Transcript AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE The Most Influential Culture

AMERICAN
POPULAR CULTURE
The Most Influential Culture
• American popular culture is one of the most
influential and globally widespread cultural forms
today. Mickey Mouse, Barbie, Elvis Presley,
Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Basketball,
Comics, jazz, Rap, Spngebob, Michael Jackson,
Superman, Gone with the Wind, Titanic, Marilyn
Monroe, Michael Jordan, Tom Cruise, Lady
Gaga—these names and genres joined
American media and capital industry of products
in spreading across the globe.
• Today, with the immense effects of media,
magazines, television, movies, and the
Internet, different types and genres of
popular culture rely on each other to create
benefits. The network of popular culture is
greatly connected to the American daily life.
• Americans love fast food. They consume
huge quantities of pizza, hamburgers,
French fries, and soft drinks at restaurants,
not only because they like them, but also
because these foods are often the
cheapest items on the menu.
• Since so many women are working,
families are eating a lot of fast food, frozen
dinners, and restaurant takeout. It takes
time to prepare fresh vegetables and fish;
stopping at a fast-food chain for fried
chicken on the way home from work is a
much faster alternative.
• As Americans have gotten heavier, the
image of a beautiful woman has gotten
much slimmer. Marilyn Monroe would be
overweight by today’s media standards.
Fashion magazines, television shows,
movies, and TV commercials feature
actresses and models who are very
slender.
• As a result, many teenage girls have
become so insecure about their bodies
that some develop eating disorders.
• Ironically, although media constantly
promotes images of slender girls, the more
American people watch TV, the less likely
they are to exercise.
• Some Americans spend much of their
leisure time lying on the couch, watching
TV, and eating junk food. They are called
“couch potatoes,” because their bodies
do not move except for eyes, which are
like the small marks on potatoes. They
would rather watch MLB game on TV than
go to play baseball outdoor.
• Most American people, including children,
spend much of their free time watching
entertainment programs such as dramas,
situation comedies, reality shows, movies,
and sports live.
• The advanced computer technology and
the popularity of the World Wide Web have
brought a whole new world of leisure-time
activities to Americans. People tend to
prefer spending their time in Google, MSN,
Facebook, Twitter, communicating with
friends or family via e-mail, or playing the
online games.
• Globalization and the popularity of the
Internet have brought movie industry a
new development. Since the early 20th
century, the U.S. cinema industry has a
profound effect on movies across the world.
Hollywood gives life to the American
Dream of reinventing life as seen in the
movies.
• Screen actors like John Wayne, James
Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Robert De Niro,
Angelina Jolie have become icon figures.
Paramount and Walt Disney were the
leaders in movie merchandising. Movie
industry creates profit by selling not only
the theater tickets but also various
products related, toys, shirts, DVDs, and
many others.
• Although the U.S. tends to be a net
exporter of culture, it absorbs many other
cultural traditions, for example: pizza,
soccer, Susie, and Asian films.
• In recent years, different film types
became popular, and the US movie
industries borrowed stories, techniques,
images from Asian films.
• These include films from Japan, Hong
Kong, Korea, and Taiwan, such as Bruce
Lee, Akira Kurosawas’s The Seven
Samurais, Infernal Affairs, and Ang Lee’s
Crouch Tiger Hidden Dragon.
• BYE~