Cultural Imperialism Theory
Cultural Imperialism refers most broadly to the exercise of domination in cultural relationships in which the values, practices, and meanings of a powerful foreign culture are imposed upon one or more native cultures. Audiences across the globe are heavily affected by media messages emanating from Western industrialized countries.
The homogenization of culture and communication leads to shared values and ideologies. Therefore, American values and ideologies are imposed upon the rest of the world, through media texts.
However, critics pointed out that audiences are not just passive observers and they are capable of making their own judgements and attaching their own meaning to media texts, according to Reception Theory. Audience responses to globalized media are highly differentiated depending on which country they are viewed in.
“The Disney empire frequently stand accused of cultural imperialism, and of being a ruthless global business”. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Read the article and carry out some research of your own before answering the question. You could look at the popularity of Disney films outside of the USA and consider what ideological values the films promote. You could also look at regional variations (e.g., have any of the films been edited or changed in translation to make them more appropriate to other audiences?)
Cultural Imperialism is a process in which a country dominates another’s media consumption and consequently their values. In particular, the USA has a huge impact on the world media as American beliefs and ideologies are heavily imposed by infamous media texts, including Disney films. Disney is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that has produced lots of globally watched movies and influenced many people’s childhood by encoding their behavioural norms and lifestyle. However, there are arguments that audiences are active and not easily affected. Therefore, I agree with the statement to some extent.
This is clearly evident in earlier Disney films when the producers were still unaware of social issues and maintained traditional American values. In the past, Americans were quite arrogant and ignorant of other races and cultures, and Disney movies reflect exactly these problems. The movie Aladdin contained negative stereotypical imagery and extremely offensive song lyrics:
“Oh, I come from a land
From a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam.
Where they cut off your ear
If they don’t like your face
It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.”
The movie included various misrepresentations of non-white people. For instance, the stereotype about Arabs cutting off people’s body parts for theft was able to make it into the movie because such stereotypes and orientalist views of Muslims and Arabs are so prevalent and acceptable in the past. The “innocent” Disney opening song described the fictional city of Agrabah, the place where the movie is set and thought to be based on South Asia and the Middle East, as "barbaric". As a result, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee protested against Disney and after six months, the company had to alter a few lines. Other elements in the film including Aladdin riding on a magic carpet and the overall narrative of the story are all stereotypical portrayals of Arabs. Moreover, the bad guys, often the minions of the film’s villain, Jafar, had mostly thick and ugly Arabic accents, whereas the good guys, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, had clear dulcet American tones, along with the fact they looked inherently western. More importantly, the movie was directed by a bunch of white people, who want to seem superior and civilized compared to other countries. Disney’s racist, disrespectful and insulting representation of non-white individuals will shape audiences’ perspectives, especially young children as they may view Arab people as poor, dangerous, and uncivilized.
Additionally, there are many other films that have been edited to make them more appropriate to audiences from different countries. For example, the producers have changed a small detail in Toy Story 2 by Pixar Animation Studios, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios. When Buzz Lightyear is presenting his motivational speech to encourage other toys to go with him on the rescue mission, the American flag is displayed in the background and the audience can also hear the national anthem of the US in the USA version. On the other hand, the international version shows an illustration of the globe and a different, "One World" anthem, composed by Randy Newman. This was due to the knowledge that some audiences may have negative reactions when they see the Americans’ patriotism. Since Americans are proud individuals, they constantly want to showcase their love towards their country and reinforce their dominance and superiority through media texts. The values and ideologies of their own country are heavily imposed in Disney movies which might be seen as offensive and narcissistic.
However, according to Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory, media viewers actively consume, interpret cultural products in different ways and create their own readings. Though movie producers encode messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience, different audience members will decode the media possibly not in the way they originally intended. Consequently, audience members may adopt one of the following three positions: preferred or dominant reading, negotiated reading and oppositional reading. Thus, audiences from different countries and cultures will have different responses to globalized media texts. People who have a dominant reading will enjoy or agree with the movie’s ideologies and representations, the ones with a negotiated reading will only partially agree with the encoded beliefs while others will disagree completely and find Disney films racist and offensive. Younger viewers are possibly the audiences that will like and passively consume media texts, whereas older viewers who are socially aware and can recognize the false depictions, will develop a totally different viewpoint.
To conclude, Cultural Imperialism suggests that audiences around the world are influenced by media messages emanating from Western industrialized countries. Accordingly, animated Disney films reflect American beliefs, attitudes and society in general. The target audience members’ viewpoints and perceptions will be affected as a result of globalization, homogenization of culture and westernized or Americanized media products. Nevertheless, media audiences are not passive and directly injected with media ideals. Hence, the statement above is true to some extent only.
