September 13, 2008
In political chill, U.S. entertainment is hot
The image of the United States abroad may have taken a beating in the past few years, but the longstanding appeal of American popular culture has not dimmed. Indeed it appears to have grown stronger lately, even in places like the Middle East, where opposition to American foreign policy is particularly rampant. An insightful article by Tim Arango for the IHT.
"Shows like ''CSI'' and ''House'' now dominate prime-time viewing in parts of Europe, and Hollywood movies routinely sell more tickets overseas than in the United States.
''What's interesting about the last eight years is that polls show a decline in American attractiveness,'' says Joseph Nye Jr., the Harvard professor who coined the phrase ''soft power'' in 1989 to refer to the ways beyond military muscle that America influences the world. ''But then you ask the follow-up questions and you see that American culture remains attractive, that American values remain attractive.
''Which is the opposite of what the president has said - that they hate us for who we are and what we believe in.''
... From an Egyptian man in a focus group conducted by Steven Kull, on International Policy Attitudes: ''I do respect and appreciate American culture and its technology, I welcome that, but not the bad side of its culture, not what contradicts my religious beliefs and with Islam.''
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