How would you define American culture?

[tjdee]

Whilst watching rewatching Swades (an SRK film :loveya: ), there's a scene where SRK's character, who has been living in America for years, has a conversation with some Indian villagers about America. It's an interesting conversation, and someone says to him something which is kind of like "America will never be better than us because we have our culture and tradition." SRK's character says that's not fair, that America does have a culture and traditions.

Which made me think. America is largely a culture of all different cultures. One of the things that makes me proudest is that our country's Olympic teams are one of the few that have people of all different colors and beliefs.

Maybe because I am an American and not seeing it from the outside, I don't see things that are "American". Obviously there is a lot of music that is American...but what else is "American"? (Other than Thanksgiving, being loud and thinking the world owes you something just because you're American--which is what I've heard from non-Yank friends.)

Also, I love Shah Rukh Khan. :silly:

[Beware the Beast Man]

1. Comparatively,

we have not had the opportunity to harvest as much of a "culture" as other nations because the US is relatively young. And because we are such a diverse nation in terms of race and origin, we have several mini-cultures, if you will.

[tjdee]

2. See, yeah.

I was glad SRK's character was sticking up for us, and I went, he's right, we have....umm...
I thought maybe I was just forgetting stuff, LOL.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. Well, the fact that we are an almalgam of different cultures is itself

"American culture".

[TheMightyFavog]

4. One word:

Mediocrity.

[tjdee]

15. Eww, but I don't like that!

:(

[Splatter Phoenix]

5. A must see link for this.

http://www.ishkur.com/editorials/america.php

Be sure to turn down your speakers, it gets LOUD.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. ofcourse america has culture

on edit: its hard to define indian culture too

culture is hard to define methinks

[tjdee]

Especially when the country is so large.

(Both countries.)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. so why do you have a shah rukh obsession

pray tell

[tjdee]

22. Squeal!

I saw Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge a while back and thought he was really interesting. He definitely left an impression, but they don't carry that many Bollywood films at the Blockbuster (actually only Asoka and Lagaan), and I couldn't remember the name of the film nor the star, so....

Years later I got Netflix, got Veer Zaara on whim, wanted to see anything but a Hollywood film, and there he was again. Same interesting guy. Hmm. Before the film ended I was in celeb luv!

I could go on, embarrassingly, for a very, very long time about much I adore him and his films. He's such a pleasure to watch, he's ridiculously sexy, and he also seems to be a smart, nice guy.

He also got me interested in the larger world of Hindi films, which I enjoy very much.

:blush:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

23. i can suggest a few good hindi movies for you to watch

parineeta
sirkar
hazaron quaishay aisi
iqbal

[tjdee]

24. I've not heard of Hazaron Quaishay Aisi...

what's that about? I tried googling with no luck.

Parineeta's been sitting on my Netflix queue for a while now, I think it releases (from Netflix anyway!) on Friday.

Thanks for the recommendations, I'm always glad to get them...there are a lot of films out there, and none of my "real life" friends watch Hindi films (though I'm trying to get them started). I kind of stumble onto people I like and try to see their films, where I see other people I like, etc.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

25. this is the correct spelling

Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi

[tjdee]

18. Especially when the country is so large.

(Both countries.)

[skygazer]

7. Uncultured

Seriously, this has been something I've thought about a lot. My SO is first generation Italian and he retains a lot of his parents cultural identity. Many of my friends are not too far removed from their cultural origins. However, I am a product of 17th century Puritan settlers - what is my cultural heritage? I look at people who seem to know who they are by their folk songs, customs and traditional clothing and arts - who am I?

I really don't know.

[tjdee]

21. That's exactly what I mean.

I think, as I'm reading this thread, our cultural heritage is just newer.

So when the kids of the future look back at us, they'll sing ye old "Hit Me Baby One More Time" instead of a simpler tune.

I'm kidding...I hope!

[Dora]

8. Oh, come on. You can answer your own question.

What constitutes culture? Diet, entertainment, politics, community...

American food: fried chicken, corn bread, green beans and bacon...
American dance: square dance and breakdance...
American humor: Mork & Mindy, Happy Days, The Daily Show...
American dress: Hot pants and halter tops. Sports jerseys. The baseball cap.
American music: MTV. Britney Spears. REM. Joan Baez. Green Day.
American rituals: The $50,000 wedding. The Vegas wedding.


I'm certain there's more.

[tjdee]

16. Sure, American music was easy.

That was the easiest.
I did think of blue jeans, as I've heard a number of stories over the years about eastern Europeans paying gobs of money for them... hmm.

What you say makes sense. American humor? Everyone doesn't find The Daily Show funny? Whaa?

[fishnfla]

9. Remote control + fast food drive thru

=lazy, sedentary,obese and intellectually bankrupt culture.

[Ivan Sputnik]

10. Hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet?

Our culture is largely a commercial one, I think.

There's baseball, jazz (but you said other than music), the Hollywood style of film-making, and the (stereotypical) American "character": a certain openness and informality, materialistic attitude, valuing the individual over the group and extroversion over introversion, anti-intellectualism.

[Deja Q]

11. Money, ungodly rapid, money, disposable commodities, disposable people...

[Redstone]

12. The only "universals" I can think of are:

Selfish and lazy.

The quotation marks around "universals" are because both apply to about 70% of the population, and the individual words alone to about 80% (accounting for overlap).

Just one example: When gasoline prices go up, do the majority of Americans react by thinking about ways to use less gasoline? No, they don't. They piss and moan and bitch and complain, and expect the Government to do something to make the price lower, as if low gasoline prices were written into the Bill of Rights.

Redstone

[Mojambo]

13. "Easy."

And I mean that in the slutty, accessible way.

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. "Artless Fatties Who Celebrate Ignorance And Have No Understanding

Of the World Around Them Let Alone Outside Their Boundaries"

[tjdee]

17. Artless Fatties would be a kick ass name for a band.

But it is not very cool for an identity! :cry:

Should I tell Shah Rukh when I meet him that I'm a Canadian?

[Rabrrrrrr]

26. It would be!

I think you should say you are Canadian.

It's too fucking embarassing to be American right now.

[HEyHEY]

20. I always laugh when people say there is no culture in the US

Are they the same as any other nation? no... different means they have a culture.