If you’ve ever been to Europe, you know
that it’s drenched in culture.
London, Edinburgh, Paris, Rome, Copenhagen, Berlin, St. Petersburg,
wherever. Take Paris for example:
it’s the city of lights, love, food, art, and culture. Paris is a Petri dish
with people of hundreds of different ethnicities, languages, and history. This is shown in all of the different
restaurants (all of which are amazing; you honestly can’t go to a bad
restaurant in Paris) and sections of Paris. The same is true with London, a place with which I am very
well acquainted, having lived there for five months and going many other
times. Though America is known to
be a melting pot, and it is to some extent, it isn’t nearly on the same level
as Europe for cultural appreciation.
When most girls turn 16, they want a sweet
sixteen, the famed and glorious American tradition. The sweet sixteen poses as a sort of rite of passage, from
childhood to womanhood, like the quinceñera in Spanish culture. I however wanted to go to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art with my best friend and see the History of Turkish art exhibit
(it was seriously cool, you should’ve seen the tapestries and pottery). When
most girls turn seventeen, they want a car, expensive perfume, or a nice
expensive, designer handbag. I
wanted tickets to the ballet, La
Bayadere, the story of a woman warrior from India and her battle against
love. Okay, so I’m the exception to most teenage
girls. I’m not saying I’m “not
like other girls.” Trust me, Chanel No. 5 would be a great birthday present for
me (my birthday is tomorrow in case you were wondering what to get me) but I’d rather ask for something that can’t be wrapped, but rather
something that I can have wrapped up in my mind for the rest of my life.
Perhaps its because I’ve been to Europe
more times than I’ve been to places in the United States, or that my parents
both lived and worked there for more than three decades, but I can’t help
admire Europeans for their admiration for culture and the arts. In Paris alone there are over 153
museums. The love of art in Europe
is apparent in its murals, exquisite architecture, and history. In the majority of European countries,
the idea of cutting the arts budget (in schools) is shocking. The arts budget in America is .1% of 1%
of the entire budget and is continually cut from schools. My own school had to drop their fall
play because they couldn’t afford it.
(A real loss; I’d have been a fine actress). Anytime I’ve ever been to a museum on a class fieldtrip,
I’ve noticed that most kids look at a painting for about 2 seconds then start
to chat with their friends. The
only time I’ve observed a student observe a painting or other piece of art for
more than two seconds is in the Greek and Roman galleries, which prominently
feature statues of naked people.
Americans are generally self-centered and care more about the welfare of America rather than the world’s. It’s this America-centric mentality that's keeping culture out of the U.S. Sure we include other cultures in our country, and sometimes celebrate them, but they aren’t as valued here as they are in other places. Typically, I’ve noticed that when we have foreign exchange students, they are encouraged to assimilate into American culture and to not do the things that they normally would in their home countries. This lack of respect for other cultures can damage the view that other countries have on us. We say that we’re the melting pot, but we don’t walk the walk.
Americans are generally self-centered and care more about the welfare of America rather than the world’s. It’s this America-centric mentality that's keeping culture out of the U.S. Sure we include other cultures in our country, and sometimes celebrate them, but they aren’t as valued here as they are in other places. Typically, I’ve noticed that when we have foreign exchange students, they are encouraged to assimilate into American culture and to not do the things that they normally would in their home countries. This lack of respect for other cultures can damage the view that other countries have on us. We say that we’re the melting pot, but we don’t walk the walk.
If you checked my iPod, you would find that
it is 50% alternative and 50% classical.
There’s something so appealing about Tchaikovsky and Chopin and Dvořák to me. I’ve been listening to classical music,
people will ask my what I’m listening to, and when I tell them, they always ask
me why. Well why not? It’s relaxing, calming, and it sounds
beautiful, unlike the autotuned wailing of so-called professional singers.
In my English class, we read Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, a
worldwide acclaimed bestselling author, well known to the entire world, except
the United States because if you’re not American, then we don't care. My parents and uncle knew who he was
and had even read a few of his books.
Well how can he be so famous if I, and lots of other Americans, haven’t
heard of him? This unintentional
ignorance comes from the under appreciation of foreign culture in America and
it’s a serious problem. It’s fun
to read Shakespeare and other English-based books, but it would really open
students’ minds to read literature from around the world, and not just the
English-speaking world. Anywhere
you go in the world, you can’t get away from English, so Americans should value
other culture as well.
Why can’t we take art history instead of
art? Could they offer tai chi or
fencing instead of dodgeball? Why
not go to the Renaissance Faire for extra credit? There are so many ways that schools could incorporate
foreign culture into our daily lives, but they don’t. The world is becoming an increasingly smaller place and us
Americans can’t keep hiding from the outside world for long. And when the walls between America and
the rest of the world break down, most of us won’t be prepared.
Ok Sophia, while I agree that most Americans are ignorant and don't have a firm understanding of the rest of the world, I wouldn't say all of this is accurate. To begin I have also been fortunate to travel to Europe a significant number of times. My dad is English so we typically venture to the UK once at least every two years, and I have been to the continent with my mom many times (if whether I've been there even gives me the authority to talk about these things).
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, to begin Europe is far older than any North American city, and therefore obviously has more history. Western civilization originated out of Europe and therefore it is not surprising classical art has a larger presence there than here in the New World.
Moving on, I think you'll find that Paris and London are exceptions to Europe, much like New York City is an exception to the United States. All three are global cities, and are often lumped together as such. That being the case, they are all extremely cosmopolitan and have significant outside world influence. In fact I'm I think you'll find that New York is significantly more cosmopolitan than Paris. London and New York are probably more even.
Moving on, I think it would be a mistake to classify Europeans as significantly more enamored and interested in the arts than Americans. Most are as crazy about materialistic things as we are in the states. Sure, their average cities are a 1,000 years older than ours, however I don't think that makes much difference in the way people think. Ultimately, I think the cultures of Europe and the United States are in fact near identical. We're all big wasteful round eyed monsters to much of the world.
Furthermore, I believe it would be a stretch to assert that the French are significantly more interested in the world than we Americans. While the average French may be a little better at geography (maybe as a product of their better educational system), I can't think of a group of people more stereo typically stuck up and self enamored in themselves as the French. Despite being democratic like the United States, Europe still maintains many old world views that make assimilation for immigrants in their society significantly harder than in the United States. There are HUGE rifts and tensions between the majority French population and the Algerians and other immigrant groups who come across the Mediterranean who then but heads with French secular society. The UK is just as bad. If you're not white and your family hasn't resided in Britain for the past 1,000 years, I don't know how you could ever feel British.
All I'm trying to say by this little rant of mine is that I think you should be careful about bashing us Americans, and comparing us to our friends across the Atlantic, because ultimately we're very very similar.
Your fascination with art and history is fantastic, but I don't think the average European would be able to sympathize with you any more than the average American...just saying.