Analyzing World Cultures - Essay Example

Analyzing World Cultures Analyzing World Cultures The culture of the world is in a constant evolution process mostly influenced by the many inter-linkages between people from diverse cultural backgrounds and different parts of the world. Culture is an important feature as it gives a person the pride of self-identification or belonging to a specific group. Different cultures possess different believes regarding issues of ethics and morality in the society. Culture helps people to educate themselves on moral issues and ways to live harmoniously with each other.

The foundation of the world culture lies in the acceptance of various ethnic groups and religious dominations. It also comprises of upholding human rights while ensuring equitability in sharing of natural resources. Culture can be expressed in various forms such as through vernacular, songs, dances, clothes, folktales etc. The analysis of the culture of Indians and Japans can be made by looking into the cultural expressions presented through videos such as India Bollywood movies and Japan Anime videos.

Bollywood here represents the Hindi film industry which uses the regional languages in their movies. For the Anime videos it uses cartoons as characters to present the theme of the video. They employ the user of computer-animated anime in various films, videos or movies to present the intended theme. Anime movies try to capture the rich Japanese culture focusing on the attitudes and concerns of people while giving a linkage to the past. This films, video games, music and manga made through use of past traditional artistic features serve as a link to the traditional art.

They influence a large percentage of the population since most people generally spend many hours watching televisions and listening to the radio. This is a special phenomenon among the teenagers and retired people. Bollywood movies similarly just like anime videos depict the rich Indian culture. The major themes are usually upholding the traditions of the Indian people and the family values. The young characters who have embraced westernization are depicted going back to their roots which are deep rooted in tradition but somehow modern India.

A good example of such depiction is the movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai of 1998. The storyline is about a well foreign-educated young girl who tries to show here adherence to Indian values by giving up the superficial westernized way of life she was used to. A common feature in Bollywood is the use of songs in the middle of the movies to depict various emotions (Ravinder, 2002). The cultural differences depicted by the anime videos, Bollywood movies from Hollywood movies is based upon personal choice and preference.

Bollywood has a much larger audience than Hollywood due to its acceptance in many cultures though bought are subtitled. Thus, language barrier has no influence on which is most viewed. Also, Bollywood movies has quite a number of scenes involving passionate kissing whereas Hollywood incorporate visual images that are violent and contain risqué themes mainly targeting the young populace. This is evident in movies such as American Pie (Matusitz, 2012). On the other hand Bollywood movies seem to present the sentimental side of people.

The major thing that stood out in analysis of this two cultures is that themes portrayed relate to the immediate society where the film is produced. Therefore arising a situation whereby the culture is constantly evolving as time passes by. The movies produced embrace the use of highly sophisticated technology especially Hollywood movies i.e. the Transformers. The major similarity across these genres of movies is that all serve to educate the people on various issues in the society and provide the necessary entertainment (Kapur, 2009).

The values and beliefs of this culture best applies to the Japanese and Indians in regard to the benefits they accrue from it. Personally this culture seems extravagant and inapplicable to me since it goes beyond my beliefs and values. I rather stick to westernized way. Culture shock seems to be an inevitable experience when someone is introduced to a new culture. This incorporates things such as their lifestyles, cultures, beliefs and moral values. ReferencesKapur, J. (2009). An "Arranged Love" Marriage: Indias Neoliberal Turn and the Bollywood Wedding Culture Industry.

Communication, Culture & Critique, 221-233. doi:10.1111/j.1753-9137.2009.01036.xMatusitz, J. & Payano, P. (2012). Globalisation of Popular Culture: From Hollywood to Bollywood. South Asia Research, 32(2), 123-138. doi:10.1177/0262728012453977Ravinder, K. (2002). Viewing the west through bollywood: A celluloid Occident in the making. Contemporary South Asia, 11(2), 199-209. doi:10.1080/0958493022000030168