I'm in a ranty mood today. Ugh.
Those who know anything about me, know I am fascinated with cultures and eventually intend to get my doctorate in archaeology. While not the focus of my lifes study, one of my favourite peoples to consider are the japanese.
And while I'm happy to see their cultural presence moving over into the American consciousness, it is oftentimes exploited in disgusting ways. Every other designer has a meditation garden, every other thug on the street struts about in dragon embroidered jeans and kanjii tatoos without a care for the importance of their meanings, every other paris princess runs about with brocade phoenix purses covered in garish sayings and frogged mandarin collars atop midrift shirts and short skirts. Theres something wrong with companies bringing japanese animation to this country, then killing its very spirit by adding ill fitting american music as backdrop, often forgoing the original intention and focus of a story for the sake of language censors and american pcness. I've seen it time and time again.
If we, a country that can't show off its own flag or speak its native language for fear of offending others, actually had a recognizable culture, would it be so exploited in other lands?
Why must we be a society that whores every practice coming to us, twisting and changing it into some barely recognizable meltingpot facsimilie of its former self for the sake of lending it out to nike or some other big conglomerate company for their next obnoxious twenty minute series of commercials? The next break between the fifteen year old rerun of a classic waste of time television show and its new age remake? Why can't we accept original ideas, embrace them, find our own ideas to bring to the world. Why is this country so insistent on making the next fast buck, cheering on that next bit suit in the political arena (a carbon copy of the dope that went before him), wringing every bloody drop out of old concepts, and losing any hope of finding a meaning for ourselves on the otherside? Is it any wonder so many countries hate our do-gooder guts?
America is great for one thing, freedom of speech. But what freedom is it to follow someone elses old cookie cutter ideas into oblivion.
And while I'm happy to see their cultural presence moving over into the American consciousness, it is oftentimes exploited in disgusting ways. Every other designer has a meditation garden, every other thug on the street struts about in dragon embroidered jeans and kanjii tatoos without a care for the importance of their meanings, every other paris princess runs about with brocade phoenix purses covered in garish sayings and frogged mandarin collars atop midrift shirts and short skirts. Theres something wrong with companies bringing japanese animation to this country, then killing its very spirit by adding ill fitting american music as backdrop, often forgoing the original intention and focus of a story for the sake of language censors and american pcness. I've seen it time and time again.
If we, a country that can't show off its own flag or speak its native language for fear of offending others, actually had a recognizable culture, would it be so exploited in other lands?
Why must we be a society that whores every practice coming to us, twisting and changing it into some barely recognizable meltingpot facsimilie of its former self for the sake of lending it out to nike or some other big conglomerate company for their next obnoxious twenty minute series of commercials? The next break between the fifteen year old rerun of a classic waste of time television show and its new age remake? Why can't we accept original ideas, embrace them, find our own ideas to bring to the world. Why is this country so insistent on making the next fast buck, cheering on that next bit suit in the political arena (a carbon copy of the dope that went before him), wringing every bloody drop out of old concepts, and losing any hope of finding a meaning for ourselves on the otherside? Is it any wonder so many countries hate our do-gooder guts?
America is great for one thing, freedom of speech. But what freedom is it to follow someone elses old cookie cutter ideas into oblivion.