Saturday, April 13, 2013

RR #3: Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse & Co



Christopher Avalos

Professor Knapp

English 1A

14 April 2013
            America may well be the biggest influence in the world for popular culture. All over the world, adults, teens, and children alike are watching American movies, wearing American branded clothing and listening to American music. In Todd Gitlin’s article “Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse & Co,” he describes how American media has spread throughout the world.
            Gitlin writes about Hollywood and how it has been “the global culture capital” (825). He makes a lot of sense with that because, as most people know, Hollywood brings actors from every corner of the globe to perform in these American films. It is easy to note that entertainment is one of America’s top exports. Gitlin states that in 1999, entertainment was the top export at $80 billion worth (825).
            While we may pride ourselves in being completely “American,” there is no such thing because of the “melting pot” that is the United States. Our culture is largely influenced by European and African cultures. We mix and match things we like and make it our own. This is a prime example to why other countries are eating up American media as easily as they are. While other countries’ attempts at media are perhaps very popular in that country, most have failed to be hit the mainstream in America or other countries around the world.
            An interesting observation I made a few years back was when I visited Mexico, I noticed the teenagers and young adults wearing brands such as Aeropostale and Hollister. I have tied this to the article because it shows how, in fact, American brands are being spread more and more throughout the whole world. This may not be a significant observation on its own, but if you tie in the American media and how it is spreading, you are able to notice how easily American culture is being accepted all over the world.
Gitlin describes American popular culture as “the closest approximation today to a global lingua franca, drawing the urban and young in particular into a common cultural zone where they share some dreams of freedom, wealth, comfort, innocence, and power – and perhaps most of all, youth as a state of mind”(826). I completely agree with Gitlin, his point is strong and makes a lot of sense. If everyone is watching the same tv shows, listening to the same music, and wearing the same clothes, then we are more united than we think. We may not be united by nationality but by a universal medium, being the human mind. Some student in Tokyo may not have the exact same interests as I, but with this globalized media, I know that the student has similar thoughts of American virtues as I do.

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