Columbus Was a Cosmopolitan

In “Pop Cosmopolitanism,” Henry Jenkins states pop cosmopolitanism as “someone whose embrace of global popular media represents an escape route out of parochialism of” their “local community” (Jenkins, 1).  Jenkins also says that the typical cosmopolitan will “embrace cultural difference, seeking to escape the gravitational pull of their local communities in order to enter a broader sphere of cultural experience” (Jenkins, 2).  To me, Jenkins wants his readers to think of pop cosmopolitanism as a person who leaves their own community that they are comfortable with for a different culture all together.  The typical cosmopolitan today in intrigued by international “food, dance, music, art, or literature” (Jenkins, 2).  Throughout the reading, Jenkins wants to emphasize  “how and why Asian pop culture is shaping American entertainment” (Jenkins, 2).  

I think that Henry Jenkins would have called Christopher Columbus a cosmopolitan.  This is because as Columbus was a world traveler, he was very intrigued with the outside world.  He wanted to know and learn about different people, different technologies, and different land.  He wanted to leave his world, in which he was comfortable with, and explore a new one.  Even though he actually didn’t discover America, he opened the threshold to the exploration of two mighty continents.

Pop Cosmopolitanism

      I think it's so important to understand that the media depicts ethnicities and cultures in so many ways that they aren't, but unfortunately this is what people think that the ethnicity that is being victimized acts in this sort of way, basically people become ambiguous to other cultures.  This is exactly why so many people around the world are trying to change who they are by changing their last names, getting plastic surgery to look less of 'what' they are, lose the accent that they were born with and essentially wear this veil where they are trying to have and seem more white and less anything else. We are engulfed with a preposterous amount of violence that is performed by minorities left and right, which of course we know that is controlled and altered by corporate convergence, where they control all the smaller media companies below them.
    I think that I can also speak for many people when the media alters things like movies, tv shows, music and any other sort of media that represents another culture.  Especially when it comes to the voices that are being used to speak another language. But unfortunately, and this doesn't only apply to the American culture, but as Jenkins mentioned, media imperialism relies on four forms of power, being economic, cultural, political, and psychological, in which I agree with 100%.

The Convergence of American and Asian Culture: K-Pop and its Fans

In Jenkins's take on pop cosmopolitanism, he states the definition of a modern pop cosmopolitan as "someone whose embrace of global popular media represents an escape route out of the parochialism of their local community." In other words, someone looking for a different experience from the culture they live in and absorb every day. Increasingly, one form of foreign media is becoming a cult favorite among those known as otakus, or "weeaboos," which is the more derogatory term for fans of Asian culture: Korean pop music, or "K-pop" as it is commonly referred to. For a basic overview of what K-pop is like stylistically and musically, think back to the boy bands of the 1990s; extremely dance-centric, often donning flashy costumes and putting on elaborate performances both in videos and live, and most songs having a fast electronic dance beat. However, many of K-pop's lyrics are in Korean, which most Americans do not study or understand. So how has this genre become so popular? As Jenkins states, the convergence of global media has given rise to a new form of pop cosmopolitanism; pop cosmopolitans "embrace cultural difference, seeking to escape the gravitational pull of their local communities in order to enter a broader sphere of cultural experience." In layman's terms, it is because of, not in spite of, the distinctly un-American nature of K-pop that fans are drawn to it. It is flashy and entirely based on style over substance, with serious ballads and slow songs very rare. One particular girl group that has become popular in America is Girls' Generation. A publication in New York Magazine stated that Girls' Generation fans admitted to liking the group for its members' looks and personality, not their music. A fan stated to the magazine that when Girls' Generation was onstage, there was sometimes the illusion that they were looking at them personally. This perfectly sums up the appeal of much of Asian media; different styles and a completely different feel than American media, which is built on flaunting a degree of wealth that almost seems designed to make those of a lower class feel even more aware of their inferior standing. It is something different and new, which pop cosmopolitans thrive on

Pop Comsopolitanism

In Thursday’s reading “Pop Cosmopolitan” by Jenkins he talks about Japanese culture and how it was brought into American Culture. He further talks about how various aspects of the culture are being brought to the United States and how they are Americanized by changing small details, like in the example he gives, in Pokemon. Media Producers of Pokemon changed the Japanese dumplings to Americanize doughnuts. They do to this because they want to make the show feel more accustom to American people viewing it. He also talks about how media companies are doing this less and less as we become more openly accepting to other cultures.

This article was interesting to me because I guess I wasn’t aware that media producers changed details of shows or movies to make them feel more “American”. To me I don’t think it would make the difference of using dumplings vs. doughnuts like in Pokemon, it not like you don’t know that it isn’t Japanese. I feel as if we are always borrowing ideas from other cultures, American is made up of immigrants, so my question is… What is truly American?

Also I find it interesting that American media producers feel the need to alter the media they are taking from other cultures, but many of those cultures don’t alter American made media other than language. I went to Mexico and they had all the same movies as in America, but what shocked me even more was they were viewing them in English, they had them in Spanish as well, but my Mexican cousin said that many preferred to view them in English because they were unaltered and actually in the actor/actresses voice, as where the other was in a translators voice.

I think a lot of our media uses aspects from Japanese culture. For example, in class we watched Boondocks. The show very much reminded me of anime because of the its style. First it was a cartoon with very exaggerated features like large eyes and heads, much like the style of anime. I think producer found Amine worked well in the US with certain groups and used a similar style to appeal to others and even people who like anime style. 

Progressive Representation in Film History

The essay on ethnic ambiguity, as well as the class discussion today forces one to consider how various ethnicities have been represented over time--as well as who has performed those instances of representation. I was thinking of the career of D.W. Griffith, and how a short progression of his filmmaking  seems to mirror the progression of racial representation in Hollywood, both playing into the worst of filmic misrepresentation of race, as well as downright celebration of racism, and underlining certain genuine positive attempts at social progress and ethnic visibility in Hollywood, be those attempts ill-conceived or still even retaining elements of regression on their own. In Birth of a Nation, Griffith undoubtedly glorifies the Ku Klux Klan as seemingly important heroes of America's history. There are also many outlandish instances of black face in the film. In an attempt to rectify the racist message which he had perhaps inadvertently perpetuated with his film, or perhaps in response to backlash against the film directed towards him by more progressive individuals or groups within society and within Hollywood, ostensibly to prove he was not a racist, the next major film he made was Intolerance, with which he sought to tackle the film's namesake issue by examining multiple forms of intolerance throughout history and the negative effects of that intolerance.

Even more significantly, however--at least socially, is Griffith's Broken Blossoms, in which--in 1919--Griffith depicts, for the first time ever in film history, the blossoming of an interracial relationship. And while the film does much in the way of promoting common facets of Orientalism (the actor playing the character (credited as The Yellow Man) is in fact a caucasian actor in "yellow face," and the film plays upon common misconceptions, or wide-spread images of Asian culture, such as Buddhism, exotic Asian clothing and opium dens), the fact that an interracial relationship was being portrayed at all in Hollywood in 1919--and what's more in a intentionally positive light, with the couple achieving happiness which is ultimately ruined by the prejudice still rampant in society at that time. It seems to me that Hollywood as a whole has, more or less, undergone a similar progression to these three films in Griffith, and perhaps it is a necessary progression- from cartoonish racial depictions which are incredibly offensive and even overtly racist, to narratives which seem to be more progressively leaning yet still skirt around instances of actual portrayal or representation of minorities, to active attempts to promote ideas of racial equality and grant representation to minorities on film--and yet still propagate, if unintentionally prejudiced ways of thinking. Perhaps ethnic ambiguity is the next phase in this progression.

The third phase seems to be analogous today to recent depictions of transgendered peoples in mainstream film. This sudden influx of trans character visibility in Hollywood has simultaneously been praised for bringing awareness to issues which have hitherto been largely ignored, or depicted in cartoonish or negative ways, and condemned for being what many consider to be a modern-day version of Blackface, in which cisgender actors are frequently chosen to portray transgender people instead of actual transgender people. Dallas Buyers Club comes to mind as a recent example, as well as the recent announcement that Eddie Redmayne will play a transgender woman in another upcoming hollywood films:

http://roygbiv.jezebel.com/eddie-redmayne-takes-on-role-as-first-trans-woman-to-h-1654303162?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Instances like Broken Blossoms, Dallas Buyers Club, and this new film are both regressive and progressive. Perhaps this is a necessary dichotomy- even the most progressive of texts will always exhibit strains which are indicative of the prejudice that remains in society in which is exists. The moment instances of such progressive texts are truly devoid without prejudice is the moment at which society has achieved total tolerance--which will never happen, as tolerance, rather than being an absolute quality to be achieved, is something that can only be worked towards, and improved. Media texts, and the ways in which they tackle representation of various members of society, will always be reflective of the society in which they are constructed.

Pixar films and the Bechdel test

The AV Club has a piece up about how ten of fourteen Pixar features fail the Bechdel test, and only one (Brave) has a female protagonist at all.

The author isn't condemning Pixar or saying the films are all bad because of this gender problem, but pointing out how the company, which prides itself on rich storytelling, has room to grow and expand its storytelling to include more interesting female characters.  


food for thought!

Rosalyn Sanchez in Devious Maids

In the reading “Ethnic Ambiguity in the Era of Dark Angels” by Mary Beltran, Beltran discusses the different ways that Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson are portrayed in films. She explains that based on Jessica Alba’s features she can be perceived without an ethnicity attached and has been casted to play more white roles than Rosario Dawson. Dawson however, is always perceived by audiences with ethnicity because of her phenotype and can only be casted for certain roles in film. After reading these comparisons made by Beltran, I was reminded of Roselyn Sanchez who plays Carmen Luna in Devious Maids. In Devious Maids Sanchez plays a driven, hardworking, Puerto Rican maid who is striving to succeed in her singing aspirations. She’s very motivated and will do anything to make her singing career happen and although devious maids does shed some light on some of the discrimination that Latin women face in real life, typically Sanchez is shown with her attractiveness being a main focus and has only been casted for certain roles similar to Rosalyn Dawson based on her heavy accent and ethnic features.  For instance, she has played a secret agent in Rush Hour 2 and a kidnapped undercover CIA agent in Act of Valor, despite these two similar roles, her ethnicity is something that will always be attached to her the same way it is for Rosario Dawson. Roselyn Sanchez was also featured in Fabolous’s music video for his song Make Me Better  ft Neyo in 2009 and in this video she plays the role of a strong tough women ,which is similar to her role in Rush Hour 2, and she is seen as complimenting Fabolous and “making him better” with her looks being showed in an exotic way which catches an audience’s attention.