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.
