It's fair to say that many people in the world have been exposed to some form of Disney product. It could be an animated classic, one of the many tv shows or one of the theme parks scattered around the globe. Much has been written about how Walt Disney started the trend of taking a European story and modifying it to an American audience. On page 14 of our Sparks reading, he dives into the "universal American spin" concept that we seem to give to almost any story that crosses our borders. A lot of the time, the message Disney puts into the movie is wholly an American one--pick yourself up, dust yourself off and go get that Prince (or let him rescue you), because the whole world and your stepmother is against you! Or something thereabouts. The bad guy is always bad, the good guy (or girl) is always good, and unlike life, there's no ambiguity. Disney packaged the message we like to hear and see and exported it abroad. I would argue that it was not just selling a commercial product that someone can chose whether or not s/he wants to purchase, it was exporting our American ideals and culture.
We read in Spark's paper that if something is made to be commercialized, then having it be modified (a la Winnie the Pooh) for a target audience isn't really a bad thing. But with the world getting smaller and people becoming ever more protective of their cultures, traditions and values, will companies like Disney feel that it's okay to continue to push commercial products or animated features that offend? And what about reversing the situation? Hamas uses a Micky Mouse look-alike to deliver their message that Israel and the US are evil-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8fRMqWOBuM. If you so much as spit on the pavement in Disneyland they'll reign fire down on you, and yet I don't see Disney taking on Hamas over intellectual property infringement(but for some reason I think it'd be really cool if they did). Mickey's icon status, created by Walt Disney in the 1930s, reached so far that it's now being used against the US.
The class discussion and reading made me wonder what our national brand is and what we're doing with it as the world becomes increasingly globalized. When other countries see us, will the see a set of ideals and values we try live by or do they see a Nike swoosh, the cast of "Friends", a Ford Mustang, Mickey Mouse or another Disney Princess? With globalization making the world seem more crowded, more accessible, and smaller, people will undoubtedly identify us with what our companies export abroad. If you caught last night's premier episode of "Outsourced" this came up a few times. Along with typical, cringe inducing, cross cultural moments, the general assumption about American culture was also steeped in stereotypes. If we want to be more efficient in our communication with people across borders, we need to see and pay attention to, what our other have is exporting too.
I love the idea of Disney taking down Hamas. That might be an actual probable idea to knock them out :)
ReplyDeleteI most definitely agree with this. With all of my experiences abroad there has always been an overwhelming American presence pretty much everywhere I've been. Europe, China, and Korea specifically all had many American cultural and commercial exports. Taiwan was one of the few places that didn't have an overwhelming American presence.
When I lived in Korea my room mate was French. Laura would openly say she didn't like America or Americans (but I was okay because she got to work on her English, that was perfect by the way.) Despite her dislike of America and Americans she watched Friends everyday, ate American fast food, and at one point even worked in a French McDonalds. (She and all her close girlfriends had. Apparently it pays well.)
Despite her usage of so many American cultural items, I think she did not "like" America due to the lack of ideals and values we send abroad. And I think this is how most of the world feels. I think most of the world just views us as commercially based unmoral and unethical country. Part of this has to due with our public policy abroad, diplomacy, and then of course our cultural exports like movies and tv.
I like the Disney example as it is more influential as its directed to children. I think kids around the world has watched most Disney's movies. Which for example makes the exposure of eastern children to American culture at young age. This somehow implants American cultural traits within the the little receiver(child) with little distinguish between what whats imported or really from his/her culture.
ReplyDeleteSo probably this also explains what Zabc21 said about her French friend who claims to hate America yet eats, dress and watch American products. The fact that american products are strongly available in almost all countries influences in a way or another that culture. People basically are influenced by Americans without intentionally being aware of this impact since they are not physically present in the US.