Picking What We Like

Picking What We Like

     In chapter one of Jane Naomi Iwamura's Religion and Popular Culture in America, she says, "The Dalai Lama... as a non-Christian leader, the interest he holds for millions of Americans is unprecedented.... he represents an admirable pacifism and spiritual calm ripe for esteem and emulation." While in this chapter Iwamura is primarily concerned with Americans' fascination with the Dalai Lama, she also elicits a larger issue with respect to cultural appropriation. In the last two, arguably three, decades, Rap and Hip-Hop have become among the most listened to music genres in the United States and the world. As Iwamura suggests, are we merely interested with foreign cultural phenomena like Rap/Hip-Hop, or rather do we really desire to adopt the principles and practices depicted by these unfamiliar conventions?
     As discussed in lecture this week, Rap/Hip-Hop originates from the Blues, Jazz, and all the way back to African Griots. In the United States the Rap and Hip-Hop genres are primarily followed by younger individuals across all races and socioeconomic classes; but yet, the majority of them do not conform to the what this music has a tendency to preach. For example, despite not having African-American heritage, Eminem is one of the most famous and well-liked rappers in America. Although his lyrics touch on a wide range of subjects, a substantial amount of his music is extremely suggestive of violent behavior. In the song "Kim" from his album The Marshall Mathers LP released in 2000, Eminem raps, "I hate this song, does this look like a big joke? There's a 4-year-old little boy laying dead with a slit throat." Despite the violent nature of this lyric, the song is still extremely popular among millions of people that don't actually engage in this type of behavior. Similarly to Iwanmura's argument about the American infatuation with the Oriental Monk, I strongly believe that it is innate in American culture to be interested by foreign, seemingly unrealistic ways of life and traditions, rather than to truly adopt them for its own. The only way to truly assimilate into a foreign culture is by force. Otherwise, change is simply too scary.

The Illegitimate Casting of Culture

What is appropriation? Is it even possible to truly understand a separate culture without having spent your life being integrated into it?

In a society, there seems to be general organizing principles by which all social, political, and economic institutions are centered around. In the United States, it can be argued that one of these principles is capitalism. Clearly capitalism has an effect on our political and economic institutions. However, it is with the social where things get interesting. If someone asked me point blank why I go to college – I’d probably say that it’s because I like learning and I also want to make sure that I have a stable future. However, to merely state these as my only reasons would be to ignore a larger truth that underlies my motivations to go to school. I also attend college because I grew up in a capitalist society. This type of society has ingrained in me the belief that happiness is to be successful and to be successful is to make money and to make money one usually needs a college education. So, I have established my goal of having a secure job and making money as my top priority because in the society in which I live happiness means success. The existence of principles governing society in fact deeply relates to the appropriation of “oriental culture” in the United States.

As there are hegemonic institutions guiding society and permeating our subconscious, it seems unlikely that we can ever completely integrate ourselves into another culture. Thus, the appropriation of yoga, Buddhism, and Asian culture cannot truly occur – as we have not grown up in it, we can only hope to mold ourselves to some aspects of it. In the United States, the molding of Asian culture to ourselves becomes selfish. Generally, the elements taken from Asian culture and the light in which it is cast (with special regard to the “ideological caregiver”) serve only ourselves (Iwamura, 2000). The common theme in media of a peaceful caregiver or mentor who tutors a white disciple plays into the notion of rugged individualism – which is pervasive in our nation’s collective conscious. In films like The Karate Kid, an element of Asian culture is manipulated and taken out of the context of its culture for the purpose of making Ralph Macchio look like a hero (Iwamura, 2000). A hero who pulls himself up by his bootstraps and through hard work. Thus, demonstrating how Asian culture is molded to fit the American theme of rugged individualism. Although most appropriation is generally selfish and serves only to mold another culture to one’s self, I do not want to negate the possibility of appreciating other cultures. There are certainly many people who have the capacity to relate to another culture without essentializing it. However, we must strive to recognize when we are using another’s culture to posit ourselves in a better light – when we are using it selfishly.