The Depth of our Global Culture

America is without a doubt one of the most diverse and dynamic countries in the world. With the over 14 million immigrants entering the US, in 2011, America is being bombarded with music, food, books, and languages from all over the world. Though it’s exciting that we’re becoming more exposed to the world, I can’t help wondering the depth of all that diversity. When you walk outside New York City, a city with a demographic of 45% white, 25% Hispanic, 25% Black, and 5% Asian, you see signs that say “authentic Japanese cuisine” or “real Italian pizza”. You may have even heard your friends and family say something along the lines of “this place is legit” or “this is real food”. Where did this differentiation come from, the difference between “real” and “fake”?

Though America loves to accept new and eclectic styles, we still like to have an American twist to almost everything. Moreover, those who are promoting these products know it. As one of the biggest global economies in the world, the American market is a gold mine for those who understand and know how to influence Americans. Though we claim products to be ethnic, cultural, and exotic, there is still some form of Americanism attached to reel our American dollars in. For example, I recently ate dinner at a Chinese buffet back home in Philadelphia. Among the sweet buns, lo mein, and fried rice, there was buffalo chicken, French fries, and pizza. Though we like to think of ourselves as willing to try new things and accept new cultures, it’s evident that most of us find ourselves moving towards the familiar.

Maybe you’re one of the few who genuinely enjoys experiencing and immersing yourself in another culture’s food, language, and arts. Most people aren’t like that. They like to have some footing or ground in their original culture. I know that whenever I go out to a restaurant with the attempt to try new food, I always find myself tempted to try the safe foods that I already know and enjoy.

It seems like there is a cultural idea at work here in the US of A. One in which we think we’re experiencing culture when we’re actually not. This inclination towards an American point of has some serious backlashes. One of which is the idea that we’re experiencing a culture when we’re merely observed and understood (albeit vaguely) a fraction of what that culture consists of. For example, I’m sure those of you who come from different cultural backgrounds can relate to the following conversations:

“I love Japan! Hello Kitty and Rilakkuma are so cute” Okay.

“I love India! Slumdog Millionaire was a great movie” Uh huh.

“I love Koreans! K-pop is awesome!” Alright.

Because of the superficiality of our exposure to all these countries, you have to wonder how it affects our perception of these cultures and their people. When the 2008 blockbuster Slumdog Millionaire received widespread attention and critical acclaim, many Indians, both in America and abroad, raised objections to its somewhat unrealistic plot and depictions of life in India. There were claims that there were more realistic and overall better films on poverty and Indian slum life. A third complaint was that although it was a film about India, it represented a very narrow piece of India’s culture. With a film so widely distributed all over the world, there was a concern that people would incorrectly judge India as a country made up of slums instead of the growing economic force that it is.

Similar reactions have occurred for television shows and other forms of media. Most recently, the previously popular (but now cancelled) MTV show, Jersey Shore, had been placed under scrutiny for its depiction of Italian Americans and its use of the slang term “guido” to describe them. The definition of a “guido” consists of a person, usually Italian-American, who typically lives on the East Coast. Similarly to the concern posed by the Indian community, numerous members of the Italian community expressed disapproval of the portrayal of Italians as solely interested in sexual pursuits, alcohol, and wild behavior.

In the average day, we go through our lives with being exposed to hundreds of different cultures. From using a Korean Samsung Galaxy SIII, to eating from that Halal Food stand, to using furniture from the Swedish-based Ikea, we are living in a heterogeneous setting without even stepping on a plane and moving to another country. Although we’re being exposed to dozens of different countries and ethnicities daily, it’s important to keep in mind that many times, we’re only shown a small segment of its people and their lives. We cannot base our judgments and perceptions of an entire country of millions of people based on a movie, a television show, a type of food, or the actions of one person. Though there are claims that we are in a global environment, this is not actually true unless we take full advantage of all the information and experiences that are out there for us to enjoy. 

Bias and Learning in the Digital Culture

With one device, we can go from watching a documentary on fast food in America to listening to NPR to reading the Sunday morning edition of The Wall Street Journal. The computer and the Internet have caused the convergence of every major form of media. Now, film, television, radio, and books have all found themselves available on the Internet for the easy access of billions of people all across the world. No one doubts the wonders of the computer as a life-changing piece of technology since its introduction just a few decades ago. Because of the expansion of the computer as a multi-dimensional tool, we view it as a means of obtaining more resources and learning more information than ever before. Although it’s great that we now have the capability of exploring billions of stores of information, it doesn’t mean that all that is available for us is true or without a substantial amount of bias. Today more than ever, we have images and texts flashed before us to attempt to shove us in one direction and pull away from another. Even though it’s inevitable that there will be bias in almost everything we see and hear, it doesn’t mean that we’re sponges ready to soak anything in. It’s our responsibility in this hectic and bustling digital culture to understand that bias is and will always be prevalent but we have to look through it to obtain the truth and maintain our values.

            Although most people are aware of media bias, it’s hard to grasp just how much it extends. If we look at texts and images depicted of countries and people from around the world, we only see a very narrow view of the world and its values. For example, when I think of the word “Africa” I immediately think of poverty, wild life, and open lands. I rarely see images of something like a businessman working at his office in Nairobi as opposed to seeing a more common image like an emaciated child living in a dilapidated house. To find out what other Americans thought, I typed in “Africa” into Google Images to see that most of the pictures consisted of huts, elephants, wild plains, and various African peoples wearing traditional clothing, or basically a number of the things that I initially thought of too. Although these are elements of the culture, it is by no means a comprehensive view of African countries and its peoples’ lives. In fact, to debunk the idea of extreme poverty present in all parts of Africa, recent statistics and sources show that trade between Africa and the world has increased 200% in 2011 and within the next five years, Africa as a continent will have the fastest growing economy of any continent. 

A typical image when "Africa" is typed into Google Images

Nairobi and its growth

So why is it that with all of our millions of resources on the Internet to learn and expand, we still have these narrow views and ideas? Is the information present inaccurate and slanted or are our minds not searching for the right material? It seems like it’s a little of both. The information that we’re presented with is definitely skewed because as Americans, we’re going to have the American point of view on a number of issues. Although this is by no means intentional, it is nonetheless harmful to people who don’t strive to understand other aspects of an issue. Therefore, the problem of learning in the digital culture occurs when because of the numerous biases present, we don’t attempt to understand anything else except for our own biases.

It’s apparent that in our culture, we do have certain stereotypes against other people from around the world based on a skewed depiction. However, what stereotypes exist in the world that badly reflects on us as Americans? This past summer, for the first time, I got to experience a life outside of America and live in Korea to visit my relatives. Not only was the culture itself interesting but also their views on Americans and the American way of life. In a conversation with my thirty year-old cousin about life in America, she asked me questions like, is it safe to go outside at night? Do most people have guns? Are there gangs? Are your friends rich? Is everyone overweight? I knew that the image of the overweight, loudmouthed, and aggressive American existed but I had no idea that it would be something that a large group of people actually believed in. It turns out that this is an image that some Koreans do hold true for Americans as I went from one relative’s house to another.

Thomas Rude's American Standard

Evidently, our portrayal as Americans isn’t any better than what we think of other cultures. As referenced above, we have an easy access to the world with the help of the computer. With a few keystrokes into a search engine, we can learn about almost any topic that exists. Though this almost seems like a panacea to helping those with limited educations, our minds are still limited regardless of the fact that we have more information available to us than ever before. To truly take advantage of our current technological advancements, we not only have to surround ourselves with information but delve through it and find what is real or else this digital culture will be gone to waste.