120811333_1_Brendon_OConnor–Bored_with_USA_1.pdf

160 Brendon O’Connor

imperialism.” One of the central issues to remember at all times is
that the impression that American culture gives around the world
becomes how other nations get to know the United States. Think
about the popular culture that you are familiar with, and it
becomes easier to understand why the international image of
America is of a country where everyone is rich, has a gun, wears
little clothing, eats pizza and McDonald’s, drinks Budweiser and
Rolling Rock, and drives a SUv. We also need to understand why
there is also a growing resistance in some areas of the world to
exactly what U.S. culture represents and fears that national iden­
tity will be lost in the flood of American media and product.

Bored with USA?
BRENDON O’CONNOR

Dr. Brendon a ‘Connor is a senior lecturer at the School ofPolitics and
Public Policy-Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. He was
educated at Monash University and LaTrobe University, and in 2000
he was invited to Harvard University as Visiting Scholar From 1998
to 1999 he worked as Social Research Officer for the national
Development Research Institutes in New York City. Dr. O’Connor has
extensive publications and conference experience, and his research
interests focus on American politics, cultural influence, and welfare
reform. In 2003 the Fulbright Commission funded a symposium orga­
nized by Dr. O’Connor that discussed Americanization and anti­
Americanism. This article, which appeared in the The Courier Mail in
Brisbane on June 21,2003, was published to coincide with that event.

——+

A merican culture is part of Australian mass consumer culture, like it or not, dude! It dominates our television, radio stations,
movie theatres, fashion and our imagination. We are effectively
governed from Washington DC with our cultural menu set by
producers in Los Angeles and designers in New York. Resistance is
futile and likely to mean you are totally uncool. In short, we are all
Americans now. This summary of affairs is, of course, an exagger­
ated view of reality, although plenty of Australians probably watch
American sitcoms, own American CDs and DVDs, and dress in
American fashion labels right down to their Calvin Klein underwear.

Bored with USA? 161

Those who reject claims of American cultural imperialism in
Australia might respond: Isn’t talk of American songs or under­
wear an overly nationalistic outlook? Isn’t a lot of American
culture just part of mass consumer culture, as the U.S. has the
biggest studios, media empires, fashion companies, and market­
ing machines? And don’t American talent houses draw on the best
ideas and individuals from around the globe?

However, such responses present only part of the story.
Global and Australian culture clearly has been Americanized,

particularly since World War II. Although put-downs of
American culture often run roughshod over the sheer diversity of
American cultural output, it is entirely understandable that
people worry about local business and art being overrun by
American cultural icons such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Time
AOL and so on.

Others worry about our obsession with middle class
American life via the tube. The world of TV viewers often knows
far more about American high schools and colleges, American
court rooms and police precincts, and American hospitals and
office life than they know about their own society.

I worry that Australians are familiar with Frasier’s Seattle and
Ally McBeal’s Chicago but have no popular equivalents set in
Darwin, let alone Jakarta. Familiarity may breed contempt
(recent outpourings of anti-Americanism are a case in point), but
familiarity can also lead to greater awareness, comfort with
difference and a sense of who we are.

My fellow university colleagues sometimes remark that the
basic knowledge students have of how the American legal and
political system works is often drawn from Law and Order or West
Wing rather than from their own high school education. It certainly
is hard to compete with American TV. One of my students recently
commented that lecturers in my department needed to be more like
American professors. I told them that with make-up on and viewed
on TV, I sound a lot more impressive. I am not sure they were
convinced; maybe I need to work on my New England accent.

The relative size of the American cultural industry makes it an
increasing part of Australian language and the way we describe
ourselves-for instance, an Australian is just as likely as an
American to say: “Lleyton Hewitt is like such a Rocky wannabe.”

Faced with this situation, is resisting American cultural colo­
nization futile-the cultural equivalent of being a Luddite?
I favor a dialogue between cultures, recognizing that our culture
is fluid and open to outside influences. But dialogue is difficult

162 Brendon O’Connor

when you’re the smaller and poorer cousin. Because of our size
we have to keep asserting our differences and supporting local
talent, ideas and products. To have a vibrant Australian culture,
particularly in the entertainment and arts industries, we also
need to subsidize local performances and artists, and maintain
Australian content regulations. The lure of freer trade with the
U.S. is certainly no reason to back down on these cultural values.

I worry about the conformity and blandness that comes with
much American popular culture. I would add to this concern an
unease with the power of American advertising and marketing.
Because of this, parents feel pressured into buying their children
expensive label clothes, teenage girls starve themselves to look
like Video Hits dancers, and every second individual seems to
think that “Whatever!” is a witty way of telling someone you
don’t want to listen to their point of view. These superficialities
aren’t solely the fault of American culture but it does deserve a
fair amount of the blame. For me they reflect a worrying confor­
mity in our culture.

My gripes aren’t meant to imply a total rejection of American
popular culture or a retreat to some mythical Aussie alternative; like
most Australians there are aspects of American culture I loathe and
aspects I love. My point is that while American products are highly
entertaining and accessible for many people, these products often
have unrivalled distribution and marketing advantages in our soci­
ety. That said, and given that the commercial power of the American
cultural industry is likely to continue well into the future, a sense of
local pride and government support of Australian talent is undoubt­
edly needed to maintain our own distinct, and evolving, culture.

Questions for Discussion and Writing

1. Brendon O’Connor seems concerned with the idea that American cultural
influence will lead to a homogenized world culture where everything will
look the same and local differences will be less apparent. Do you have the
same concerns as he does? Explain.

2. What would be the advantages to America and Australia if culture did erase cul­
tural difference, as O’Connor discusses here? What would be the disadvantages?

3. O’Connor says that his students learn about what education should look like
and how the law works from television shows. Is the same true for you? How
does American culture affect the way you see institutions and social proce­
dure? List shows that deal with the law, medicine, and politiCS. How do you
account for their popularity and influence?

1112,000 Years, Will the World Remember Disney or Plato? 163

In 2,000 Years, Will the World

Remember Disney or Plato?

MARK RICE-OXLEY

Mark Rice-Oxley is a correspondent for the Christian Science
Monitor, where this article appeared on January 15, 2004. He
reports from his home in London, United Kingdom. In his article
he discusses the spread of American culture around the world and
the various forms it takes. He notes that some nations are rebelling
against such cultural imperialism as they fear their own sense of
national culture and identity is at risk of being lost. The other issue
at the center of this article is the question ofhow durable American
influence will be in the future.

———–+———­

D own in the mall, between the fast-foro joint and the bagel shop, a group of young people huddles in a flurry of baggy combat
pants, skateboards, and slang. They size up a woman teetering past
wearing DKNY, carrying Time magazine in one hand and a latte in
the other. She brushes past a guy in a Yankees’ baseball cap who is
talking on his Motorola cellphone about the Martin Scorsese film he
saw last night. It’s a standard American scene-only this isn’t
America, it’s Britain. U.S. culture is so pervasive, the scene could be
played out in anyone of dozens of cities. Budapest or Berlin, if not
Bogota or Bordeaux. Even Manila or Moscow.

As the unrivaled global superpower, America exports its
culture on an unprecedented scale. From music to media, film to
fast food, language to literature and sport, the American idea is
spreading inexorably, not unlike the influence of empires that
preceded it. The difference is that today’s technology flings
culture to every corner of the globe with blinding speed. If it took
two millenniums for Plato’s Republic to reach North America, the
latest hit from Justin Timberlake can be found in Greek
Japanese) stores within days. Sometimes, U.S. ideals get transmit­
ted-such as individual rights, freedom of speech, and for
women-and local cultures are enriched. At other times, material­
ism or worse becomes the message and local traditions get
crushed. “The U.S. has become the most powerful, significant
world force in terms of cultural imperialism [and] expansion,”