July 2004

Is the U.S. High Noon Over?
Reflections on the Declining Global Influence of American Popular Culture

John H. Brown

Pundits of all nationalities have been contending for years that American popular culture will remain dominant for decades to come. But this triumph-of-American-pop-culture thesis is as illusory as the view that the conflicts of history ended after the U.S. prevailed in the Cold War. Indeed, there are growing indications that American popular culture is losing its global influence.

First, and most important, American popular culture to the rest of the world is no longer as "new" (and thus as attractive) as it was in the 1900s. After World War I, for example, jazz dazzled Europeans by its newness (to them). American movies enthralled audiences worldwide with previously unseen images. But today America is increasingly perceived as an old new world, with few remaining sparks of cultural originality. In part due to the impact of instant mass communications unrestrained by national boundaries, American popular culture has become all too familiar, even when it is repackaged.

Second, American popular culture is no longer the only game in the global village, with once typically American cultural items -- such as television soap operas or comic books -- now mass-produced in other parts of the world. The Boston Globe notes, for example, that "not only in the Americas but in Russia, China, Romania, Morocco, Afghanistan -- well over 100 countries around the world, in all -- dubbed or subtitled Novelas [produced in Latin America] reach some 2 billion viewers globally." In Japan, "revenue from royalties and sales of music, video games, anime, art, films and fashion soared to $12.5 billion in 2002, up 300 percent from 1992," notes the same edition of The Globe.¹ And according to the New York Times films from Bollywood, Calcutta, India's movie production center, "reach up to 3.6 billion people around the world -- a billion more than the audience for Hollywood."²

Third, America's increasing unpopularity abroad, linked to the Bush administration's unilateral foreign policy, has lessened the impact of its popular culture. According to a survey by the U.S. public relations firm Edelman, reported the International Herald Tribune, "66 percent of consumers polled in Germany said they were less likely to buy U.S. products as a result of their opposition to U.S. foreign policy. In France, the figure was 64 percent. While 66 percent of American consumers polled said they trusted the Coca-Cola brand, only 40 percent said so in Europe, the poll showed."³ Bearing this out, there has been, according to The New York Times, "an underlying shift in global attitudes toward American popular culture" caused by the invasion of Iraq, leading Hollywood to make films with "international celebrities" rather than American actors. "Anything with a U.S. bent won't get made," Bill Mechanic, who worked at both Disney and Fox, is quoted as saying.⁴

Fourth, the more widespread American English has become, the less it is identified globally as a specifically "American" language. Before the twentieth century, there were two main variants of English: British and American. As British political, economic, and cultural influence waned in the 1900s, however, American English became the dominant world language -- as well as the vehicle for disseminating American popular culture abroad. The more widespread American English became, however, the less it was identified as a specifically "American" language. Indeed, as now the world's lingua franca, the American language is no longer automatically associated with the United States, and as a result, American English is not necessarily considered an expression of American popular culture. Today, the use of American English by non-Americans doesn't mean they have an interest in, or even are influenced by, the United States or its culture; for them a it's just a language, originating in the United States, that's useful in communicating internationally.

There are so many cultures in the United States (which is not a culturally united state) that to talk about one American popular culture is treading on intellectually thin ice. But let me conclude with the following generalization: For American popular culture to be influential in our rapidly changing world in a significant way, it must offer a spiritually enriching alternative to the de-humanization brought about by globalization, thereby regaining the attraction of its new and original manifestations in the twentieth century.

John Brown, a former Foreign Service officer, is currently a Research Associate at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, where he has taught courses about public diplomacy. He is also a Contributing Editor at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, providing it with a "Public Diplomacy Press Review" that soon will be posted on its homepage. The "Public Diplomacy Press Review" can be obtained free by requesting it at johnhbrown30@hotmail.com.

Cultural Commons home > Cultural Comment
Email a Friend