• Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    29
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    4 months ago

    …then treasure yours and stop importing American culture?

    IMO the big thing that America offers culturally is choices that don’t fit in the box of existing cultural norms. There’s no “American Breakfast” or “American Music” in the same way you can visually identify Finnish cinema or spot the commonalities in French cuisine.

    And when I travel around Europe I see the influx of other cultures primarily via immigration (Berlin has döner, Britain has curries, Spain/Portugal has Moorish and African influence embedded) but at the same time I also see imported ‘American X’ without that immigration. Europeans have identified things they like that other cultures migrate with, but seemingly actively seeks out the things Americans make.

    How popular are hamburgers or Taylor Swift in your area, compared to other Euro offerings like Gorjira or handball? France has a strong arts scene supported by the government, but the Palme d’Or rarely goes to their domestic films.

    • julietOscarEcho
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      4 months ago

      “It’s the free market” is honestly just such an American argument it’s spectacular. Chapeau to you and the others riding that particular horse. You illustrate the point perfectly.

      • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        Not really understanding where you saw a pro free market argument from what I said - my main point was that people like diverse options, and seek out variety, from within and without.

        • julietOscarEcho
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          4 months ago

          “stop importing American culture” - you blame the consumer here no?

          “diverse” so long as you like the ubiquitous: hamburgers, Taylor swift, marvel movies. Increasing American cultural dominance is the opposite of diversity.

          • Milk_Sheikh@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            4 months ago

            At some point to become a consumer your money and/or attention is voluntarily given to A Thing. That’s a choice. But with internet cookbooks, bandcamp, IMDb, CrunchyRoll, etc etc you have the ability to seek out precisely what interests you, with the only burden being discovery. Monoculture died with the internet, you being on Lenny is a testament to that.

            • julietOscarEcho
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              4 months ago

              Exactly, you think it’s all personal responsibility. That the economics of culture have no impact (or are desirable?). Totally ignoring that access to culture is not deliberate. There are massive network effects and constant, unavoidable advertising. Your very tastes are shaped by society around you.

              And lol at lemmy as an example. Social media and content aggregation is even more homogeneous than film/print/music/food. The fact that tiny countercultures exist doesn’t disprove that.

              • julietOscarEcho
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                4 months ago

                Right, pretty funny that this is parroted so thoughtlesly. I mean i see where it comes from but also… so obviously false.

      • vaultdweller013
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        Then whats your other argument, cause the Japanese kinda did the same thing with anime. Its what can best be described as market controlled cultural forces, nobody else was offering ultra violent animation so folks imported anime which filled a market niche. Same could be said of American cultural exports, we create a tonne of shit for ourselves and for some reason folks import it, the Brits kinda did the same thing with music back in the day.