Essay On The Impact Of American Influence On Pop Culture

2027 Words5 Pages

In response to globalization, many critics have become concerned with its effects on other cultures. Globalization is not merely the sharing of goods and people, but also the spread of ideology and values. So, what happens when the ideologies of different nations conflict? For those who support the cultural imperialism theory, the answer is simple? The more powerful countries’ ideas prevail, forcing the people of the less powerful country to quickly abandon their former ideas and adapt to the new ones. The result is that authentic cultures are ruined which will lead to a global homogeneous culture. However, those who oppose this theory contend that cultures are not ruined but expanded and enhanced to create more complex and diverse societies. In my paper I examined both arguments as well as the way in which American popular culture is spread. In particular, I will focus on the impact of American influence in Japan and Korea, both of which have been receptive to American culture, and France. Most often, scholars cite media and business as the main form of cultural imperialism, but what is the true effect of watching American television and movies, listening to music, or eating a …show more content…

But, the cultural aspect taking center stage here is the popularity of pop music, in this case K-Pop. This genre of music is clearly influenced by American popular forms of entertainment. Within Korean music videos, one can see influences from hip-hop and pop music videos in the West to American films. The artists often sing and rap in both Korean and English to create crossover appeal. Although, the videos are full of Western influences, it also contains many local aspects. It is also important to note that K-Pop is the most popular genre of music in Southeast Asia at the moment, not American pop. K-pop is now exported to China and Japan. This wave of Korean pop culture is referred to as Hallyu (Globalization studies, 10

Open Document