I think one of the most interesting things in life is just
how changeable it is. As individuals we are constantly adding to our
personality and character through new experiences and lifestyle changes. So it
would come as no surprise that we can in fact change our varying cultures through these same channels.
Today, I’ll be talking about how my expectations and views
of a specific culture have been shaped by globalisation, that I am only now
becoming a part of; the culture and lifestyle of the Western, Middle-class,
Twentysomething.
American television shows have been the predominant shaper
of my view. Shows such as Scrubs, It’s
Always Sunny in Philadelphia, How I Met Your Mother, more recently New Girl and of course
the venerable behemoth Friends, all revolve
around a group of people in their mid-twenties trying to juggle the various
aspects of their social (and on occasion, their working) lives. Programs such
as these inform my understanding of what life for these twentysomethings, and
as a natural step, suggest what my own
twentysomething life should be like.
The cast of Friends (Source: Vanity Fair)
From these shows I can gather that the twentysomething:
- Drinks a lot of coffee
- Goes out for almost every meal
- Has their own apartment
- Gets up to a lot of shenanigans
- Generally cycles through relationships a lot
- Goes to a lot of parties and the like
Now, comparing these ‘expectations’ to the reality of the
kind of culture I currently find myself in show some stark contrasts.
- They
- Have
- So
- Much
- Money
- And
- Free
- Time
- But
- Rarely
- Work?
Clearly the culture that these shows are projecting are of
an exaggerated nature (they wouldn’t be fun to watch otherwise!), and the
economical standards, technological states, and geographical locations in which
these twentysomethings are living life in are different to the one I’ve found
myself entering today.
What’s more interesting, though, isn’t what’s different between the expectations and
reality, but what is similar.
Taking away the exaggerations that are made purely to tell a
story, I can step back and think “Hey, I actually do go out for coffee a lot,”
or “Hey, I do go out to restaurants with friends a lot,”. Nobody explicitly told me to do either of these things; I
just did them because it seemed normal and what everyone else was doing.
Which begs the question, did the shows I watch influence the
way I perceived this twentysomething culture, and in turn, affect the way I
acted when I merged with this culture? Hatchen and Scotton (2002, p. 4) explain that when
cultures collide due to the effects of globalisation, they alter each other and
form a sort of ‘spliced’ version.
In this instance the Americanised portrayal of the lives of
twentysomethings in various sitcoms influenced the way I saw this sort of
lifestyle, making it out to be something it wasn’t quite. But then after
becoming a part of the culture, the portrayals presented in these programs, to
some extent however small, influenced my behaviour after setting an example of
which to follow.
References
Hachten, WA, Scotton, JF 2002, 'News communication for a new global system', The world news prism: global media in an era of terrorism 2002, Iowa State Press, Ames, pp. 3-14
Rhys,
ReplyDelete“I think one of the most interesting things in life is just how changeable it is.”
Excellent start, your intro drew me in straight away and I was automatically thinking about it. This whole topic to me raises the questions, should we base our lives on what we see on TV? Is that really what our lives should be like? It’s a really hard question to answer because to a degree yes and in other circumstances no, but you have done a great job defining the differences between TV and reality. I really like the dot points you put in your blog. It really breaks up the text and makes it easier to read over a slab of text. It was interesting of you to dwell on the similarities instead of the differences because it does show that yes a lot of what is on TV shows is what we are doing, but then there is a small list that are just the minority.
I guess you can never know whether shows really did influence our behavior or whether it was a decision we made on our own, as our minds take in so much without us even noticing. We just need to remember that even if a show is based on reality and the characters are our age, TV isn’t always reality and in no way, shape or form do we have to be doing what they do.
Just wanted to point out the great images you used, I had a bit of a laugh. Keep it up.
Hey Rhys,
ReplyDeleteI found this to be rather humorous and insightful, clever writing style, that is refreshingly full of wit. I myself can relate to society’s expectation of how I should live my life based on the countless American sit coms which depicts our age demographics. You’re so right; the hardly ever work yet have luxurious apartments and fancy cars and so on!
The clever use of the photo/meme of Charlie Kelly is a strong point of your piece; this breaks up the writing and offers the reader a humorous anecdote which underpins your entire piece.
However while blog is indeed clever, the informal tone perhaps needs to be less relaxed as more scholarly sources could have been used.
This is one of the more fascinating blog posts that I have read, as the incorporation of images, the structure of the post and the various references utilised throughout relate very well to your argument and also to the topic. Your expression of views and more youthful approach is perfect for us readers and creates a better understanding of each idea. Indeed you are right in saying that each of us is influenced differently by the various cultures we observe in everyday situations. Your scholarly yet humorous approach to the post clearly shows your blogging skills are excellent although a bit casual!
ReplyDeleteRhys,
ReplyDeleteThis blog is great, and the language used is very inclusive making it relate-able for the audience. The way in which it is is displayed is very easy to read, particularly your use of dot points which breaks it up from a typical blog post. Also, your use of image helped with the comical aspect of this blog piece whilst also sticking nicely with the theme.
As a keen viewer of many of the shows you have based this blog on, I agree that there is pressure from a popularized culture to be this amazing twentysomething person is unrealistic, and projected through an exaggerated light.
I particularly found it interesting how you included your scholarly sources, and rather than looking at differences you stuck to the similarities of your own life compared to those portrayed.
Just remember to source each picture in the reference list (I know they were sourced under to Blogspot, but just to be safe). Also, an addition of hyperlinks where possible just to meet criteria.
Overall, one of the best blog posts I have read for this week. Great job!
Rhys,
ReplyDeleteThis blog is great, and the language used is very inclusive making it relate-able for the audience. The way in which it is is displayed is very easy to read, particularly your use of dot points which breaks it up from a typical blog post. Also, your use of image helped with the comical aspect of this blog piece whilst also sticking nicely with the theme.
As a keen viewer of many of the shows you have based this blog on, I agree that there is pressure from a popularized culture to be this amazing twentysomething person is unrealistic, and projected through an exaggerated light.
I particularly found it interesting how you included your scholarly sources, and rather than looking at differences you stuck to the similarities of your own life compared to those portrayed.
Just remember to source each picture in the reference list (I know they were sourced under to Blogspot, but just to be safe). Also, an addition of hyperlinks where possible just to meet criteria.
Overall, one of the best blog posts I have read for this week. Great job!