Its a bunch of nonsense hating on people based the country they are from, race, occupation, etc. I react to people on a case by case basis. Besides the thin cultural veneer people are people. When I go on vacation if people are open minded and allow for cultural differences there is never a problem. I try to be mindful and do my best to abide by my hosts norms. I think its unreasonable to expect people from another country to share the same cultural norms and be mad at them.

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Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On But in another thread you were elaborating on the disparity between the perception and the truth of Islam. Does the same logic not apply here?

I think I'm in a little more of a position to make such assertions about my own culture, here, but my sentiments are validated by the projection of (negative) American Culture, in the media. Political ads, Jersey Shore, and The Biggest Loser, among other celebrations of American pathology, certainly give bona fides to the generalizations being made.

While Al Jazeera plays out terrorist propaganda, they don't necessarily play to the stock stereotypes the way American Media plays into, here. I think it's utterly fair to apply the same logic but in applying the same logic, I think a noted disparity between the two, is achieved.

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I think that television tends to shape people far more than people tend to shape television. Of course there are "people" in control of the communication aspect of what a particular (un)script is attempting to achieve, but on a far wider scale, the audience plays into the transmission because it has been suggested by the enveloping grimace of commercial prescription, not because it is necessarily the natural inclination of any target stereotype. Of course it can just as well be argued as a chicken-and-the-egg scenario that stereotypes come from people, first, and television is a representation of something that initially existed in its relative rarity, but the viral dissemination of memes and folkways is more potent an occurence than truth in the media, if you ask me.

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Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On I think that television tends to shape people far more than people tend to shape television. Of course there are "people" in control of the communication aspect of what a particular (un)script is attempting to achieve, but on a far wider scale, the audience plays into the transmission because it has been suggested by the enveloping grimace of commercial prescription, not because it is necessarily the natural inclination of any target stereotype. Of course it can just as well be argued as a chicken-and-the-egg scenario that stereotypes come from people, first, and television is a representation of something that initially existed in its relative rarity, but the viral dissemination of memes and folkways is more potent an occurence than truth in the media, if you ask me.

I don't know if you've seen it, and even though it's a little old, I think it speaks volumes to how the media behaves, currently.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/

You're speaking to a literal feedback loop. CNN borrowing from its Twitter feedback to generate news banter is an example of it. Fran Liebowitz, in Public Speaking, remarked that we have democratized our culture while relinquishing democratic control of our politics.

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cultural xenophobia has always existed, the only thing has changed is the method of distribution.

It's funny how people bash America for being xenophobic and racist, when Japan openly embraces these traits. For some reason it's acceptable for them though. Why?

They all look the same.

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Originally posted by WittyHandle It's funny how people bash America for being xenophobic and racist, when Japan openly embraces these traits. For some reason it's acceptable for them though. Why?

Actually, I hated Japan exactly for this reason.

As a matter of fact, a funny thing happened to me in Sendai. I was on my way to the underground station when a kid on a bike stopped and kept staring at me — he looked so surprised I actually felt like a tourist attraction. I waved back and he ran away. A couple of blocks later the very same kid appeared out of the blue in front of me and kept staring. As a very friendly foreigner, I said "Hi!" in Japanese, but it seems to have scared him. Later on, in front of the underground station this kid comes back and stares at me again. Rather amused by all this, I decided to have some fun myself. I frowned, and stared back for what must've been a full minute. When I realised he wouldn't do anything, I said "boo!" and waited for his reaction. As I expected, he got on his bicycle and pedalled away

But I overheard two or three comments about my presence there that were rather funny, so I wasn't really rude to anyone...

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Originally posted by Lira Actually, I hated Japan exactly for this reason. As a matter of fact, a funny thing happened to me in Sendai. I was on my way to the underground station when a kid on a bike stopped and kept staring at me — he looked so surprised I actually felt like a tourist attraction. I waved back and he ran away. A couple of blocks later the very same kid appeared out of the blue in front of me and kept staring. As a very friendly foreigner, I said "Hi!" in Japanese, but it seems to have scared him. Later on, in front of the underground station this kid comes back and stares at me again. Rather amused by all this, I decided to have some fun myself. I frowned, and stared back for what must've been a full minute. When I realised he wouldn't do anything, I said "boo!" and waited for his reaction. As I expected, he got on his bicycle and pedalled away But I overheard two or three comments about my presence there that were rather funny, so I wasn't really rude to anyone...

Don't you think its a little unfair to judge a country based on one inquisitive ghost?

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Originally posted by igottaknow Don't you think its a little unfair to judge a country based on one inquisitive ghost?

I just picked a story, I could've given you several other reasons why I felt uncomfortable there. And, mind you, I pretty much live in a Japanese community here in Brazil. In my office where I'm studying right now, I'm the only person without an Asian ancestry in a 50 metres radius... and I like the community here way better than anything I found there.

Why?

Because the lack of foreigners in Japan is appalling. It's well bizarre: You see signs in English and in Portuguese, I bought as many books in Japan as I did in London (and just two of them were in Japanese), and yet I could count on my fingers how many non-Asian foreigners I met there. As a matter of fact, there Japanese government only lets Japanese-blooded Brazilians emigrate there, and imposes several restrictions on everyone else. It contrasted sharply with what I found in London, where I spoke at least 5 languages in 3 days (and heard at least half a dozen more). And I'm not just talking about Tokyo (where I also spent 3 days), but a whole country. They often panic when you approach them to ask for directions. It's no wonder that no interesting idea ever come out from the archipelago: the influx of new ways of thinking from outsiders is very limited.

ps.: As for the lack of outsiders near my office, it's a temporary thing. I'm the only nutter studying here after the end of the school year

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Originally posted by Lira I just picked a story, I could've given you several other reasons why I felt uncomfortable there. And, mind you, I pretty much live in a Japanese community here in Brazil. In my office where I'm studying right now, I'm the only person without an Asian ancestry in a 50 metres radius... and I like the community here way better than anything I found there. Why? Because the lack of foreigners in Japan is appalling. It's well bizarre: You see signs in English and in Portuguese, I bought as many books in Japan as I did in London (and just two of them were in Japanese), and yet I could count on my fingers how many non-Asian foreigners I met there. As a matter of fact, there Japanese government only lets Japanese-blooded Brazilians emigrate there, and imposes several restrictions on everyone else. It contrasted sharply with what I found in London, where I spoke at least 5 languages in 3 days (and heard at least half a dozen more). And I'm not just talking about Tokyo (where I also spent 3 days), but a whole country. They often panic when you approach them to ask for directions. It's no wonder that no interesting idea ever come out from the archipelago: the influx of new ways of thinking from outsiders is very limited. ps.: As for the lack of outsiders near my office, it's a temporary thing. I'm the only nutter studying here after the end of the school year

For such a small country I'm impressed by how influential they are in the world. Manga cartoons, cars, video games, electronics, etc. I've never been to Japan but I've heard similar and differing opinions to yours. I'm not sure why its like that. I think its more an immigration population policy by the government since they have adopted a lot of American culture. The US government is with its faults too.

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Originally posted by igottaknow For such a small country I'm impressed by how influential they are in the world. Manga cartoons, cars, video games, electronics, etc. Since I've never been to Japan but I've heard similar and differing opinions to yours. I'm not sure why its like that.

Mind you, I said no interesting idea ever come out of Japan. Cars, video games, electronics... they aren't ideas, they're products. Japan is a great economy, that's why they're influential. And they're very good at making stuff, I give you that. Ant they're very good at appropriating foreign ideas and cranking them up to eleven (reason why you have music genres like Shibuya-kei, for example). But they're a technological society, so to speak, not really a philosophical (or a speculatively scientific) one.

I'm sort of busy right now so I can't back up all my arguments, but will do it as soon as I get the chance

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