On Sunday, I went to see the second Independence Day movie with my
family—which by the way isn’t nearly as good as the first one. I looked around at all the movies playing at
the theatre, and about half were American films. I always forget that Hollywood has an
influence on the world, and that movies made in the US can reach all corners of
the earth. And then I start to realize
how influential the United States is. I didn’t really notice that many
non-Americans and non-English speakers watched our TV shows and movies until I
went to France last year and we were bonding over some fad series at the time. She
said, “We have everything you have.”
In Bolivian, it’s more or less the same. They have American
movies, music, TV shows, books, and clothes.
And imports like clothes and food cost way more than Bolivian made
products. The only part of the US that
hasn’t infiltrated Bolivia is McDonald’s… Bolivia wanted to use their own
potatoes for French fries and the US wouldn’t do it. With all of this in mind, I’m constantly
reminded of how our country is viewed here. American is rich and so are its
people. The American dollar represents
wealth and success. I wonder how it’s
been as a Bolivian and growing up here with that sentiment in mind. I
understand why many young people around the world want to learn English. But something so many people forget is how
being a symbol of wealth and success does not make us the best. We have our many problems, as the past two
weeks have displayed. We have to
remember that there are other ways of doing things and different customs in the
world. Just because something is
different from the US, does not mean it’s wrong.
It's also interesting to consider what someone, who only has US movies/tv as a guide, would think of American culture. The image of the US in popular media probably isn't the same as reality (it's mostly urban, and usually NY, and almost exclusively middle class).
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