Y'know, I think it's an interesting point about mass-produced culture vs. local culture or community culture.
I don't know if we would be having this discussion if it weren't for mass-produced culture. I'm sort of going off randomly now, but it reminds me of when Theresa Carter on the panel likened American culture to the atom bomb (I don't cite this to agree with her, though I think culture can be used as a weapon and often is). Anyhow, I brought that up because if there weren't mass-produced culture, there wouldn't be "American" culture.
I guess it's also hard to say because if you (general) are living in America, you've got to somehow interact with American culture, even if you decide the entire thing is stupid, because every now and again, someone's going to ask, "Hey, did you see Simon Cowell last night? That was awesome!"
Which is when things get weird, because I think if you talk to folks internationally, they're much more likely to both know something from American pop culture than they are from Bollywood or something. Frex, more and more movies from Hollywood have a single international release date. Ok, obviously this is more to combat piracy than anything else.
Then, of course, there's the question of money, because the people creating this mass-produced culture will be trying to aim it at market segments that pay the best. (this is where racism comes in, watch your head for bombs!) And because of complicated social and economic and historical factors, the default market has often been teenaged white males. Thankfully, this is changing (OMG! Asians have money! OMG! Middle-aged white women want to watch movies about gay cowboys! OMG! Teenage girls read comics!), but I guess it's still a factor.
Anyhoo, I totally lost my point!
In conclusion, I, too, want to talk to those guys in Tashkent.
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Sat, Jun. 3rd, 2006 03:37 am (UTC)I don't know if we would be having this discussion if it weren't for mass-produced culture. I'm sort of going off randomly now, but it reminds me of when Theresa Carter on the panel likened American culture to the atom bomb (I don't cite this to agree with her, though I think culture can be used as a weapon and often is). Anyhow, I brought that up because if there weren't mass-produced culture, there wouldn't be "American" culture.
I guess it's also hard to say because if you (general) are living in America, you've got to somehow interact with American culture, even if you decide the entire thing is stupid, because every now and again, someone's going to ask, "Hey, did you see Simon Cowell last night? That was awesome!"
Which is when things get weird, because I think if you talk to folks internationally, they're much more likely to both know something from American pop culture than they are from Bollywood or something. Frex, more and more movies from Hollywood have a single international release date. Ok, obviously this is more to combat piracy than anything else.
Then, of course, there's the question of money, because the people creating this mass-produced culture will be trying to aim it at market segments that pay the best. (this is where racism comes in, watch your head for bombs!) And because of complicated social and economic and historical factors, the default market has often been teenaged white males. Thankfully, this is changing (OMG! Asians have money! OMG! Middle-aged white women want to watch movies about gay cowboys! OMG! Teenage girls read comics!), but I guess it's still a factor.
Anyhoo, I totally lost my point!
In conclusion, I, too, want to talk to those guys in Tashkent.