Does The Spread Of American Culture Have To Be A Bad Thing?

Everything is connected in one way or another on a global level. American culture dominates as an example for globalization. So many different things have mixed and mashed and molded together creating American Popular Culture. Although, Americans shouldn’t take full credit for originality in all of their widespread ideas as they are a melting pot of other worldwide ideas. This is a good thing, and a bad thing. Following points will discuss opposition to cultural globalization, impact of American globalization, protection from globalization, filtered cultures, loss of influence, and personal beliefs on the effect of American popular culture. Why does the spread of one culture have to be a bad thing? American culture is widespread and has
been that way for quite some time. Even though this has been the cultural trend for a while, many countries are opposed to the spread of American popular culture. These countries fear they will lose their own local traditions. Some countries have even gone to the length of banning foreign movies, or music. Fear of losing local culture can be overpowering. Something that has always been part of a routine is now being taken over by something never performed in that specific region can devastate groups of people and religions. Some places are very welcoming to the diverse culture, thinking that it will keep them more in contact with the rest of the world. Overall the opposition to the globalization of culture is caused by the fear of losing local culture. American popular culture is very impactful. Major corporations are no longer the main global figure for the United States; as of recently our media is a big deal worldwide. In Europe someone staying in an international dormitory had neighbors from around ten different countries, the main language spoken between these people was American English.Only about half of the students in this dorm, though, had taken an English course. Children, teens, and even adults in other countries, not native to American tongue, are speaking fluent American English when it comes to quoting movies, lyrics, or things they see on the internet. One major cultural influence is YouTube. All these things have come together to change how the younger generation of people in Europe are acting compared to just a few years ago when what happened “across the pond” was none of their business. Now, it seems, everyone wants to sing along with Rihanna, or quote lines from amazing movies like Titanic. This spread of American culture is very controversial though. Many countries are going above and beyond trying to “protect” their citizens from the dreaded Americanization happening worldwide. Some countries, like France, have begun to ban American culture. France has gone above and beyond and banned things such as American movies, and at one point in time even tried banning Coca-Cola. They also were slow to join popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter by creating their own alternatives (Skyrock). This is just one country, and how they are deciding to fight the globalization of American popular culture. American culture is not just wide spread, its being altered to fit the needs of certain regions.
Many places are adopting American ideas, yet they might not have the same conditions as we do here so they slightly alter them to match their own circumstances. Some countries are taking their own twists on things, like our fast food chains. McDonald’s is one of the most common places in the world. There is not much alterations done to this worldwide, but not every Mcdonald’s will have the same menu because they might not be able to produce some of the things the McDonald’s in America do due to lack of resources. Another thing that may vary in different countries would be sports. They may have the same general idea, yet not every exact detail, like rules and regulations, may be the same. This is just a slight example on how somethings are ‘filtered’ in a certain area to fit local
culture. Spread of American culture is dominating, although this long lived domination may be losing its force. There are several reasons behind why this may be happening but one that I think to be the biggest of all the possible reasons is the fact that technology is becoming more worldly available. The more we produce movies, and music, and other media type things that are the main spread of pop culture the more people worldwide are learning tips and tricks to start producing their own. Hollywood is a major producer of most of the movies released each year, but people are starting to turn towards Bollywood films and other Asian productions. We aren’t as technologically advanced as we used to be, and the world no longer needs to depend on us for certain things when they can begin to produce their own. Americanization is a global issue.
Everyone is going to have an opinion on if it is a good thing or a bad thing. My personal beliefs are that it is having a negative effect on other cultures. The spread of our music, movie, and other things are virtually taking over all aspects of the world. We are taking over the world little at a time brainwashing people with what we call music, and entertainment is being taken in by other people worldwide and replacing what they have always known. That might be the goal, but why? People have always been raised and taught to preserve their culture and anymore its hard when teens and adolescents rebel taking on their own ideas and just trying to create a life for themselves culture seems to be disappearing and where it is still present is kept under a tight hold for now, but who knows what the future holds. I personally believe we should just lay off and keep things to ourselves and let the world create for themselves what they think is
best.