"S888Wheel" wrote in message
...


Americans may wonder, but the act remains that to much of the world,
especially the Third World, Hollywood DOES represent American culture
and values.

the act remains very good.

It may be a sad fact but where to put blame and more importantly... how
to
fix it?

Are you happy to have Hollywood representing you?

No, Wake up world, movies and entertainment TV aren't real life America.
Oh my god.... the shockwave around the world.

ScottW


I got news for you folks. "Hollywood" as in American film to a large part
*is*
American culture and American culture was for the twentieth century the
most
significant and memerable culture in the world.

Main Entry: 1cul·ture
Pronunciation: 'k&l-ch&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin cultura,
from cultus, past participle
1 : CULTIVATION, TILLAGE
2 : the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties
especially by education
3 : expert care and training beauty culture
4 a : enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual
and aesthetic training b : acquaintance with and taste in fine arts,
humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational
and technical skills
5 a : the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior
that depends upon man's capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to
succeeding generations b : the customary beliefs, social forms, and material
traits of a racial, religious, or social group c : the set of shared
attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes a company or
corporation
6 : cultivation of living material in prepared nutrient media; also :
a product of such cultivation


Exactly where does the typical hollywood movie fit in the above?
I think a popular form of entertainment has little to do with culture beyond
some influence on attitude and values. This is fleeting at best and usually
insignificant. George had it right... the world views movies as far more
representative of America than it is.

ScottW

From:
Date: 10/9/2004 11:22 PM Pacific Standard Time

1 : CULTIVATION, TILLAGE 2 : the act of developing the intellectual and
moral faculties especially by education 3 : expert care and training
beauty culture 4 a : enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by
intellectual and aesthetic training b : acquaintance with and taste in fine
arts, humanities, and broad aspects of science as distinguished from vocational
and technical skills 5 a : the integrated pattern of human knowledge,
belief, and behavior that depends upon man's capacity for learning and
transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations b : the customary beliefs,
social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group c :
the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes a
company or corporation 6 : cultivation of living material in prepared
nutrient media; also : a product of such cultivationExactly where does the
typical hollywood movie fit in the above?

what is a "typical hollywood movie?" I'll tell you where I feel the legacy of
"hollywood" films fits though. 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b,


I think a popular form of entertainment has little to do with culture beyond
some influence on attitude and values.

I think our legacy of film making encompasses more that just popular
entertainment and I think popular entertainment is a part of culture.

This is fleeting at best and usually insignificant. George had it right... the
world views movies as far more representative of America than it is.

I am not so sure "the world" views our movies as particularly representative of
America. I have heard stories of foriegn travelers expressing their surprise
when they find no cowboys and indians walking around everywhere but I have yet
to run across this phenomenon. OTOH I do expect the people in India to break
out in massive song and dance numbers if I ever visit.

On 10 Oct 2004 06:54:05 GMT, (S888Wheel) wrote:

George had it right... the
world views movies as far more representative of America than it is.

Yes, but the point is that American popular culture, taken at face
value, is leading to hatred and revulsion of Americans in countries
that still maintain religious and cultural standards. If Americans
want to lessen that hatred they need to think about modifying the
image they're projecting. For instance, it's been shown time and again
that more conservative viewers, including millions in the US itself,
are still surprisingly sensitive to bad language in films, yet
Hollywood seems to make a particular piont of inserting as much bad
language into even the most inappropriate, PG rated films, almost as
if they're trying to throw it in people's faces. I mean, did you ever
hear anyone walk out of a picture and say, "I hated that. They didn't
say '****' enough." If it's a movie about marines or merchant seamen,
sure, you expect language, but Hollywood seems determined to get it in
everywhere, even to the point where you think, "Come on, that
character wouldn't swear like that!" It just doesn't make any sense.

I am not so sure "the world" views our movies as particularly representative of
America.

Maybe you need to live in a remote town in Turkistan for a while.

I have heard stories of foriegn travelers expressing their surprise
when they find no cowboys and indians walking around everywhere but I have yet
to run across this phenomenon. OTOH I do expect the people in India to break
out in massive song and dance numbers if I ever visit.

You're educated and--dare I say it?--sophisticated. Try to think
yourself into the mind set of those who are neither of those things,
people to whom TV is still a wondrous box of tricks that never lies.
If you still can.

From: (paul packer)
Date: 10/10/2004 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

On 10 Oct 2004 06:54:05 GMT, (S888Wheel) wrote:

George had it right... the
world views movies as far more representative of America than it is.

Yes, but the point is that American popular culture, taken at face
value, is leading to hatred and revulsion of Americans in countries
that still maintain religious and cultural standards. If Americans
want to lessen that hatred they need to think about modifying the
image they're projecting. For instance, it's been shown time and again
that more conservative viewers, including millions in the US itself,
are still surprisingly sensitive to bad language in films, yet
Hollywood seems to make a particular piont of inserting as much bad
language into even the most inappropriate, PG rated films, almost as
if they're trying to throw it in people's faces. I mean, did you ever
hear anyone walk out of a picture and say, "I hated that. They didn't
say '****' enough." If it's a movie about marines or merchant seamen,
sure, you expect language, but Hollywood seems determined to get it in
everywhere, even to the point where you think, "Come on, that
character wouldn't swear like that!" It just doesn't make any sense.

Indeed, perhaps if we had less swearing in our movies the Trade Towers might
still be standing. No doubt the mass hatred we suffer abroad is a direct result
of our tasteless movies being forced upon the poor ignorant masses and has
nothing whatsoever to do with our foreign policies.



I am not so sure "the world" views our movies as particularly representative
of
America.

Maybe you need to live in a remote town in Turkistan for a while.

Is this where they are being forced to watch such excesively violent and vulgar
"hollywood" movies? Are the poor ignorant people of these remote towns forced
to watch Pulp Fiction over and over again until they are obsessed with rage
against "American pop culture?" I have spent plenty of time over seas. And,
believe it or not, I do talk to people about our country and how they feel
about it. Not one person has ever cited the movies as a source of their
opinions about us. It is my impression that they'd be quite happy if all we did
to the world was inflict our movies and music upon it.



I have heard stories of foriegn travelers expressing their surprise
when they find no cowboys and indians walking around everywhere but I have
yet
to run across this phenomenon. OTOH I do expect the people in India to break
out in massive song and dance numbers if I ever visit.

You're educated and--dare I say it?--sophisticated. Try to think
yourself into the mind set of those who are neither of those things,
people to whom TV is still a wondrous box of tricks that never lies.
If you still can.

Thank goodness my education has not made so morally or intelectually arogant
that I would believe the people of the world see the TV as "a wonderous box of
tricks that never lies." Do you think that if you show people in other
countries a transistor radio that they will make you a god? What you clearly
don't get is that our movies are watched on a voluntary basis by people abroad
and are taken for what they were meant to be. Are you one of those people who
believes video games makes other, lesser educated people, violent? Are you one
of those dorks that thinks listening to Judas Priest causes teen suicide? Did
you go to any Wizard of Oz book burning parties? Do you find Harry Potter to be
a threat to the morality of our children? Do you think Osama Bin Laden's rage
was induced by watching Rocky movies? Particularly Rocky III and IV?