How Does Hollywood Shape Global Perceptions of America?

[Kerrie]

It seems to me that Hollywood stars set the image and influence of America GREATLY. I finally figured out why the American people look like a bunch of superficial idiots in this world, and that is the image set from these stars that the entire world sees. They are super rich, super flashy, and live among the elite without (perhaps) a true understanding of reality in this world. I guess it saddens me to see this because I don't believe that Hollywood stardom is a true representative of the American people, yet because of their worldwide fame, this is how we look.

 

[Zero]

Oh, and every problem should be solved very quickly, and with a minimum of annoying intellect and debate...roll out the guns and the steriod-pumped action heros!

 

[arivero]

and don't forget to menace blowing Los Angeles in the middle of the plot.

 

[N_Quire]

Hollywood stars are the American aristocracy. We don't have depraved, decadent, loony, eccentric Lords, Ladies, Barons, Counts, Dukes, etc, as is the case in Europe and elsewhere. So Americans use stardom to build an aristocracy of peope whose lifetstyle fascinates and sometimes disgusts us. Some Americans even played with the notion of aristocracy by making themselves titled: Count Basie, Duke Ellington and so on. That was fun and subversive but considered terribly cheeky in old England.

The same is happening in Europe as people tire of the dull old aristocracy (apart from the wild and weird British royal family). The comings and goings of Madonna and Michael Jackson are more fascinating than the antics of Lord Boothby of Fauntleroy by the Biddle, pop and movie stars do have much more money than the old money brigade.

 

[arivero]

not so related

The English aristocracy actuall *owns* the country. You can never buy a house in London, only the right to build a house in the Lord's terrains for a maximun of 100 years.

The Spanish aristocracy still owns a big part of the rural areas, and under the impulse of the king, they have moved to control the banks. Interestingly, they do not like to control industry, which is left to the bourguesie.

 

[russ_watters]

Originally posted by arivero
The English aristocracy actuall *owns* the country. You can never buy a house in London, only the right to build a house in the Lord's terrains for a maximun of 100 years.

The Spanish aristocracy still owns a big part of the rural areas, and under the impulse of the king, they have moved to control the banks. Interestingly, they do not like to control industry, which is left to the bourguesie.

I had no idea, arivero.

To me, Hollywood is an irrelevancy. Even their politics is for entertainment purposes only. While its true that the image we project externally depends a lot on the entertainment industry, it has little effect on the actual political climate in the US.

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by russ_watters
I had no idea, arivero.

To me, Hollywood is an irrelevancy. Even their politics is for entertainment purposes only. While its true that the image we project externally depends a lot on the entertainment industry, it has little effect on the actual political climate in the US.

I think you completely miss the point. Hollywood,and the entertainment industry in general. has changed the basic ways we look at the world, including politics. Over time, it has had a huge effect on politics, and if you don't believe it, well...you are wrong!(lol!)

Style over substance, loudness over reason, quick short term fix over long term goals, selfishness over sacrifice...

 

[russ_watters]

Originally posted by Zero
I think you completely miss the point. Hollywood,and the entertainment industry in general. has changed the basic ways we look at the world, including politics. Over time, it has had a huge effect on politics, and if you don't believe it, well...you are wrong!(lol!)

Style over substance, loudness over reason, quick short term fix over long term goals, selfishness over sacrifice...

Again, those are all PERCEPTIONS that Hollywood projects. Perceptions are not necessarily reality. And the perceptions that are accurate are not necessarily causing the change, they may merely be reflecting it.

As far as the specifics of politics, Hollywood has little influence. Polls have been conducted and the vast majority of Americans agree with me - Hollywood's political position is irrelevant. We simply don't care what they think.

 

[Zero]

Originally posted by russ_watters
Again, those are all PERCEPTIONS that Hollywood projects. Perceptions are not necessarily reality. And the perceptions that are accurate are not necessarily causing the change, they may merely be reflecting it.

As far as the specifics of politics, Hollywood has little influence. Polls have been conducted and the vast majority of Americans agree with me - Hollywood's political position is irrelevant. We simply don't care what they think.

Ummm...shoudl I keep struggling with this, or give up. You are missing what I'm saying entirely. We don't care about Hollywood politics...but we absolutely care about how Hollywood presents things. The news channels present things MTV style, people don't read anymore, everyone looks for the photogenic guy to be right, and he can lie like crazy so long as we want him to be presidential...

 

[Alias]

Shouldn't the title of the thread be...

Video Media's influence on the World ?

Is the US the only country with television, movies, and broadband internet?

Is the rest of the World immune to the appeals of the rhetoric of popular culture?

Is this just another "bash the US" thread?

Who's really missing the point here?

 

[Kerrie]

let's put aside our conditions of SRS (selective reading syndrome) due to our biases and address the REALITY of why American's have a bad reputation-much worse then most countries on this planet...and that IS the reality

 

[russ_watters]

Originally posted by Zero
Ummm...shoudl I keep struggling with this, or give up. You are missing what I'm saying entirely. We don't care about Hollywood politics...but we absolutely care about how Hollywood presents things. The news channels present things MTV style, people don't read anymore, everyone looks for the photogenic guy to be right, and he can lie like crazy so long as we want him to be presidential...

Well that's why we differ: I differentiate between the news media and the entertainment industry. I know they aren't as separate as they should be, but they are not as connected as you seem to think they are.

let's put aside our conditions of SRS (selective reading syndrome) due to our biases and address the REALITY of why American's have a bad reputation-much worse then most countries on this planet...and that IS the reality

Kerrie, that's true but my point was there is a difference between perception and reality. It is REALITY that America has a bad reputation (currently) but the reputation is based on PERCEPTION. This certainly is metaphysics: "perception is reality." Is it?

And I'm willing to apply it in reverse: My perception of other countries is warped by what I see in the media. I may not have all the information to make an adequate judgement on the realities in other countries. Thats why people ask me if I've ever been outside the US - to challenge my perceptions. I apply the standard both ways.

 

[Kerrie]

russ~
i do agree that the perception of america from the world is the reality of what other countries think of us...just this perception is not the reality of the american people, in which i direct my comment now to Alias-this was not an anti-american topic (hence proof of SRS), but one to promote wiping away the trashy image that we have because we are (in reality) a great country...i know of many who come from other countries and stay, but you won't find many of us americans or immigrants leaving!

 

[Alias]

Originally posted by Kerrie
let's put aside our conditions of SRS (selective reading syndrome) due to our biases and address the REALITY of why American's have a bad reputation-much worse then most countries on this planet...and that IS the reality

Ooops! My mistake!

Now I understand the thread.

Maybe to combat the erroneous perception people have of the US, we should provide people with internet access instead of 'Hollywood Access'.

Please forgive my viscious inflamatory posts in this thread as I didn't get it at first. I'm ok now.

 

[russ_watters]

Originally posted by Kerrie
russ~
i do agree that the perception of america from the world is the reality of what other countries think of us...just this perception is not the reality of the american people, in which i direct my comment now to Alias-this was not an anti-american topic (hence proof of SRS), but one to promote wiping away the trashy image that we have because we are (in reality) a great country...i know of many who come from other countries and stay, but you won't find many of us americans or immigrants leaving!

Well damnit, I agree with you. You're no fun at all.

 

[GlamGein]

Here's a question: What makes you think that other countries/societies have a bad perception of America? Wouldn't that be just another idea that the media has put into our head?
And its not Hollywood that controls things in this country, its big business and crooked politicians and government entities that control things in this country.
Most media in this country is highly censored anyway. Who knows what to believe? But if you want some interesting news, try motherjones.com

 

[Kerrie]

nice try glam, but we are talking about the reality of perception, not the reality of control...and america does have a bad reputation, ask anyone from europe or elsewhere...

 

[Zero]

Hmmmm...I still think my points are valid. America is a country of TV viewers, Internet surfers, probably more so than any other country. I think it colors our way of looking at the world. People in other countries, poorer countries, are actually stuck reading, and I think that makes a difference.

 

[GlamGein]

I think MY point is valid, too. I haven't traveled outside the US so I couldn't say WHAT people believe about the US. But I do think that Hollywood has little to no influence on politics, and that US media is highly controlled. We already know that we are perceived as arrogant assholes, but why do we think that? Are we truly perceived in such a manner, and in what degree? I am of the school that thinks many "perceptions" can be boiled down to social control.
Heres a question, too:
How does our TV watching, internet surfing, etc, color our perceptions of the world?