is one of these youth. He turns

to me and says “ohhh Aaron ni zenme yang wo de xiong di” which basically means, “what’s up

Bro?” in Chinese.

After a day at the market, we go back to his home. Xiao-Bao kicks up his feet and turned

on the television, as MTV fill the room with latest beats. In between music videos, he hums

the McDonald’s jingles and stares intently at the Chevrolet commercial while we talk. In his

voice, I could hear the conflict. His deep ambition is to move to Hong Kong and pursue the

Western lifestyle he sees on TV. Yet, his roots belong to this little town built by the generations

of subsidence farmers. If he and a whole generation of young people leave, this town, which

have survived over one thousand years, would slowly but surely die... Along with it, their ways

of life, culture, art and music would also become extinct, killed not by “progress” but by the

powerful façade created by American popular culture.

American pop culture is a powerful force. It has the propensity to penetrate any market

and dominate without consideration of consequences to native culture. This tendency has

prompted Harvard Professor James Walton to state, “We don’t use Marine Corps or Delta

Force; we use McDonald to dominate.” Such domination allows American corporations to push

products into Mexico, Sri Lanka, and Uganda, anywhere within the reach of the American

pop culture.

Xiao Bao and his generation, the irresistible nature of American export can overwhelm the local

cultures. May be you are thinking, “Good for the U.S. of A” (Yeah!); but is it good for people

like Xiao Bao, his parents, or this little town? Perhaps the questions that we need to pose today

are: What makes American pop cultures so irresistible? How does the American pop

culture detrimentally affect the youth around the world and the culture they live in?

And finally, what are some necessary solutions to address this problem?

fast cars and gorgeous women! Take the latest stereotypical Hollywood film, for example. Agent

007 goes on a mission, shoots the bad guys, seduces a beautiful woman, blows up the lair, and

drives off in a fast car.

younger generation. To the average teenager in Peru, China or Pakistan, these are pretty much

the most awesome things ever. In fact, the most popular American films in each of the last four

years grossed more box office-earning outside of the United States than they did here. Miley

Cyrus and Justin Bieber are teen idols in…India. Meanwhile, a recent Reuters report shows

that 80% of American TV watchers in China are youth… It follows that the clash of culture is

inevitable.

other societies, the American pop culture is subversive to the local cultures. Last year, French

President Jacques Chirac accused the United States of spreading a “generalized underculture in

the world.” He went as far as saying that “all other countries would be stifled to the benefit of

American culture.” Chirac, of course, is referring to how American pop culture sabotages

the identity, complexity and heritage of other nations.

The negative effect of American pop culture is noticeable around the world. Norse,

a young Norwegian man recently commented: “I feel that it's made us more materialistic,

self-centred and preoccupied with looking good rather than cultivating what's good inside

ourselves. I also think that it distances Norwegian people from their cultural heritage, because

it becomes "uncool" to be traditional.” These are not just harmless sentiments of youth. The

ideologies are generated by American businesses partners, whose interest is to sell their product

at any cost. So, It doesn’t matter that the movie promotes violence, just long as the images

create a demand for cars. It doesn’t matter that the reality show depicts marital infidelity, as

long as the starlets could be attached to perfumes. And it certainly doesn’t matter if the drama

espouses decadence, so long as the lifestyle becomes the desires of millions of youth.

The push of American pop culture also promulgates certain modern American ideals-

such as wealth and independence. Since younger generations are prone to the Americanization,

pop culture invasion also sets up generational conflicts. While we in the U.S. may view

independence and success as supreme virtues, they teach individualism rather than team work,

family loyalty, and group identity, core values of other cultures. These fundamentally opposing

viewpoints have been great concerns to many countries. Some governments have taken active

steps to limit American TV shows on their airways to address the growing discords.

But, their efforts appear futile. In my summer trip to China, I had hoped to see its cultural

history. While I did see fair amount of ancient China in the Great Wall and the Forbidden City,

the overwhelming amount of current American culture in China astonished me. For example,

amidst 30 million Beijing residents, stood King of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, 50 feet

tall on a billboard, one hand holding up a basketball, and the other, his brand new Nike sneaker.

Think about it. In a country with virtually no Africans, the image of the African-American

basketball player stands like a god in China’s capital city.

he is destined for success, wealth and a life free from his town and his culture. Given the chance

he will abandon his roots in exchange for the image American pop culture sells. Along with

others like him, American culture will threaten to extinguish the subcultures of this town and

many others in the world

responsibility lies with the multinational American companies that are exporting cultural

products. Their advertisement campaigns needs to be sensitive to the ethnicities by promoting

images that represent the regional values… But individually we should aspire to greater calling

in this struggle to protect the cultures around the world. We, as a generation that values diversity

and equality, must be willing to learn from cultures in all parts of the world. We can do so by

including them in our education, by intentionally learning about them and most importantly by

celebrating them. We must be far more learned about societies outside of America if we are ever

to advocate for them in the future. We must also hold these corporations accountable as our duty

as world citizens to ensure that “we put people before profit.”

their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” The United States must

acknowledge that no one culture can or should reign supreme, for the death of diverse cultures

will ultimately uproot humanity itself. As for Xiao-Bao, “ta de wen hua shi wo men de zhe ren”

he and his culture is therefore our responsibility.