What represents American (U.S.) Culture to you?

[LuvCuteBoys]

"Extreme negativity" seems to be a common theme as well.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Wow....

I thought we were going to try avoid the negative 'political' stuff here.

Truth hurts.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

China: The worldwide leader in civil liberties.

 

[lillygator]

there always has to be a debbie downer.....

baseball
football
apple pie
freedom
eagles
us flag
statue of liberty
cheerleaders
budweiser
fourth of july
cookouts

 

[LunchladyDoris]

Coca Cola and the beach and for some reason, trees.
Um...Strawberry Shortcake, California, football, cookouts, Texas,Boston, Brad Pitt (how I pine for thee),avocados, Floridia

 

[eliza61]

America's uniqueness is in it's combination of so many different things. That used to be a good thing (and to me it still is) but to hear some people talk about it, you'd think it was horrible.

Why is it wrong that our entertainment industry (movies, music, sports, whatever) is central to our culture?

People see what they want to see.

I think the problem is that it's patently false and pretty much a caricature. That's the thing that has many Muslims and minorities upset. All we get on the TV and in the movies is the "bad, terrorist" muslim when we have millions of Muslim Americans that are peaceful, law abiding citizens.
If you lived some where else and all you've seen of italian-Americans is what you saw on the Sopranos....

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Wow....

I thought we were going to try avoid the negative 'political' stuff here.

Reality. Call it what you please, but it's reality. If you are going to discuss what "we" export, then taking all mitigating factors into consideration would be the most complete sort of discussion.

Should you choose not to do that, then don't. It's really ok. This is only the DIS after all and not Global Diplomacy Policy, eh?

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

I think the problem is that it's patently false and pretty much a caricature.

Which is why it's called 'fiction'...??

 

[AKL_Megs]

I have to admit, the first thing that leapt into my mind was McDonald's...

Mmm... McDoanlds!

Coca Cola

Mmm.

God Bless America.

Of course, both of those things can be found in pretty much EVERY country.



America to me is the American Dream, freedom of speech... things like that. What is that song... Proud to be an American? When I think of America, I hear that song.

... And I see things like Disney World, Chevy trucks, corn fields, NYC, LA, Vegas...

 

[eliza61]

Which is why it's called 'fiction'...??

Boy LCB I wish it were that easy. if people in this country know it's fiction but yet still believe it, what do you think some one in say Holland who's never been thinks? If there is no one around to tell you otherwise, fiction becomes truth.

That's where the word "stereotype" comes from. Believing things that are false based on incorrect information or inaccurate portrayal.

You know the show "Jersey shore"? It's got the Italian Americans in an uproar in NJ, why because it's a horrible depiction of them and people will and do believe the stuff they see on TV. Let's not even get started with "reality shows"

 

[LunchladyDoris]

Mmm... McDoanlds!

Mmm.

God Bless America.

Of course, both of those things can be found in pretty much EVERY country.



America to me is the American Dream, freedom of speech... things like that. What is that song... Proud to be an American? When I think of America, I hear that song.

... And I see things like Disney World, Chevy trucks, corn fields, NYC, LA, Vegas...

Hmm, you could buy Mickie D's and Coca Cola in other countries but while I was staying in Europe and later Mexico I did have some Coke, but...it just wasn't the same as when I had it at home, as odd as it sounds.

 

[Aisling]

there always has to be a debbie downer.....

baseball
football
apple pie
freedom
eagles
us flag
statue of liberty
cheerleaders
budweiser
fourth of july
cookouts

I liked the Westward-Ho thing they did back in the Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

 

[AKL_Megs]

Hmm, you could buy Mickie D's and Coca Cola in other countries but while I was staying in Europe and later Mexico I did have some Coke, but...it just wasn't the same as when I had it at home, as odd as it sounds.

I totally know what you mean. They use sugar. I don't like Coke when in Mexico or Canada either!

 

[shrubber]

Boy LCB I wish it were that easy. if people in this country know it's fiction but yet still believe it, what do you think some one in say Holland who's never been thinks? If there is no one around to tell you otherwise, fiction becomes truth.

That's where the word "stereotype" comes from. Believing things that are false based on incorrect information or inaccurate portrayal.

You know the show "Jersey shore"? It's got the Italian Americans in an uproar in NJ, why because it's a horrible depiction of them and people will and do believe the stuff they see on TV. Let's not even get started with "reality shows"

That's not what stereotype means,
Just because something or someone is being stereotyped does not mean it is based on false pretenses.

 

[Robinrs]

That's not what stereotype means,
Just because something or someone is being stereotyped does not mean it is based on false pretenses.

Definition:

A stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups, or types of individuals

or


a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.

I'd just LOVE to here your definition!

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

That's where the word "stereotype" comes from. Believing things that are false based on incorrect information or inaccurate portrayal.

Definition:

A stereotype is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups, or types of individuals

Just because something is a commonly held belief does not make it false. I could stereotype Japanese people by saying that they generally have black hair and brown eyes...is that an inaccurate portrayal?

 

[mkymouse1928]

I just had an idea come to mind for an 'Opening Ceremonies' type of celebration display.... (I don't know if anything like this has been done before at any Olympics in this country or not.... But, I can envision the following, along with all the incredible staging and special effects and pyrotechnics, etc..

Have different sections of people (displays) in different areas... Each one to be very colorful and embellished to the hilt.... Everything from Colonial Revolutionary, Native American Indian, Great American West (cowboy), Asian, African American, Hispanic, etc.... Each one colorful, but with a very identifiable color scheme of their own... Like Asian-bright reds, Colonial/Revolutionary-Royal Blue, African Americans-deep oranges/yellows, etc.... Maybe each section makes a big 'entrance'... then, as the presentation goes on, it is like they all start from their spots along the sidelines and start to spiral inward... swirling together inward like a color-wheel melting pot... And, then, by the end finally, somehow, everything has come together and explodes into a display of all-american red-white-and blue...

I don't know if anyone can 'get' this from what I have written???
I can just see it and it seems like it would be amazing.

I was just thinking something very similar, though you put it much more eloquently than I could. Our culture is diverse and varied and that is what should be celebrated. I can see it as something very similar to reflections of earth in Epcot because we come from all points on the world. IE: My own heritage is mixed (although all European) - Irish, German, French and English. My DH's is very similar with some Native American thrown in. And I believe most people in the US have a similar background - a little bit of this and a little bit of that! And that is what makes us so great and wonderful!

 

[bumbershoot]

...someone asked what would American culture look like.

I've lived here all my life, and I see no culture here.

The best thing I can say is that it's a nice big group of varied people. However, we're not doing the melting pot thing better than Canada is. I cannot even imagine a US Olympics including our native peoples in such a beautiful and moving way that we saw the other night, for example.

I believe that the "pioneer spirit" is the defining feature of American life. We are a very mobile society and Americans move great distances with ease and regularity. Our mobile culture is unusual and something that most people abroad cannot relate to.

It could just be that the other people in the world have already done their moving around. We're just the last place to really get settled. We are the newbies, acting like we invented the can do spirit. Other countries did that centuries ago, they have it all figured out...we're just the toddlers.

She couldn't figure out what her friends were doing wrong. They couldn't find a nice apartment in NYC cheap like they did on TV.

She obviously hadn't seen the episode where they explained that it belonged to a grandmother and was being loaned to Monica...

Hmm, you could buy Mickie D's and Coca Cola in other countries but while I was staying in Europe and later Mexico I did have some Coke, but...it just wasn't the same as when I had it at home, as odd as it sounds.

They use sugar in pretty much every other country's sodas. It's actually one of the things I'm looking forward to when we visit Epcot, to get the ingredient list. See if they are using cane sugar or HFCS.

Interesting aside about Coke...we have a friend who is a collector of all things Coke, and he has a collection of bottles. We asked him to check the ingredient labels. The labels show that up until New Coke, it was sweetened with proper sugar. Then after New Coke was out, and when they "brought back" "classic" Coke, the sweetener had changed to HFCS.

We asked him to check on this because we bought some Mexican bottled Coke from Costco, and when we took a sip, it blasted me back to being a young teen, and DH back to being a preteen. Back when we were drinking proper sugar in the Cokes. It's not something you can gulp. It took us a couple hours to sip the Cokes until they were empty. But it was *delicious*, and it was what the real Coke tasted like!

When DH travels abroad, he will always have one can/bottle of Coke while there, because it tastes so good. And it doesn't blast his blood sugar like American Coke does...he was diagnosed with diabetes almost 2 years ago (though with current A1c level of 5.9 just from diet and exercise, one could seriously question that diagnosis), so he has actual proof from his readings that HFCS messes him up in a much bigger way than cane sugar does!

 

[*Fantasia*]

When I think of America (U.S.A)... I think about our military who are serving our country to keep us safe and keep our freedom. America is a melting pot, so I think about different nationalities living in this beautiful land.. When I think of America.. I think of us as a humanitarians. Though we're struggling, we're still helping other countries who are very less fortunate. How de we incorporate all these great things in performing at the Opening of the Olympics??

I think Mickey should there too! and Hollywood! Hot dogs and Baseball!! That's what America is made up of also! = )

 

[Planogirl]

I think that the US is a melting pot and that is a part of its overall culture. I include places like New Orleans and San Antonio as being representative of cultures included in that melting pot.