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Since the age of twelve, I have been attracted to American films and songs of all kinds. At that time, no one of my generation watched movies, listened to songs, or was fluent in English, but as I grew older, this amazement decreased, and changed after the American occupation to Iraq, and later was reinforced by my entry into the university and majoring in the Department of Journalism and Information
this glamorous image drawn by the American media, entrenched in your mind that North America is a continent with an ancient civilization, and a culture that is extended and rooted since ancient times, just as its films portrayed to you, from the brave American cowboy who confronts the “bad guys” to the white American who struggles for his land and presidency revolutions of independence, realizing the "American dream"
leading to the modern American clothed in consumer capitalism who lives life in complete freedom and does what he likes, and completely open relationships without restrictions, to the quality of living starting from wooden roofed houses, modern cars and bedrooms with beautiful designs, and the shape of The ideal American family, and even the holidays, especially Christmas, have an amazing splendor in Hollywood cinema, and the names of American states and their different cultures from the famous Times Square, New York streets, alleys, famous buildings, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, all of this without visiting it.
America's age
America was founded as a state exactly two hundred years ago and its official independence was written in 1776 after the "revolution" against European colonialism, which found great wealth for it from the discovery of a new continent. Great for European peoples to migrate to the new continent with some Africans who were transported from the continent as slaves to work in coffee, cotton and cocoa plantations and in gold and silver mines
Some studies indicate that the numbers of the indigenous population of the Americas ranged from 10 million to 100 million
It can be said that the American people are an immigrant people who have no civilization other than the civilization of the indigenous people, but the supremacy of America after the World War and the work to improve its image and its ascension to the throne of nations in civilizational and cultural hegemony helped it create a new civilization compatible with its future policy, thus excluding half of the world's civilizations And depicting them as primitive peoples, and the fact is that the geographical regions, especially the continents of Asia and Africa, have a great civilizational extension that shaped our world today, as the first appearance of man was recorded in them and the oldest known civilizations in the world emerged from them
And with the diminution of the aura of (greatness) over America in recent years and the awareness of many about its impact, in addition to the great change that occurred in the world after the introduction of social media, the only image is not what America weaves for you.
Hollywood image
In the twentieth century, the American media greatly dominated the arena, and it had the largest media arsenal. The researcher and political writer Marwan Samour states that 90% of the American media is owned by only 6 media groups, "as they control what is seen, heard and read by the American citizen and the foreigner together."
It produces approximately 700 television stations, 6,700 radio stations, 150 daily newspapers, the cinema industry and about 200 films annually, and all this takes place in the heart of one city, which is (Hollywood) in the city of Los Angeles.
Nathan Gridles and Mike Medavoy mention in the book (American Media and the War of Soft Power) that the American industrial media society, including Hollywood, is the greatest reflector of the image in the history of human civilization, as the image contributed to the writing of American and world history as well.
For years, Hollywood cinema insisted on portraying the Arab and Islamic peoples, especially as primitive, barbaric, terrorist, inhumane peoples, perpetuating a repeated stereotype that it exported to their societies, and contributing to the state of hostility against Arabs and Muslims and the inferior view of them.
Film critic Jack Shaheen says in his book (The Evil Image of Arabs in American Cinema) that "nearly 25 percent of Hollywood films insult Arabs in one way or another."
And after the events of September 11, 2011, the RAND Corporation for Strategic Studies affiliated with the US administration and the Pentagon was devoted to redrawing the political and economic map of the Islamic world, and stated publicly that it aims to rebuild the Islamic religion in order to integrate it into Western democratic systems to confront Islamic extremism, and as a result, it published the book Civil Democratic Islam
One of the Arab Muslims born in Britain says, "The events of September 11 were like proof of a position, as it was not just a terrorist act, but the question became where do you stand from it, that is, either you are with us and with what we believe in, or you are simply with terrorism."
This expresses colonial-imperialist extremism in a democratic formula to form the other at its own will, without assimilating other cultures that carry principles and values of their own.
civilized world
Americanization of the world
(America, the land of freedom, the land of opportunity, the great America)
These and other slogans were promoted by the media over the years, as Western policies, since its establishment, adopted the principle of democracy and freedom (economic, individual and societal) in its broadest meaning, coinciding with the emergence of the United States on the scene carrying the torch of freedom after the progressive reform movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
But did the United States really call out these slogans for lofty principles... Perhaps we need to start by asking why? Why did these slogans form space in its foundations as a state?
In its reality, money speaks... Western society ended after ages of vast changes that led to several discussions of its thinkers and leaders towards the secularization of the West and taking capitalism as its main engine coinciding with the entry into the era of globalization, so that it all flows into the interests of large companies, realizing the importance of the economic actor in imposing soft domination On countries, these policies are covered with resonant slogans adopted by their societies for several reasons
Because governments and their ideas do not emanate from a situation alien to society, and society is not far from its incubator, the so-called evolution produced a state of a deformed human being, accompanied by an intellectual and spiritual vacuum, and problems that are difficult to solve, in loose concepts of freedoms confined to desires and pleasures, framing progress in all that is. Materialistic, the logical result is that Western society turns into a carrier of this faith and a source for it
Noam Chomsky, the American writer and critic of its policies, explains in his book (Profit Before the People) that America competes to win hearts and minds, and that the real historical struggles for democracy is only a contemporary picture of the struggle of the rich few in order to surround the political rights and civil powers of the majority.
Stressing that "the United States was and still is the most important economy in the world before the outbreak of World War II, and with the end of World War II, America possessed half of the world's wealth and possessed unprecedented power in the history of nations. "
Muhittin Ataman, a writer and professor of political science, says, "Western governments throughout history have been keen to show themselves as having liberal values and principles in their foreign relations, when they are only in a privileged, competitive position. But real hatred, isolation, and alienation appear evident when these governments go through major crises or find themselves in trouble." Complex and difficult situation
With an emphasis on "Western governments that do not value religions, do not respect sacred religious figures, including Jesus, peace be upon him. There are no limits for Western media platforms regarding respect for religions and beliefs. Therefore, we find them circulating cartoons that insult even the person of Christ, peace be upon him." If that is the case, then how can we expect someone who does not respect his own sacred characters to respect the sacred characters of others!”
Within the framework of this single, narrow and condescending view, everyone who contradicts their convictions is "backward and reactionary."
This thought appeared clearly today in the FIFA World Cup held in Qatar, after the State of Qatar published a list of laws (and thanks for this initiative) that the arrivals adhere to, as these laws were not passed by the “democratic” countries, a fierce campaign was launched to boycott The World Cup, because of its objection to the laws set by the host country that express religious and societal principles and values, including the issue of homosexuality and foreign labor, and as important as the issue is with regard to foreign labor, but it is ironic and contradictory that it suddenly turns from countries claiming "the freedom of the other" to countries Freedom is imposed on all peoples who are “less than them” as they see it, without anyone holding them accountable and without anyone objecting to them.
After a long narration in describing the general western atmosphere, and because I believe that people are diverse and different, and it is wrong to set a single template for all societies, many oppose these ideas that were produced for them by their societies, adhering to their principles and beliefs, but many of them are afraid to express their opinion frankly in the event of opposition. for general social thought
In a study by the American Cato Institute, nearly two out of three Americans are afraid of what might happen to them if they express an unpopular opinion.
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