Culture Explosion

There are some popular terms on internet that people usually use to express some things that can't be seen visually. For example, when saying they really love something they use the words 'explode', like there is a new K-pop music video and my feels are going to explode just by watching it. 

This time, I want to use the term to describe my favorite reality television show, The Amazing Race. Thus it kinda explain my intention to write that title. 

I discussed about American TV series before in my post about Glee. But when talking about culture especially in real life this is BEYOND your imagination. Really, if you have never watched it before, then you should!

 According to Wikipedia, here is the explanation about the TV show:

The Amazing Race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams. Contestants strive to arrive first at "Pit Stops" at the end of each leg of the race to win prizes and to avoid coming in last, which carries the possibility of elimination or a significant disadvantage in the following leg. Contestants travel to and within multiple countries in a variety of transportation modes, including airplanes, hot air balloons, helicopters, trucks, bicycles, taxicabs, cars, jeepneys, trains, buses, boats, and by foot. Clues provided in each leg lead the teams to the next destination or direct them to perform a task, either together or by a single member. These challenges are related in some manner to the country wherein they are located or its culture. Teams are progressively eliminated until three are left; at that point, the team that arrives first in the final leg is awarded the grand prize.

 

At the first glance, it was like, okay, so that is how the game is played. But, notice the word that I purposefully bold? It is a race and it is around the world! The tasks given in the game show is no ordinary task. The tasks are directly taken from the culture of each city or country they visited. You can see in the picture above, it was one of the tasks given in Indonesia, where the racer has to ride the odong-odong while making balloon art.

There are some versions of the game show but the one that I enjoyed the most is the original U.S.. series. In each season there are approximately 12 episodes with 8 countries visited. Throughout 24 seasons, they have been to 82 countries. Can you imagine how many culture have been promoted by The Amazing Race? 

For me, it has been a fun way to learn the culture of other countries as well as getting a trembling heart as I watched my favorite team race to win the game. I can't wait to watch season 25 once it is aired in Indonesia. Yay!

All images are searched via google image and courtesy of its respective site.

Cheers,

filicia

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Glee!

I am not a big fan of American TV series, but Glee has successfully captured my heart. I have been watching since season one and have been hooked since then. What attracted me at first is the concept of Glee that combined stage musical with drama. I love most of the songs they covered.

 

As I continued watching the TV series, I realized how Glee successfully portrayed the diversity among the American teenagers. Since the story involved around senior high school students in Lima, Ohio, it somehow depicts the real situation of American teenagers these days.

Also, the thing about American TV series is that they are very open about people's sexual preference. Glee's characters are not only straight but also lesbian and gay.

Brittany and Santana, the lesbian couple who unfortunately broke up in the later season.

Kurt and Blaine, the gay couple with golden voices and still going strong till the latest season.

Also Mercedes who first thought of Sam only as a summer fling. Later she realized that she fell in love with Sam. Though people are against Sam and Mercedes dating because of the racial differences, they decided to just brush it off and believe in their love. Sweet!

At the earlier season, Glee portrait the character's life in glee club where the cultural diversity among them is highly accepted. As they are graduating and moving out to New York, to the real society, as people said, they realize how life is not as easy as glee club. It seems that not everybody can accept the differences as much as glee club. So, are you guys curious? I really recommend you guys to watch this series! ^^

Cheers,

filicia

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42

Earlier in the cultural diversity class, my lecturer showed us a movie which revolves around America's cultural diversity in the past. The movie title is "42". I have not watched this movie before and I think it is interesting.

(image via thrilermag)

Here is an excerpt of what I wrote on my review about the movie.

‘42’ is an American movie which is based on true story. The movie talks about an African-American baseball player, Jackie Robinson who becomes the first black member to play on the American Baseball Major League which is played with white players. The movie took place back in 1945 when the racial issue in America is still a huge thing.

Baseball, just like any kind of sport is supposed to be something democratic, and not in any way racial. But in the past, racial issue seems to be very essential. The black and white people were treated extremely different. The example is shown in the movie like how Jackie Robinson is not allowed to use the restroom in the gas station, also when Robinson and his wife could not board on the airplane and their seats were given to white people instead.

Moving on to the discussion, earlier this week, some students have shared their perspectives about the cultural diversity in America. One of them talked about how America is a big nation. Americans come from different races and it is multicultural. Another student said that Americans seem to be superior towards other countries and therefore they become arrogant. Later on, students were given this movie in order to compare their point of view and the “reality” in the past (author has to quote the word reality because even though this is based on true story, there are some historical inaccuracies).

(image via warner bros)
 

Based on E. B. Tylor, there are some aspects of culture, such as knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law and custom. There are three aspects that are directly related to this movie which are belief, law and custom. Belief can be defined as the world view of the unseen which is different from one person to the other. On 1940s, the white people in America have a belief that the black people are not a part of America. The belief has been planted on Americans even before 1940s, which then becomes a law –meaning social culture. The belief has become the part of the culture, where the black must be treated differently and poorly by the white.

Culture is also something derived from what people do. What the white people did back then during 1940s were the part of their culture. They have not realized the cultural diversity yet, therefore the racism could happen. But, since culture is an ongoing process, it could change. Robinson took his part in changing the culture by changing people’s belief and what people did. He showed his art through his baseball skills and his moral through his good moral. 

Nowadays, the diversity between the cultures in America has been much more tolerated. But then it doesn’t mean that there are no racial issues at all. Often times races become the subject of bullying or out casting. It doesn’t happen only to African-American but to other races as well. Culture after all is the pattern of interaction between people, the rules of behavior in social group. It is safe to say that the pattern of interaction might evolve from time to time, or the behavior might change in the future. That’s why, culture is something dynamic. It has been proven that what happened in the past has now changed in the present. The cultural diversity has now become much more appreciated and tolerated.

  

Sorry, if they are quite jumbled and incoherent. If I put down the whole review and opinions here, it will be too long and you will be bored haha. But at least you guys got the main point right ^^ If you are interested in culture than this movie is recommended for you.

Reference

Cheers,

filicia

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