Anti-American Sentiment

[rebeccmeister]

I just got a paperless subscription to the Christian Science Monitor (www.csmonitor.com). Why, you might ask, would I get a paperless subscription when I could read the entire thing on their website? Well, it's not really all that expensive, the formatting makes it easier to read, the fact that I paid for it gives me more incentive to read it, and it's a way to encourage responsible journalism (I really like their thoughtful international coverage).

Now that we have clarified that, on to what I really want to talk about: what I love about the Christian Science Monitor is the the care that clearly goes in to the articles that it publishes. And the articles are so frequently relevant in ways that articles in other papers are not.

For instance, there's a good editorial in today's paper on the causes of global anti-American sentiment, which reminded me of conversations I had with R while in Australia. His favorite American exports are things like music by the Wu Tang Clan and TV shows like Cops and Jerry Springer. He also said he could never understand American sentiments about nudity, given our willingness to show violence on TV and in movies. These somewhat off-hand remarks have made me think more carefully about how distorted other peoples' understanding of Americans could be.

The editorial at hand points out that the (mis)understanding of American culture actually goes in multiple directions, depending on which other culture is being considered: for some cultures, it's this image of the U.S. as an aggressor; for other cultures, it's Americans' materialism, or other moral values, that are seen as being completely out of whack. And it points out that much of this image is due to Hollywood's worldwide influence, which does not really provide a realistic perspective on what American life is actually like.

Anyway, food for thought.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

My good friend from NJ just took an internship at the CSM because he believes it is the last bastion of journalistic integrity in the American print media. I'm glad that someone else appreciates the CSM for what it is instead dismissing it as religious propaganda.

-Dani

[earthlingmike.livejournal.com]

The Christian Sceince Monitor, the name has always just really weirded me out. But that's cool I should find out more about that publication.

Hollywood makes only half it's money in America.

It seems that Americas main export is our way of life and culture. Bleh! Those are the things we're supposed to and need to be importing!