Saturday, September 20, 2008
Our American Identity
Gasp!: "“Culture is the process by which a person becomes all that they were created capable of being,' wrote Thomas Carlyle. With government confidence at historically low levels, it is vital that artists and writers step in to act as witnesses. We have the unique ability to remind people of their humanity. We don't need to be spokespeople for them. Instead, we can inspire people to lead themselves."
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3 comments:
Thank God some one is writing about this. In a time when the world's perception of our culture is so distorted, I can't think of any other community to ratify that problem but the artists. Look at what's the first concept Europeans envision when perceiving our country: Hollywood. It is because of the million dollar block buster films that we are paving our own identity. Why can't the World see the works of Spike Lee and John Cassavetes rather than "You don't mess with the Zohan" which is among the top favorites in most Arab countries.
However, American audiences are just as ignorant to these pieces as Foreign audiences are in my opinion.
I love this quote: “Culture is the process by which a person becomes all that they were created capable of being." If American culture were truly defined by McDonald's and Hollywood, then I think I'd be one hell of a different person.
This subject is not new news. Most educated Americans know more than they are given credit for about other countries. And they know that many people in other countries look down on us for being so ignorant. I'm not saying there aren't ignorant people here--heck, some people are just plain idiots--but we do need to make an effort to show the world that we aren't all glitz, glam, and fast food. It's a challenge, but as artists we can find a way to make it happen.
I totally agree with this. I think that it's very important to remember ones roots. I travel outside of the country every now and then and the perception that the rest of the world seems to have of us may be quite insulting sometimes. All of the media that we display on a global scale makes us look this way. We need to take a better look at the message we're sending.
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