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Do we underestimate America's influence

2

Comments

  • #32
    ejmaztec
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,369 ✭✭✭✭ejmaztec


    ColeTrain wrote: »
    I said the best but yes they do churn out a lot of ****e too.

    99% of it is brain-numbing sh1te.

    They even turn good stuff into sh1te, like when they re-make some films or tv programmes that were originally successful in other countries.


  • #33
    ColeTrain
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,681 ✭✭✭ColeTrain


    Da Shins Kelly wrote: »
    This is completely true, in my opinion. Yes, there is a lot of rubbish on American TV, but there is simply nothing in the world that can rival the quality of The Sopranos, The Wire or Breaking Bad.

    Three of the best. Nearly through Season 4 of BB, superb TV.


  • #34
    biko
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,060 ✭✭✭✭biko


    American films are shoved down our throats every day on TV and movie ads.
    That doesn't mean their films are the best.

    In fact many great films are copied by US companies for profit and shown there and here too - because Irish audiences are as lazy as US audiences they won't go to French, Indian or other non-English speaking films.


  • #35
    Batsy
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,341 ✭✭✭Batsy


    Originally Posted by ScumLord viewpost.gif
    Me hole, every young land in eastern Europe, possibly the world wants to be a gangsta rapper.


    No, they don't.


  • #36
    cosmicfart
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,298 ✭✭✭cosmicfart


    thread is completely backwards as America is a nation of emigrants, should read...do we underestimate the influence we have on America?


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  • #37
    Da Shins Kelly
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,047 ✭✭✭Da Shins Kelly


    ColeTrain wrote: »
    Three of the best. Nearly through Season 4 of BB, superb TV.

    The writing and acting in those shows easily rivals that of a lot of movies, in my opinion.


  • #38
    iregk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,235 ✭✭✭iregk


    I'm curious about the OP's comment of best tv shows are American. Some have agreed with him/her. What are in your opinion the worlds best TV shows?


  • #39
    Minstrel27
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,818 ✭✭✭Minstrel27


    The best films are American - Great films are made everywhere. Don't forget they make an awful load of **** films in the states too.

    Most of and if not all, the best TV shows are American - Wrong. You only have to look at the Comedy Central schedule to see a lot of the **** the Americans make. They do make some great tv but so do the British for example.

    the best bands - Great bands come from all over the world


  • #40
    Lirange
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,151 ✭✭✭Lirange


    ejmaztec wrote: »
    99% of it is brain-numbing sh1te.

    I reckon you'd have to watch plenty of it to know that.


  • #41
    Robdude
    Closed Accounts Posts: 709 ✭✭✭Robdude


    I always get a chuckle out of these threads.

    In the US, nobody ever starts threads like this. I think that, by itself, says something. And, whenever I see these threads, it becomes the 'US' verse the world.

    People list off all sorts of great things other countries have done. X invented this. And Y has this.

    Which *individual* country has more global influence than the United States - is a much better question. And I'm not talking about specific niche influences like 'Country Z *dominates* the world's supply of coca-bean exports'. But I'm talking across the board. And, I'm not talking about 'since the dawn of time'. Keep it relevant to today; say the last 40-50 years. And, none of this 'Well, Country A played an important role in the history of Country B, so really, Country A should get credit for everything Country B has done. That's a weak and silly argument', and if you apply it enough, you'd find pretty much everyone came from some tribe somewhere and countries mean nothing.

    If you had to *honestly* name one country for having the largest global influence what would it be? And why.


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  • #42
    Robdude
    Closed Accounts Posts: 709 ✭✭✭Robdude


    cosmicfart wrote: »
    thread is completely backwards as America is a nation of emigrants, should read...do we underestimate the influence we have on America?

    Except that it isn't.

    Emigration is the act of *leaving* your own country to live somewhere else. The majority of US citizens were born in the US. They've never emigrated anywhere.

    If you are going to say that anyone who is a descendant of someone who emigrated from their home land, just about every country is completely a nation of emigrants. Including Ireland.

    "The first known settlement in Ireland began around 8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from continental Europe, probably via a land bridge"

    So, all of Irish culture is meaningless....it's just Europe's influence? See how backwards and silly that sounds.


  • #43
    ejmaztec
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,369 ✭✭✭✭ejmaztec


    Lirange wrote: »
    I reckon you'd have to watch plenty of it to know that.

    I proved it by being a martyr, but you don't have to watch much of something to know how bad it is. The basic "storyline" is usually enough to predict what's going to happen in the next 200 episodes.:(


  • #44
    iregk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,235 ✭✭✭iregk


    Robdude wrote: »
    Which *individual* country has more global influence than the United States - is a much better question. And I'm not talking about specific niche influences like 'Country Z *dominates* the world's supply of coca-bean exports'. But I'm talking across the board.

    I know you said lets not start at the dawn of time but I can't resist. You'd have to say the greeks. They invented democracy and central heating systems. How many people would be dead if it wasn't or that last one?

    Going on the last 40-50 years two countries come to mind. Russia & China.

    China as they essentially are the manufacturing hub of the world. They have such influence in that area that if they decided to shut up shop tomorrow the world would be done.

    Russia as the worlds first superscalar architectural microprocessors were created a full 20 years before Intel claim they invented it. The birth of the modern era began in Russia in the late 60's early 70's.


  • #45
    lcrcboy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 562 ✭✭✭lcrcboy


    Obviously due to the USA's size and the fact that it is a superpower has lead to them having great influence abroad, but I also think its down to their cultrure, they are great at selling themselves "Americana" to the world. They are just out there no matter what trying to make a profit and sell everything thats American and I think this is one of the keys that have made them so successful globally. And its something I actually admire about them in terms of business, is their determination to sell, when Irish people are asked sell "Irishness" to the world mainly America and places like Oz, you get a lot of complaining about "how we are loosing are identity and they are all plastic paddies". If we did less of that we might actually make a nice fortune out of ourselves.

    Now it will be interesting to see how rising powers like China do in the future will they have the same global influence as the USA currently has or will the Chinease just lack the same ambition and drive the Americans have to do business globally and sell.


  • #46
    ejmaztec
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,369 ✭✭✭✭ejmaztec


    lcrcboy wrote: »
    Obviously due to the USA's size and the fact that it is a superpower has lead to them having great influence abroad, but I also think its down to their cultrure, they are great at selling themselves "Americana" to the world. They are just out there no matter what trying to make a profit and sell everything thats American and I think this is one of the keys that have made them so successful globally. And its something I actually admire about them in terms of business, is their determination to sell, when Irish people are asked sell "Irishness" to the world mainly America and places like Oz, you get a lot of complaining about "how we are loosing are identity and they are all plastic paddies". If we did less of that we might actually make a nice fortune out of ourselves.

    Now it will be interesting to see how rising powers like China do in the future will they have the same global influence as the USA currently has or will the Chinease just lack the same ambition and drive the Americans have to do business globally and sell.

    The Chinese are buying up businesses and countries all over the planet like there's no tomorrow. They'll make the Americans, and the rest of us, look like a bunch of amateurs.


  • #47
    frank reynolds
    Closed Accounts Posts: 404 ✭✭frank reynolds


    america is ****. their music is rubbish and the only reason we watch their films is because we've been dumbed down and brainwashed by their "media" (Illuminati) for decades now that we are as thick as the americans themselves, believing in the hype that surrounds every bit of their utter nonsense. a prime example would be this so called "Celebrity culture">

    every piece of media they create is completely designed for capitalist purposes.

    the country should most definitely be nuked.


  • #48
    Lirange
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,151 ✭✭✭Lirange


    ejmaztec wrote: »
    The Chinese are buying up businesses and countries all over the planet like there's no tomorrow. They'll make the Americans, and the rest of us, look like a bunch of amateurs.

    Possibly but only in the financial realm. They are unlikely to ever have the cultural influence of America. Their language is not easy to learn. Chinese are learning English at a brisker pace than Westerners are learning Chinese. Despite their manufacturing capacity and capital resources they have very little in the way of global brand name recognition. Unlike Japan their culture is not that exportable. Sure there are influences such as cuisine and other contributions but it is modest and will probably continue to be so.


  • #49
    Stiffler2
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,536 ✭✭✭Stiffler2


    ColeTrain wrote: »
    America might not be too popular around the world. But there is no denying the influence it has had on our culture.

    The best films are American. Most of and if not all, the best TV shows are American, along with the best bands.

    I think America has led the way in a lot of areas. Maybe their sports has had the lest effect on us. Maybe we under appreciate it's influence?

    Posted using Windows 7 and Google Chrome.


    Chrome is $hit btw


  • #50
    Robdude
    Closed Accounts Posts: 709 ✭✭✭Robdude


    Stiffler2 wrote: »
    Chrome is $hit btw

    Can you elaborate?


  • #51
    Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,234 ✭✭✭Dr. Kenneth Noisewater


    There has been a fascination with America and all things American for decades, I think it's to do with the way America has;

    a) initially sold itself to the rest of the world through Hollywood

    b) been sold to us at home as the best thing since sliced bread by the Irish/Italian/German etc diaspora living there

    c) dominated for so long economically, which naturally leads to innovation and the consequent flooding of the market of American brands (see Coca Cola, Apple, Nike, Ford, New York Yankees, McDonald's etc)

    The fact that we are so over-exposed to American media and culture is also driven by the fact that the US is an English-speaking country of over 300 million people and we are a small country with no major television/movie industry, similiar to how Portugal would be exposed to Brazilian media.


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  • #52
    Stiffler2
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,536 ✭✭✭Stiffler2


    Robdude wrote: »
    Can you elaborate?

    Yes of course, Chrome is $h!t. $h!t can be found in a toilet and travels the sewer system to the ocean where it decomposes. Exactly what should happen to chrome.

    But less of that & back on topic.


  • #53
    pajunior
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 697 ✭✭✭pajunior


    It's obvious America has a huge influence on Irish/British society and to a lesser extent Europe and to a lesser extent the rest of the world.

    There is a reason we always have these sort of threads about America but not China or Russia and it doesn't have anything to do with their lack of influence.

    Best movies: Complete opinion but many would agree that the best of America is as good as anything out there.
    Best music: As above.
    Television: As above but i would like to add that it depends on the genre. Their best dramas are the best out there. Documentaries are decent but it's comedys where most people mark them down. I would do the same with the obvious exception of the simpsons (seasons 3 - 10).
    Literature: Improving but not near the best yet
    Science: Was behind the soviets for a while but is now lightyears ahead of everyone else.
    Business/Commerce: Not even debatable.


  • #54
    Da Shins Kelly
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,047 ✭✭✭Da Shins Kelly


    pajunior wrote: »
    Literature: Improving but not near the best yet

    I dunno about that - Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth, Flannery O'Connor, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Allen Ginsberg, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Updike, J.D Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut and many more.

    I think the Americans are well able to hold their own in terms of literature, and a lot of them have very unique styles. I think it's very obvious when you're reading an American's work. Sure, they didn't produce Yeats, Shakespeare or Chekov, but they've produced their fair share of great, great authors and highly influential works of literature.


  • #55
    foxyboxer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,528 ✭✭✭foxyboxer


    Thread title ought to be

    Do we misunderestimate America's influence?


  • #56
    Robdude
    Closed Accounts Posts: 709 ✭✭✭Robdude


    Stiffler2 wrote: »
    Yes of course, Chrome is $h!t. $h!t can be found in a toilet and travels the sewer system to the ocean where it decomposes. Exactly what should happen to chrome.

    But less of that & back on topic.

    Chrome might be crap; but it's crap that is largely indistinguishable from any other web browser you can find.

    I don't see how any rational person could hold the opinion that one browser that is so similar to all of the other browsers can be so bad to call it $h!t in a completely unrelated thread....while being unable to give any sort of justification for their opinion.


  • #57
    pajunior
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 697 ✭✭✭pajunior


    Da Shins Kelly wrote: »
    I dunno about that - Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth, Flannery O'Connor, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Allen Ginsberg, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Updike, J.D Salinger, Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut and many more.

    I think the Americans are well able to hold their own in terms of literature, and a lot of them have very unique styles. I think it's very obvious when you're reading an American's work. Sure, they didn't produce Yeats, Shakespeare or Chekov, but they've produced their fair share of great, great authors and highly influential works of literature.

    Sorry maybe "not near the best" was exaggerated.

    I simply meant that very few people would say that they are the best. But I agree 100% with you, American literature is underestimated quite a lot.


  • #58
    castletownman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,250 ✭✭✭✭castletownman


    Just one look at the mannerisms etc of the inhabitants of Dublin 4 is a prime example of the influence of America in this country. Cannot be underestimated!


  • #59
    Da Shins Kelly
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,047 ✭✭✭Da Shins Kelly


    pajunior wrote: »
    Sorry maybe "not near the best" was exaggerated.

    I simply meant that very few people would say that they are the best. But I agree 100% with you, American literature is underestimated quite a lot.

    I would agree with that. When people think of great literature I think they tend to think immediately of Britain, Ireland and Russia. The Americans are underestimated, but at the moment they have more truly great writers than anywhere else in the world and I think a lot of people would list American works as their favourite books, maybe not even realising that it was written by an American.


  • #60
    Jopari87
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 65 ✭✭Jopari87


    The US has been the predominant power for most of the 20th century so of course its influence is huge.

    But if we were having this conversation 200 years ago we would be discussing British influence, 400 years ago Spanish influence, 2000 years ago Roman influence etc.

    And likewise in the future it will probably be China or one of the other emerging powers that will have the greatest influence.


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  • #61
    pragmatic1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,573 ✭✭✭pragmatic1


    Not just entertainment OP. Look at all the scientific advancements and inventions that the US has given to the world. Miles ahead.


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