Paper Topic:

– Clash of Cultures: Globalization and Racism

2 December 2007

Blurring Boundaries

The advent of instant messaging , satellite and cable television , the virtual omnipresence afforded by the world wide web , and the general rise of newer technologies at the turn of every week , month and year has brought most rifts , gaps and differences among nations and its people to a tangible close . Cultural boundaries are being blurred , and the term 'globalization ' has become the most overused of words employed by many economists , sociologists , politicians , and every other person paying close watch on local and international concerns . But this seeming

br unification and melding of cultures across countries isn 't as optimistic as one could hope it could be

Much of the arguments on cultural globalization lie in its tendency to benefit specific nations , particularly the west and to narrow it down even further , the United States

This much is made certain , for instance , in the way we know little about the middle east , it 's culture and it 's people . America and much of the west conveniently categorizes middle eastern countries to composing mostly , if not entirely of dusty sands , camels , and terrorists running around ready to set a building or structure to explode . Meanwhile , much of the Arab population are being fed persuasions and world view from America through satellite and cable television in the form of shows such as Will and Grace , Friends , Sex and the City , and countless other western movies and TV series (Havrilesky . The 'blurring of boundaries then becomes a form of one way street intended to expand on the culture and ideologies of one nation while ignoring the interests of another instead of an avenue where the reciprocity of ideas , cultures , and persuasions should ensue

Of course , this doesn 't necessarily mean that the United States refuses to be influenced by other nations and is effectively shutting every other culture and world view out . Andrew Lam of the Pacific News Service points out , American pundits tend to look at the world through a very old prism -- they associate globalization as synonymous with Americanization : i .e , how the United States influences the world . What many tend to overlook , in the age of porous bs , is how much the world has changed the United States (2005

The presence of Kung Fu , Sushi , Japanese Animation , Ginseng , Feng Shui Hello Kitty , and other iconic Asian symbols are very much alive in the American mainstream society today . Majority of horror and action films in the US are making it clear that much of the approach and sensibilities applied are borrowed from our neighbors to the east . Such is evident in American remakes of Japanese films such as The Grudge , The Ring , Shall We Dance and in the use of samurai swords and high flying action in most Quentin Tarantino movies , and most importantly , in the presence of Asians and Asian Americans in Hollywood the likes of Jackie Chan , Ang Lee , John Woo , Jet Li , Chow Yun Fat , Michelle Yeoh , and so on (Lam

While it is...

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