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The Last Place
angela morgenstern writes "Buddhist Bhutan was the last place on earth to legalize television. Trading traditional practices for daytime soaps and WWF, many fear that western influence will trample the culture." A whole set of articles about the effect of American television on one of the most remote places on earth - it's official, there is no escape from American "culture".
I have only just got back from SEasia and could not find much to watch on their TV as they have their own programming that I found terrible. They have a good strong culture of their own and I think it will prevail. I had to resort to MTVasia and the BBC world. Even MTVasia is their own bubble pop rather than the stuff we are used to. As the tube moves into Bhutan I think it will be asian TV that goes with it and they will not get this expected burst of western "culture" when it arrives.
American "culture" ? is that an oxymoron ?
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
Bullshit. You don't wanna watch it, you don't have to. Pull the plug, turn off the TV, don't buy it in the first place. Meanwhile, I'll be content to indulge myself in the fine quality of American TV, thank you very much.
*flip* Rerun...
*flip* Crap...
*flip* Crappy rerun...
It never occured to me that there might be a place that there *ISN'T* TV.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
Before any laws, TV could be provided and viewed by anyone.
If it was made illegal, people were more limited in what they could do and there were now laws which punished them if they broke the rules.
"Legalizing television" actually means that television is now allowed but only under the laws which limit what can be done with it. More television can be sent openly, but television thus has a new set of laws which prohibit various things.
Come on, what's so bad about our culture? Not all of us are the stereotyped fat slobs who stare at the TV all day. Our music is diverse, our people tend to work, and our culture is mostly tolerant on issues. And I like the fact that we are free to discuss issues concerning the government.
After realizing that I never watched TV anyway, and the kids were watching too much, I disconnected the cable.
Got internet for news, info, and entertainment. The kids now spend more time playing outside and reading. The only thing I really miss is sports (no big deal, as I hate all the local teams here in Maryland) and 24hr news (at least have the net).
Still have the TV (gotta watch DVDs and the kids still have the kiddie movies). But it mostly stays off now. It's nice.
Granted, instead of spending $40 a month on cable, I'm spending $100+ a month on DVDs.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
Hopefully, after the novelty of television wears off, the Bhutanese people won't become as obsessed with TV as Americans are. When I was a kid, I used to wach cartoons every Saturday morning, without fail. I'm sure many other people did the same. But as I grew older, I watched TV less often, and now I only watch the news and sometimes a few programs I enjoy.
The article made the Bhutanese people seem, to me, like America's children. But in a few years, hopefully the novelty will wear off, and Bhutan won't lose its rich culture to Sex in the City and MTV.
Hopefully.
Oops!
Not that it's a bad thing ofcourse. A single world-culture and a single world language would be good for trade. I still own a TV and I watch it BTW and I think that a strong mind can use TV rather than be used by it.
I just don't hold any illusions that you can preserve a local culture under the constant wash of TV. It just is as it is. TV's unblinking eye serves us well in many ways. As it connects it also provides a common experience to all who are watching, the common experience causes common culture. Just how GNU/Linux has a culture formed about it, and TV shows tend to spawn sub-cultures too (ie: Star Trek, Star Wars, et al.).
So maybe I'm being a bit harsh with my last post. Still, it is sad to see the end of a culture. Just like it was sad to see the end of Amiga, OS2, or Novell.
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I think the problem with American culture is that it tends suck you in and forget about the others.
Let me give you an example. In the US there is a wine company that sells itself as Cabris, which is actually a region in France that is know to sell a good white wine. Well the American company took advantage of this to "con" people. The French region on the other hand has problems now because people get confused by the marketing message.
The problem of American culture is not the American's themselves, but the companies that take advantage of situations. Corporations in their quest for profits and bigger market share do not care a rat's butt about culture. Just more money. And in the past that has not been a problem. But now in a global economy that is a problem. Since it means some things will be lost, even though they should not be.
The American corporations are just too damm efficient at taking over the world. Result is hatred. Whenever you see people hating America, do you see people hating individual American's? Nope just icons, flag, McDonalds, jeans, etc.
I think that the challenge of this century will not be tech, or political, but social. This century will be the century when humanity is tested to see if we can truly live together! Or if we are doomed to be fighting each other. We have the technology to destroy each other and we have the means to live together.
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
No, what's sad is that the 'culture' is what the rest of the world subscribes to. It's market led so for people outside of the US to complain they are really complaining about the tastes of their own culture. I'm glad that the US has provided us with some excellent tv like the Simpsons and early X-Files. If I have any objection it's to the marketing of unhealthy food like McDonalds to children - that's harmful and underhand.
"THIMPHU, Bhutan -- Microsoft's latest venture is a localized version of its dominant Windows operating system for the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. "
Is there a Bhutan-localized version of Red Hat?
That's a rhetorical question.
Which brings me nicely to my point: it is literally impossible for a capitalist culture to force itself on another culture. Capitalists can advertise products and services for sale but cannot force anyone to buy; the only people that eat at McDonalds, drink Starbucks, watch Disney and so forth are people who want to and are willing to pay with their own money.
If people don't want to buy, corporations will collapse and leave. The only people who complain aren't the ones freely spending their own money on what they enjoy. Rather, they are the self-proclaimed elite, those who don't offer anything that their people actually want, and can only survive where there is no competition. An example of this is the way the French taxpayer has to subsidise the production of French films, but with the money they are allowed to keep, they queue up to watch films from Hollywood.
Imperialism is something different. Imperialism is when one country conquers another with military force, forming an empire, and imposes its culture on the conquered. Imperial means "to do with an empire". Examples of imperialism are, for example, the conquests of eastern European countries and the imposition of Communism by the Soviets.
So I applaud the government and people of Bhutan - and the global corporations - for bringing freedom and choice to the most remote parts of the world.
I don't know, the Amish have been doing a pretty good job of preventing their culture from becoming "Americanized" as far as I can tell, and they live in America.
These fears aren't just about Bhutan. If anything, America faces as great a threat from the death of local culture as anywhere else. The only difference is that we delude ourselves into thinking that raking in money makes it all "okay."
Sure, we feel more comfortable when we travel when we can order the same extra value meal in in every time zone, but I can only echo the sentiments of Lisa on the variety of Americana:
Lisa: Wow, Dad and Bart have been everywhere! They've eaten submarine sandwiches, grinders, *and* hoagies.
Damn. I guess I've been taken in by the tentacles too. I guess it's okay as long as I can super-size.
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I am an expert in electricity. My father held the chair of applied electricity at the state prision.
After all, in his day, Shakespeare's plays were considered to be for the common people. I don't mean to equate The Fast and the Furious with Hamlet, but I think we are too fast to dismiss anything other than 'high culture'.
What Future?
You claim that the manipulation of the population of the US has become much more profound in the last 25 years. I think you are being a bit short sighted. You speak of Mass Media manipulating people...but people have been manipulated for eternity. Does being told what to buy and believe become more acceptable when it's the rest of your town/neighborhood doing the telling, rather than a corporation? Your complaints about corrupt polititions being re-elected is also an on-going theme in human government.
In short, nothing has changed except your perception. Do you truely think that Maw and Paw Kettle out in Bumfuck, ID knew about political scandles back in the 1800's? Of course not, all they knew about washington was reported in a newspaper. A newspaper that 'played nice' with the politicos. Things seem worse because you can see all the bad events, but trust me, this stuff has been going on forever. Do you really think the industrial magnates of the first half of the 20th century were 100% pure? Yeah right! When you own all the steel in the country, you do what you want.
Don't throw out the TV...maybe turn off the cable. Just remember that it's all entertainment. Even the 'news', and especially CSPAN!
Blar.
The culture that get's exported out of america is not the best, but that which thrives on popular emotions & has a transnational appeal(coke, wwf, spiderman).
The reason WWF succeeds, say, compared to Mark Twain maybe because WWF cuts across many barriers like language, the emotions conveyed are easily decipherable & more easily understood by a villager in bhutan than say, the meaning of songs by any US folk artist(Not that other cultural aspects like the writings of Mark Twain or David Thoreau may be unrelated to people across the globe, but it's just that they don't appeal to everyone & it is not marketable, esp the Corporations).
But, not all american culture does suceed, rather, the host country's culture or it's presentation get's a make-over(Glocalisation anyone?).eg:Switch on MTV in any country- Most of the pop song videos (their packaging) look similar, where as the folk-music that you would get, say on their PBS, would reflect the country's national ethos.
You're making two assumptions here. First, that local stations will purchase American some programming. That may well happen but is far from a certainty. Secondly, and most importantly, that they will show American ads. That makes exactly zero sense. They would show ads targeted towards the local population. No other country I know of, even with some American TV and movies, has ads for exclusively American products. Do you really think that they will broadcast directly from American channels??
This produces drive. Drive to "get ahead", drive to "keep up with the Jonses", drive to get your butt off the sofa and finish that goddamn Great American Novel.
That a side effect of this institutionalized dissatisfaction is a household full of unneeded, worthless goods is a small price to pay, sez I.
Actually, you are wrong. American culture for many non-Americans is synonymous with money and a better life. That is why they are able to gladly trade their own culture for a few dollars more.
First that is a very narrow minded attitude. This is the reason why people get annoyed at American attitudes. Yes people want some parts of the American dream. But there is nothing wrong with that. Just like how Americans want part of the European dream, by driving European vehicles or using Swiss Showers (which btw I have no idea ever existed and I live in Switzerland).
The problem is that many American corps have an in your face attitude, whereas other global companies are not quite that bad. Consider Nestle, which is the biggest producer of food globally and they produce an almost majority of the processed food consumed by Americans. Does the average American know that? Not likely because Nestle is very deversified and adjusts their food to local cultures. Then consider Walmart, which tries to do everything their way. It works in the US, partially Canada and partially Mexico, but they are getting their butt kicked in Europe. Consider the opposite case of Carrefour which is kicking Walmarts butt globally by respecting local cultures. Not all American corps do this. A prime example are the music labels and MTV. They adjust their content respective to each country. In India MTV is VERY different than MTV in America or MTV in Europe. MTV adjusts to local tastes and languages. Or even CNN. CNN Europe (CNN Spain, CNN Italy, CNN Germany) is not CNN America.
That is my point. There are ways to become a dominate company globally...
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
What is the opposite of "pro-life"?
"anti-life" or "pro-death"?