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Impact of americanization on american culture
Impact of americanization on american culture
Essays by neil postman
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Write an essay explaining the extent to which you believe the export of American popular culture has proven Postman right or wrong. Refer to at least three sources.
A brave new world is emerging as America paves the way for globalization. And with it comes new changes that spur new visions for the future. From visions of an oppressive, totalitarian government as painted by George Orwell’s 1984 to portrayals of a homogeneous society created within Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, many warn about the dangers large change can bring. Media critic, Neil Postman, suggests that the state of the world resembles Huxley’s vision more than Orwell’s, and his claim is not unfounded. With the advent of globalization, Postman’s suggestion that the world
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In the Middle East, many Arabs hold the opinion that American media is a threat to their Muslim identity by portraying them as terrorists and indoctrinating their youth with American influences (Havrilesky). Huxley’s Brave New World holds the theme of suppressing the truth by “drowning it in a sea of irrelevance” which America does with its widespread media. In 2006, over ⅔ of the movies in Europe were American and further its cultural dominance through its mass spread of written text (as an example, nine English-language books are translated into German for every German book translated into English) (Joffe). The export of American culture has given new identities to pre-existing cultures by stereotyping them into a general category and blots out the media of other cultures by burying it with their own. Like the World State in Brave New World pushes society to be uniform, America does the same by pushing other cultures to be like it. The idea of globalization to just be an extension of American influence is how it is perceived by other countries as seen in a Japanese newspaper referring to globalization as “The American-Instigated Globalization” (Friedman). There’s so much of America being spread across the globe than other countries that it seems more like Americanization rather than what globalization was supposed to be: a contribution by the entire world. This process …show more content…
Many people desire American media to the extent that they will break the law to attain it in countries where that content is illegal to be broadcast (Straughan). American culture is loved by many, but it’s not just its media that’s attractive but its way of life as well. In Jerusalem, the opening of a simple McDonald’s was significant enough to be put on the news and attract thousands of people (Friedman). At the sight of an American fast food chain, many Israelis were eager to grab a bite of Big Mac in a nation rather than try to protect their holy city from American influence. The number of new opportunities brought about by globalization are attracting youths of different societies who not only lack interest in their culture but also have a desire to escape it in favor of the “American dream” (Appiah). When given the chance to embrace American culture, many choose to accept it even at a cost to their own culture. American movies, T.V shows, and fast food places are the modern equivalent to the feelies and centrifugal bumblepuppy in Brave New World. People are more preoccupied with the American life than they are with preserving the life they came
Brave New World is an unsettling, loveless and even sinister place. This is because Huxley endows his "ideal" society with features calculated to alienate his audience. Typically, reading Brave New World elicits the very same disturbing feelings in the reader which the society it depicts has notionally vanquished - not a sense of joyful anticipation. Huxley's novel presents a startling view of the future which on the surface appears almost comical. His intent, however, is not humor. Huxley's message is dark and depressing. His idea that in centuries to come, a one-world government will rise to power, stripping people's freedom, is not a new idea. What makes Huxley's interpretation different is the fact that his fictional society not only lives in a totalitarian government, but takes an embracive approach like mindless robots. For example, Soma, not nuclear bombs, is the weapon of choice for the World Controllers in Brave New World. The world leaders have realized that fear and intimidation have only limited power; these tactics simply build up resentment in the minds of the oppressed. Subconscious persuasion and mind-altering drugs, on the other hand, appear to have no side effects.
To conclude, Postman's analysis that Huxley's vision of the future has become more of a reality than that of Orwell's. Although the present day is not exactly how Huxley had envisioned it, our society will soon reflect the one created in Brave New World if it continues to progress as it had in the past few decades. Orwell's prediction does not hold much relevance in today's society. Our government is not constantly watching over us, they have more important difficulties to overcome. Government is not concerned with the actions of individuals; they base their decisions on the opinions of the masses. Huxley's travesty holds far more relevance than the prestigious social theory of Orwell.
Several conflicting frames of mind have played defining roles in shaping humanity throughout the twentieth century. Philosophical optimism of a bright future held by humanity in general was taken advantage of by the promise of a better life through sacrifice of individuality to the state. In the books Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 clear opposition to these subtle entrapments was voiced in similarly convincing ways. They first all established, to varying degrees of balance, the atmosphere and seductiveness of the “utopia” and the fear of the consequences of acting in the non-prescribed way through character development. A single character is alienated because of their inability to conform – often in protest to the forced conditions of happiness and well being. Their struggle is to hide this fact from the state’s relentless supervision of (supposedly) everything. This leads them to eventually come into conflict with some hand of the state which serves as the authors voice presenting the reader with the ‘absurdity’ of the principles on which the society is based. The similar fear of the state’s abuse of power and technology at the expense of human individuality present within these novels speaks to the relevance of these novels within their historical context and their usefulness for awakening people to the horrendous consequences of their ignorance.
According to Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World both predicted that society would eventually be governed by a global totalitarian system; however, the key difference between both their predictions is the method by which society’s cognizance would be undermined. Orwell claimed that contemporary society would be controlled by overt modes of policing and supervising the social hierarchy, whereas Huxley stated that society’s infatuation with entertainment and superficial pleasure alone would be enough for the government to have absolute control over the public. Unfortunately, today’s society is not an Animal Farm. All jokes aside, Postman’s assertion of Huxley’s theory, “what
The novel Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley has been reviewed over time by many different people. Neil Postman is a man who has read Huxley’s novel and came to conclusions himself about the comparison between the novel, and the modern day problems we have in today’s society. Postman has made many relevant assertions as to how our modern society is similar to what Huxley had written about in his novel. The three main points I agree on with Postman is that people will begin to love their oppression; people would have no reason to fear books; and that the truth will be drowned by irrelevance. The first assertion Postman made regarded people loving their oppression.
Imagine a society in which its citizens have forfeited all personal liberties for government protection and stability; Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, explores a civilization in which this hypothetical has become reality. The inevitable trade-off of citizens’ freedoms for government protection traditionally follows periods of war and terror. The voluntary degradation of the citizens’ rights begins with small, benign steps to full, totalitarian control. Major methods for government control and censorship are political, religious, economic, and moral avenues. Huxley’s Brave New World provides a prophetic glimpse of government censorship and control through technology; the citizens of the World State mimic those of the real world by trading their personal liberties for safety and stability, suggesting that a society similar to Huxley’s could exist outside the realm of dystopian science fiction.
Postman then goes on to acknowledges that there are several different places that exist in the world where the totalitarianism of thought control exists. Another well-known author named George Orwell describes this in his fantastically written book ‘1984’. Postman does not see America that way…in the way that Orwell viewed America. As an alternative, Postman believes that America is actually threatened by “an enemy with a smiling face,” where “Big Brother(George Orwell’s ‘1984’) does not watch us…We watch him” (155).
An artistic achievement that can demonstrate that the United States is in its Golden Age is its very influential fast growing entertainment business, a business very important to the U.S. economic activity. The U.S. entertainment has been popular around the world globalizing U.S. pop culture and the U.S. entrainment business economy. This globalization is a result of new innovations, that the U.S. itself developed, that allows film, music, and television, to spread worldwide. Because the U.S. is generally first to have such innovations the entertainment is commonly considered better quality thus appealing to the masses of people. Other factors that lead to the huge success of its entertainment business include their methods of distribution, which is through large and powerful foreign companies, and their large English-speaking market potential. High market ability and general international appeal of the U.S. entertainment business has put the U.S. in a “Golden ...
Contemporary society is blinded by new and improved technologies only created for the increase of apathy. Neil Postman has declared that the novel, Brave New World, can be used to connote our society is slowly changing into that dystopia. Aldous Huxley, the author of this piece, conveys his idea that what we love oppresses us, and will ultimately be our downfall. In George Orwell´s novel, 1984, he states that what we fear and hate will be our downfall. In my view, what we love has more of a grasp over us than what we hate. We keep what we love around us at all times, opposed to staying away from our fears. I agree with Huxley, and also with Postman´s interpretation.
In the article excerpt, social critic Neil Postman describes two dystopian novels: George Orwell’s 1984, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Postman compares which novel is more relevant to today’s society, and leans more towards Brave New World. When both novels are compared side by side, it is evident that Huxley’s world is indeed more relative to modern day civilization.
As Americans we have to start to comprehend that the world around us is changing technologically, politically, and economically. In “The Last Superpower” an excerpt from the book The Post American World by Fareed Zakaria published in 2008. Zakaria emphasizes on these changes. Thomas Friedman the author of “The World is Flat” a piece from the book The World is Flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century published in 2005 also emphasizes on the same changes currently happening in the world. Zakaria and Friedman define these changes as globalization. The obvious common ground shared by both authors is their representation of globalization and the effects that it has and will continue to have on modern life. In contrast to sharing the same main topic both authors take a drastically different approach on how the relay their information to the audience. The differences displayed are mainly due to their personal and educational backgrounds, definitions of globalization as well as the individual writing styles of each author.
In Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Huxley’s Brave New World, the authoritative figures strive for freedom, peace, and stability for all, to develop a utopian society. The Utopian society strives for a perfect state of well-being for all persons in the community, and over-emphasizes this factor, where no person is exposed to the reality of the world. As each novel progresses we see that neither society possesses family values nor attempts to practice them. Neither are passionate nor creative in factors such as love, language, history and literature. Our society today, in general, is unsure about the future: The nightmare of total organization has emerged from the safe, remote future and is now awaiting us, just around the next corner. It follows inexorably from having so many people. This quotes represents Watts’ fear for the future; George Orwell and Aldous Huxley both explore the future state of civilization in their novels. They both warn us of the dangers of a totalitarian society. Both books express a utopian ideal, examine characters that are forced into this state and are compelled to dealing with this society and all the rules involved.
Pop culture in the 1950s and 1960s began to spread and infest the nation from front to back through radio shows, books and magazines, television programs, and even motion pictures. Whether it is culture in terms of political affairs, clothing or the latest musical sensations, the United States has always played the dominant role when it came to who knows what is best, first. Some cases of Americanizati...
In this essay I want to analyze how capitalism, in this case in the form of the American entertainment industry, has manifested itself in society and become the ultimate weapon of social oppression. I will argue that the American entertainment industry is the embodiment of the capitalist system of oppression because it provides people delightful relief from their daily worries while simultaneously binding them forcefully with the capitalist shackles of consumerism. The first part of this essay will provide an overview of the theories used. The second part will use these theories to analyze how the entertainment industry works as an oppressive mechanism. The essay will also briefly touch upon the subject of how the age of technology has enforced this mechanism and made the entertainment industry even stronger and
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, portrays a future society where people are no longer individuals but are controlled by the World State. The World State dominates the people by creating citizens that are content with who they are. Brave New World describes how the science of biology and psychology are manipulated so that the government can develop technologies to change the way humans think and act. The World State designs humans from conception for this society. Once the humans are within the society the state ensures all people remain happy. They program these humans to have needs and desires that will sustain a lucrative economy while not thinking of themselves as an individual. Huxley describes the Worlds State’s intent to control their society through medical intervention, happiness, and consumerism which has similarities to modern society.