4 ms·
I know it is the crux of social validation among the journalist class to see everything that "crosses borders" as inherently exciting and beneficial, but I fail
by syl_sau 6y ago
I know it is the crux of social validation among the journalist class to see everything that "crosses borders" as inherently exciting and beneficial, but I fail to see how having a handful of giant american companies organizing the broadcast of a streamlined worldwide culture while exercising its subtle (and not so subtle) influence is a good thing.
If anything, this line of reasoning is (for lack of a better word) "reactionary": cultures and nations are not built top-down, they are built bottom-up. Culture is decentralized by essence, that's part of why the internet can be so great.
It could even be argued that culture is the very first thing that may still be attached to someone's immediate reality.
- luckylion 6y agoThis. Made more terrifying by the idea that it's television that's supposedly creating the culture. I'd prefer not to live in a place where the culture was created by people optimizing for engagement and customer retention.
- BlueTemplar 6y agoBut there's no question that television had a huge impact on culture - especially when everyone watched the same unique channel.
- syl_sau 6y agoYes, everyone speaking the same language used to watch the same unique channel.
- BlueTemplar 6y agoAnd now everyone in the West (and even beyond) watches the same Hollywood movies (& series). Well, "now", meaning "for many decades now".
- astrange 6y agoIf you show kids enough undubbed TV shows they'll learn the language from it easily enough.