#globalization1a03

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you are in a dark, unfamiliar room. You are exhausted, and you want to sleep––but you cannot. Your arms are attached to ropes hanging from the ceiling, music blares non-stop throughout the room, and you are covered in bruises. You stay awake, not because you want to, but because your captors have made it impossible to fall asleep.

This was just part of the reality of the torture committed by the CIA against detainees in Pakistan during the manhunt for Osama Bin-Laden, the orchestrator of the 9/11 terror attacks, as depicted in the 2012 film Zero Dark Thirty. However, critics of the film condemned it for its depiction of torture, also known as “enhanced interrogation techniques”. Journalists and authors including Emily Bazelon, Michael Wolff, Frank Bruni, Karen J. Greenberg, and Jane Mayer described the film as presenting a pro-torture stance, with the torture of detainees being presented as a necessary evil for the CIA to track down Bin Laden. Notably, John McCain, a U.S. Senator who once suffered torture as a prisoner of war, objected to the film by stating that the portrayal of torture as an effective interrogation method was inaccurate and that the torture committed in the Bin Laden manhunt often produced misleading or false information. 

Have you ever developed a cramp in your thumb from holding your mobile device for too long? Rest assured, you are not alone. You see, it’s actually quite a common outcome for social media users, and seeing as though we are almost all social media users, the finger cramp is actually a very significant incident. Much of our lives are spent scrolling and refreshing our socials for several hours a day. And well, there’s no denying that social media is truly a fascinating phenomenon. Whether we use it to connect with loved ones, retrieve the latest news from around the world, or just use it to cure our boredom. It is evident that we spend the greater majority of our day on our mobile devices surfing through social media. But what really makes social media what it is today? One word: memes. The term “meme” was coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976, and he saw it as a “cultural unit that is spread from one person to another through copying and imitation” (Dawkins, 1976). In modern-day social media, memes are seen to be a form of comedy that one can invent or innovate on their own terms based on their lived experiences or current events. Many believe that to understand a meme, you must have basic knowledge of popular cultural conventions (Phillips and Milner, 2017). However, as “jokes are ambiguous modes of communication” (Shifman and Levy, 2014) it can be argued that they have no real language and that there is no escaping the exchange of memes across the borderless cyberspace. Without a doubt, the diffusion of memes through transnational borders is easier than ever due to their representation and construction of social perceptions (Nissenbaum and Levy, 2018). But what makes memes different? What sets “memes” apart from the rest of the nuances of the internet? Notably speaking, most things in relation to globalization and technological advancements involve some sort of economic factor. Unlike other flows of transnational media content, memes and other internet jokes do not explicitly involve economics (Shifman and Levy, 2014). This subgenre of globalization is termed as “User-generated globalization”. It is described to be a practice of daily normal internet users and not a product of large corporations. “User-generated globalization” allows users to not only create but share the memes and internet jokes they come across. Surely, we can all relate to the inevitable scenario of finding a perfectly fitting meme and sending it to your friends or family. This process allows the greater population to control the time-space compression of popular and current events happening around the world with their own means. By sharing memes we are actually creating a sort of transnational awareness of current events around the world, thereby compressing the space between our geographic locations instantaneously, allowing for a greater global consciousness to take over. In sum, memes are essential to our daily lives, and a vital part of globalization as we know it. 

Works Cited

Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene . Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Gil, P. (2019, November 8). Examples of Memes and How to Use Them. Retrieved November 19, 2019, from https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-meme-2483702.

Nissenbaum, A., & Shifman, L. (2018). Meme Templates as Expressive Repertoires in a Globalizing World: A Cross-Linguistic Study. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 23(5), 294–310. doi: 10.1093/jcmc/zmy016

Phillips, W., & Milner, R. M. (2017). Decoding memes: Barthes’ punctum, feminist standpoint theory, and the political significance of #YesAllWomen. In S. Harrington (Ed.), Entertainment Values  (pp. 195–211). London, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Shifman, L., Levy, H., & Thelwall, M. (2014). Internet Jokes: The Secret Agents of Globalization? Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19(4), 727–743. doi: 10.1111/jcc4.12082

Warf, B. (2013). Time-Space Compression. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. doi: 10.1093/obo/9780199874002-0025

*note: Picture/meme is not my own but was my favourite transnational meme during the time of the Raps championship era of 2019. It perfectly represents my point in this article, that memes do not have a language and that they are able to relate to everyone.

“We are the World, We are the Children.” - U.S.A for Africa

So in my last blog, I have written almost 1000 words just to say how I feel about cosmopolitanism and the idea of “We Are One”. Obviously, that’s far from ENOUGH! So in this blog, I wanna go a little bit further and talk about how cultural hybridization leads to my idea of “We Are One”.

Okay enough talking, let’s jump into that!

Last time I said that different cultures can co-exist under cosmopolitanism but I didn’t say how. This time, I want to be more thorough because it is affecting all of us even if we don’t realize it! The idea of cosmopolitanism leads to cultural hybridization because it brings all different cultures together and kind of like putting them into one big cauldron. So, what exactly is “Cultural Hybridization”? According to the New York Times, it’s a process by which cultures around the world adopt a certain degree of homogenized global culture while clinging to aspects of their own traditional culture. (New York Times) Long story short, it means we live in a society which is the blending of elements from different cultures. As a HongKonger, I really have to say, I CAN’T AGREE MORE! 

When I lived in Hong Kong, that’s my schedule of celebrating holidays in a year. First we started the year with celebrating New Year’s Day then we had Chinese Lunar New Year coming after. After that, we had QingMing Festival followed by Easter. It’s not done yet, we still had Buddha’s Birthday. YES, you saw that right. At the end of the year, we had Black Friday, Christmas and Boxing day. See, we celebrate holidays which are from at least four different cultures. We don’t just celebrate traditional chinese holidays, we also celebrate western, jewish and indian holidays, etc. Of course, there are more holidays that I didn’t mention. Me growing up in a little melting pot like Hong Kong, I can really relate to cultural hybridization. You might not realize this in reality, but I can give you some examples that you surely can relate to. Cultural hybridization creates so many tunnels for cultures to be exchanged and spread, most of them exist around us and we don’t realize. It doesn’t just stop at holidays, it also involves costumes, animes, food, movies, and music. We might dress in Korean styles, we might watch Japanese anime, we might eat Chinese food. We might even watch French movies and listen to Spanish songs, or even more, FROM PLACES ALL OVER THE WORLD! 

A Couple of days ago, my friend posted a picture on instagram of her watching a Hong Kong movie called Internal Affair (I SUPER RECOMMEND!!!) because of a school assignment. This movie also has a Hollywood version called Departed which starred Leo Dicaprio and Matt Damon. There are also some Chinese movies which are super famous in North America like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Rush Hour (1998), Mulan (1998), In the Mood for Love (2000) and Shaolin Soccer (2001), etc(Jeez I love all these). These movies have been watched by so many people living around the world not just in Asia, some of the movies even became a part of the internet culture like meme. See? They created a diffusion of Western cultures and Asian cultures, they are all the tunnels that cultural hybridization uses to spread different cultures to different places.

Now, you might be thinking about how cultural hybridization leads to the idea of “We Are One”. Here it is. Cultural hybridization reduces the boundaries between places and makes more connections between them. Under the ideal cultural hybridization, we own our cultures and you own yours, yet we understand each other’s cultures. When we have respect and understanding for others, it connects us. Cultural hybridization makes it easier for us to have shared values because it blends different cultures together. When we have shared values, we more likely tend to help them. It makes us love each other, care about each other and help each other because they are all part of our daily lives. In a way, helping them also means helping us because “We Are One”, aren’t we? Sharing the same values makes us connected, it means we can contribute to the world together. Here is a great example.

“We Are The World”

“We Are The World” is a charity single recorded in 1985 by the most famous artists in the music industry at the time to raise funds for the starving people in Africa, specifically Ethiopia. This is exactly one of the advantages of cultural hybridization. We feel what others feel because cultural hybridization brings us all together. U.S.A for Africa is a good example, it connects different people around the world to help a specific group of people. Because of cultural hybridization, we listen to their songs since their culture is mixed with ours. This makes us share the same values, and because we share the values so we can contribute to the world as one. U.S.A for Africa also leads to an Asian version of “We Are The World”. “Tomorrow Will Be Better” was recorded in 1985 under the inspiration of “We Are The World” to raise money for World Vision to help with aid to Africa. Of course, celebrities have to know how to give when they are taking advantage of cultural hybridization. They know what they are capable of, in order to contribute to the world, they use their fame to raise awareness of what happens on the other side of the world. Due to cultural hybridization, we grow up listening to their songs. Their culture is a part of our culture, so we share the same values. Even the title is just U.S.A for Africa. It actually reaches more people than just the people in America. It reaches worldly to anyone who shares the same culture, thanks to cultural hybridization it is a huge number.

Now you see how cultural hybridization connects us and helps us “make the world a better place”. Thanks to cultural hybridization, we are one big family. We have our own unique culture, yet we have others too. We are connected by the values we share, we care about others and we contribute to the world together as one. 

We are tighter to each other,                                                                                    We are stronger when we are together,                                                              WE ARE ONE.

 There’s a choice we’re making

We’re saving our own lives

It’s true we’ll make a better day

Just you and me

Standing in line is so common in North America that it can pass as a unique custom or even a cultural ritual of sorts. Whether it is for an exclusive event, an overpriced item, or just plain food, we always find ourselves waiting in a line that has somehow managed to wrap itself around a building right in the core of the city we live in. However, the occasion for this particular line this past summer was not an everyday occurrence like most other lines we see regularly. This line was created and protected by fans of a Toronto team called The Raptors, and it was formed in order to get into an exclusive viewing area called “Jurassic Park” where fans of all ages, and backgrounds could come together to appreciate the art that is basketball. Toronto is a city that is truly as cosmopolitan as it can get. Yet, despite the differences we harbour as individuals, the one thing that never fails to bring us all together is sports. In this case, the sport was basketball and buzzword around town was the name of the infamous Canadian NBA team, The Raptors. However, the 2019 NBA Finals was not just an event for Torontonians to watch and celebrate, because many around the world had also been tuned in to the final games and shared the same anticipation and rollercoaster of emotions as Raptors fans at home in Canada. During the final six games, there was an average audience of 6.4 million people, thus making it the country’s most-watched NBA broadcast on record. It was also reported that each game in the Finals has set a new Canadian NBA ratings record. Once again, proving the instrumental role that technology plays within our contemporary society as an agent for heightened interconnectivity across borders. Moreover, The Raptors have probably never been as talked about as they were in the summer of 2019, and their popularity was through the roof worldwide. The Raptors had surpassed just being a basketball team and they had carved their names into the NBA franchise as a true brand. Many may wonder what helped manufacture the fame and success of The Raptors team as a global brand in 2019, and the answer is indefinitely always going to be globalization. The team itself is highly diverse and includes players from around the world, to name a few like Marc Gasol (Spain), Pascal Siakam (Cameroon), and Serge Ibaka (Congo). Thus, the recent win for the Raptors proved that there is strength in diversity, and allowed global viewers to feel included in the victory. In fact, it was reported that 24.5% of players in the NBA league for the 2018-19 season were international players from 42 countries and territories around the world. Once again proving that globalization further allows people, money, goods and ideas to flow through borders and ultimately benefits us all, especially in the case of the recent 2019 NBA finals where the help of foreign members allowed a Canadian team in the NBA to finally taste the sweetness of victory. The same victory that was shared by millions around the world and one that will be talked about for generations to come. A big shoutout to Masai Ujiri, the current President of The Raptors team and a foreigner to Canada for proving that even borders can not contain us if we bond together for a shared passion and that anything is possible through the strength of diversity. 

Works Cited

Abdul-Jabbar, K. (2019, June 17). Why the Toronto Raptors' title is a victory for the NBA, Canada ... and the US. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jun/17/toronto-raptors-basketball-nba-title-championship.

Boot, M. (2019, June 13). Opinion | Globalization is the star of the NBA. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/globalization-is-the-star-of-the-nba/2019/06/12/356acd06-8d23-11e9-b08e-cfd89bd36d4e_story.html.

Dawson, A. (2019, August 11). The president of the Toronto Raptors told us how he turned a losing team into 2019 NBA champions. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.businessinsider.com/how-masai-ujiri-built-the-toronto-raptors-2019-8.

Gal, S. (2018, October 16). NBA's trend of increasing number of international players appears to be slowing down. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.businessinsider.com/growing-number-of-foreign-born-players-in-nba-slows-2018-10.

Lewenberg, J. (2019, June 14). Raptors' championship will have long-lasting impact on basketball in Canada. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.tsn.ca/raptors-championship-will-have-long-lasting-impact-on-basketball-in-canada-1.1322091.

Masai Ujiri joining Raptors. (2013, May 31). Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/9330616.

Raptors fans celebrate Toronto's NBA championship win around the world. (2019, June). Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2019/06/raptors-fans-celebrate-toronto-nba-championship-around-world/.

Reynolds, T., & Associated Press. (2019, June 15). The Raptors' diversity serves them well as global champions. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/analysis-a-global-game-now-has-a-truly-global-champion.

Staff, N. (2019, May 26). Thousands wait in line to watch Raptors at Jurassic Park. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from https://toronto.citynews.ca/2019/05/25/jurassic-park-line/.

“Under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family.” - Bruce Lee

A couple of days ago, I watched a Bruce Lee film named Fist of Fury. Seeing Bruce on screen reminded me of the footage where he was asked whether he thought himself as Chinese or North American. He answered the question wisely, at the same time, he was also demonstrating the idea of cosmopolitanism. While I was like “Wait! I’ve learned that in GLOBE!”, I read the news about what was happening in ChungKing Mansion in Hong Kong. I realized I had something about cosmopolitanism that I wanted to share with you guys, I think this might be a good chance for me to share my own thoughts on cosmopolitanism by writing this blog. 

I remember helping an old lady who couldn’t speak English find her way to the bus stop, she couldn’t speak my language and I couldn’t speak hers. Anyways, I found a way to give her the direction to the bus stop, I noticed that there was a language barrier between me and her. BUT! Does that affect my decision to help her? Does nationality really matter? Do the languages people speak really matter? Will it be one of my concerns when I help you, or anyone else in the world? Will any kind of national differences get in the way and stop me from helping people who are in need?  I don’t think so. I realized that with the growth of nationalism, (it would be ultranationalism in China in that case), people tend to ONLY help others who are from their country or speak their language. For the past 5 years, people have been building their own communities around the world. IT IS OKAY to have your own communities, after all, embracing your culture and having respect for others is one of the keys of cosmopolitanism. Somehow, that’s not what I have been feeling, from my experience, they don’t feel like helping people “who are not their race”, or so-called “my people”. 

Don’t get me wrong guys, I think accepting who you are, embracing your culture/ethnicity, are super important. After all, if we throw away our beliefs, culture, ethnic background, the world will just be a homogeneous, boring world. WHY? Because you and I and her and he are all the same, we will lose our distinctiveness. Without culture, there is no society. Somehow, our society is heading in the opposite direction. We Live In A Society where people only care about their cultures, they are bound by the idea of nationality, geographical boundaries, etc. People tend to only care about others who speak their languages, watch their movies, listen to the songs they listen to. Those became the concerns before they decide to help someone. Does that sound ridiculous to you? That means I will only give you a ride if you know who Jackie Chan is, I will only send you to the hospital if you know who Eminem is. What? You don’t know about FRIENDS, man you are not getting any help from me. It even sounds more ridiculous saying this, but in fact, it is what is happening around the world. Cosmopolitanism is not an easy thing to achieve in this world, it will never be. To do it, the first thing we have to do is how to respect others’ cultures. The ideas of loving who you are and loving everyone can and have to stick together for cosmopolitanism to take the first step. It is not like the winner is either you or me, there is no winner. I think that’s the hardest part to do. We have to learn to respect each other first, then we can move on to how to make cosmopolitanism work. That’s the first thing we should know!

Diversity means you embrace your culture, you love your culture, you want to show the world what’s good in your culture. At the same time, it means having room for other cultures to live inside that circle of society(just think of it as a circle). It means respect, not just for your own culture, but for others’ cultures too. That’s what I think is the hardest and the most important part to do because if people don’t realize this, it will just become a cultural invasion that is happening now. There is no conflict between embracing our identities and achieving cosmopolitanism!

You may ask, REALLY? YOU HAVE SPENT FIVE MINUTES SAYING THAT THEY COULD STAY TOGETHER, HOW WE SHOULD DO AND HOW WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS AND THAT AND THOSE, IS IT REALLY THE FACT? IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE?

I am here to tell you, YES, IT IS POSSIBLE! 

Here is why. 

In the middle of glitzy Tsim Sha Tsui Hong Kong shopping district stands a nondescript building known as Chungking Mansions. Known for its ethnic diversity, affordable curries(which are SUPER GOOD, it’s a must-try if you have a chance), African bistros, sari stores,etc.. It always acts as a large gathering place for some of the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Even a reporter from CNN stated that the complex was the "unofficial African quarter of Hong Kong"(that’s what wiki said) because the building is mostly lived by South Asians, Middle Eastern people, Nigerians, and Europeans. It was also elected as the "Best Example of Globalization in Action" by TIME. Somehow, I know so many people who claimed that they would never go there because it looked “dangerous”, the building is also taken by people as a chaotic No Man’s Land. (mostly because they don’t know what things really look like in there)

Now you know the story behind Chungking Mansions, let’s talk about what it has to do with cosmopolitanism.

Last week a democracy activist was viciously attacked with hammers and reports had trickled out that the assailants were South Asian, stoking fears that protesters may target minorities in retaliation. Those attackers try to split society, but the effect is the opposite, they are making the people more united. Those fears didn’t come true. Instead, a group of South Asians stood at the front steps of ChungKing Mansions, hanging out water and egg tarts to the protesters when they marched through the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. They were also showing their support by singing the popular protest anthem and saying “WE ARE ONE” and “WE CONNECT”. 

Isn’t that the gist of cosmopolitanism? 

“WE ARE ONE“

This is just the point I am trying to prove throughout the whole blog! It is okay for society to have culture distinctiveness and cosmopolitanism, BOTH TOGETHER. Why? Because things like languages, where you are from, what clothes you wear, what food you eat most, WON’T be standing above our moral values. They won’t stop us from DOING THE RIGHT THING! When we are facing serious, ethical problems, when there are lives at stake, when it’s about humanity, when it’s about doing the right thing, we can always come together and help each other out. I think ChungKing Mansions is really proving that culture would never stand above moral values. It doesn’t matter what your race is, we are all human. You can identify yourselves as all you want, HongKonger, Canadian, Pakistani. Those names only represent your culture, and that’s it. They won’t stop us from helping each other. We cannot choose our culture, but we have the ability to do the right thing. Cultural differences can’t affect our decision, at the same time, we are showing respect to other cultures. We embrace ours, respect and accept yours. That’s something we have to work on while we are achieving a cosmopolitan world. No matter what language you speak, where you are born, WE ARE ONE. Somehow before we can achieve it, we still have a long way to go.

  Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You, you may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you will join us

As I step into the arena filled with thousands of ecstatic people of all different shapes, sizes, backgrounds and ages I listen to the loud hum of screaming fans, and my excitement is soaring. My heart beats with quiet anticipation and my eyes immediately focus on the large stage in front of me. In a few minutes, they will take the stage, the seven men that have charmed their way into millions of people’s hearts around the world, including mine. BTS, a seven-member award-winning boy-band from South Korea that sings exclusively in Korean. They will be taking the stage in Hamilton, ON, Canada, with an audience of 30,000 fans. How did I get here? How did BTS manage to break several social and global barriers to get here today? The answer is not easy. Hallyu is a term referred to by academics to describe “The Korean Wave,” and this wave has spread internationally. Many experts and media scholars are fascinated by the K-pop Hallyu phase, as it is a perfect example of cultural globalization. K-pop has become an international phenomenon breaking apart from the borders of South Korea itself. Hallyu is split into two generations, Hallyu 1.0 is often referred to as the age of television and Korean dramas. Whereas now, Korean music has innovatively changed and has witnessed tremendous growth since the 1990s. As a result, it has become the forefront of the new Korean wave or, as others regard it, Hallyu 2.0. For those of you who are K-pop virgins, the success of BTS can easily be misinterpreted as another factory produced boy-band with good vocals, good moves and perfect visuals. However, K-pop has had its own battle getting to where it is now. Following years of oppression and censorship from authoritarian governments in the past, Korea has never had it easy with liberty of artistic expression. Korean popular music in the 1980s and earlier was seen to be trots, ballads and slower, more romantic songs. However, in Hallyu 2.0, we view a totally new type of K-pop that translates to a larger and younger audience. With its upbeat music, catchy lyrics and aesthetically pleasing choreography, it is innovative and exciting to many across Korea and across the world. Artists like Seo Taiji and The Boys, as well as Kim Gun Mo, played a key role in influencing K-pop with new and diverse beats and music genres, and effectively opened up a pathway for K-pop to be hybridized and ready for global consumption. Although many argue that the “global” has erased the “local” in reality, the newfound paradigm shift in South Korea has allowed artists like Seo Taiji and BTS to show Koreans something new. Many also worried about the effects westernization would have on Korean culture. Yet, the new generation of Koreans or “Shinsedae” are often seen to be enjoying westernized music, food and overall culture as opposed to sticking with the traditional.  Westernization may have been an outcome of social media; however, South Koreans had been able to use social media to their own advantage as well. BTS had started out as a band from a small company called BigHit Entertainment in South Korea and was almost unheard of for the greater majority of their careers. However, due to the agency of social media, BTS was able to gain a fanbase like no other. K-pop is nothing without the unique fan culture. BTS’ fanbase or otherwise known as ARMY-Adorable Representative MC for Youth, has a huge impact on large social platforms like Twitter, Youtube, Instagram, and use their impact to gain recognition and popularity for BTS. Unlike TV and other platforms for popular culture to thrive on, social media is global and mostly unrestricted globally for those who are looking for new things and are open to watching foreign material. Thus allowing more westerners to find out about K-pop online, and furthermore, are then able to enjoy this content online as well. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, have allowed for Korean content creators to reach a larger and more widespread audience with ease. Fanbases are then able to also proclaim their devotion to these creators on these apps, which ultimately results in instant feedback to the original creator. Moreover, this enables them to cater their content accordingly to make it even more appealing to their audience. Social media has inevitably contributed to globalization and intensified the popularity of transnational media culture in a non-western region. K-pop fans enjoy a genre of music and support their favourite artists that come from a small local environment, but with the help of social media and their fans, they are able to become global artists that sell out arenas and stadiums around the world. The market consumption of K-pop is also very fascinating. Neoliberalism plays a key role in the economic prosperity of Korean popular music, as many believe that through globalization, “K-pop” has become a brand of Korea. And thus, without the capitalist mentality, maybe K-pop would not have been able to penetrate various global markets. Arguably, the biggest and most successful aspect of K-pop is the material aspect, as many fans want a variety of merchandise ranging from lightsticks, albums, and clothing to even merchandise that has cartoon versions of their favourite artists. Speaking of economic prosperity, “Chaebol” in Korean translates to a large family-owned conglomerate, and they are mighty within the Korean economy. Chaebols see K-pop as a marketing tactic and use successful groups and K-pop idols to their advantage. An example of a big K-pop influence that the government has turned to profit would be BTS, as they are not only booming globally but also bringing in total revenue of $3.6 billion annually to the country’s economy. As a result of their imminent success, the government and other reputable Chaebols within Korea have launched various advertisement campaigns to bring tourism and added revenue to the country’s national annual income (Lotte, BTS Seoul Tourism AD, Hyundai x BTS, etc.). However, the power of K-pop does not end there, as idols and groups are also used by the government to often create soft-power. An example of this is when they attended the Korea-France friendship summit in Paris back in October 2018 and performed their latest comeback track “Idol” for both Korean and French government officials. Another example of a big K-pop group that has recently been used for soft-power is EXO, during an event after the latest G20 summit in Japan, Trump and his family travelled to Seoul to meet President Moon Jae-in. Fans were shocked to see that alongside President Moon and his wife, the Trump family also met EXO and were gifted with signed albums. On the surface, K-pop may seem very simple and may be viewed to have no depth. However, it is much more than that, as I discussed today. So now, when I view this concert that BTS will be putting on, I appreciate their art even more and am even more proud of them for overcoming years of obstacles to put K-pop on the global market. Thank you, BTS and K-pop, for showing the world that globalization can be used to an advantage and that a country is not always defined by its past, but it’s future, just like South Korea today. 

Works Cited

Cruz, L. (2019, July 18). What It's Like to Become a BTS Fan Overnight. Retrieved October 16, 2019, from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/07/bts-paved-the-way-army-fandom/592543/.

Gollayan. (2018, December 18). K-Pop band BTS brings $3.6 billion a year to South Korea. Retrieved October 16, 2019, from https://nypost.com/2018/12/18/k-pop-band-bts-brings-3-6-billion-a-year-to-south-korea/.

Han, G.-S. (2007). Multicultural Korea: Celebration or Challenge of Multiethnic Shift in Contemporary Korea? Korea Journal, 47(4), 1–32. doi: 10.25024/kj.2007.47.4.32

Jin, D. Y. (2016). New Korean wave: transnational cultural power in the age of social media. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

Lie, J. (2012). What Is the K in K-pop? South Korean Popular Music, the Culture Industry, and National Identity. Korea Observer, 43(3), 1–25.

Méndez, B. (2017, August 1). Seo Taiji & Boys Pioneered Socially Conscious K-Pop for Groups Like BTS. Retrieved October 16, 2019, from https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/7x95gz/seo-taiji-and-boys-pioneered-socially-conscious-k-pop-for-groups-like-bts.

Pae, P. (2019, August 29). South Korea's Chaebol. Retrieved October 16, 2019, from https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/republic-samsung.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. - Charles Dickens

To be honest, I always want to use this quote as my opening of a blog.

Now I finally have my chance, YES!

Let’s get back to this blog. So a few days ago, I went to watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino (God I love him so much, BIG FAN OF HIM!!!) and Spider-man Far From Home by Marvel.

One is Quentin saying how he loves the old Hollywood, not just the movies but the old Hollywood where there were all kinds of stuff happening in a small place. Another one is Spider-man, a story about spider-man. After watching both movies, it reminded me of how globalization is such a huge impact on the film industry and even more, how it led to the rise of localization. Now I finally can see how globalization is moving its invisible hands.  GLOBE KILLS LOCAL?

I think globalization has its upsides and downsides, like everything else. It gives people more ways and chances to know the latest movies from the other side of the world. At the same time, It is isolating and eradicating the space for local, indie film industry to live.  GLOBE KILLS LOCAL!

From how Marvel movies are being promoted and loved, I would say that globalization is “serving” the majority of the people. Not all, but big enough to make the minority disappear. Before globalization hit us, there were a ton of “non-mainstream” movies, or you can say cult movies, OR you can say WEIRD movies. Such as Taxi Driver, Fight Club, Leon: The Professional, etc., even some more local films from everywhere. Wherever those indie films are from, Canada, Hong Kong (where I grew up) or US, doesn’t matter. Nowadays, it would be really difficult for those types of movies to have their success again. GLOBE KILLS INDIE! 

People tend to follow the trend, we like seeing what’s popular. Instead of spending more time to dig into it to see if there’s any local films worth watching, we prefer watching what’s already “hit”. We don’t spend a couple of hours to find if there are any good local movies, we just jump right into the “Marvel hole”. 

10M people watched, I think you should too!  then “boop”, you are in the hole already.

Yes, it is time-saving, you don’t have to think that much, just enjoy your popcorn. I won’t blame the audience, I blame globalization for making indie films harder and harder to be found. The growth of globalization make film producers realize they can make a bunch of money by doing popcorn movies (definitely not Michael Bay), why would they even risk making a movie that no one may even watch? One thing I really hate is how the producers make the movies “NO DEPTH and MEANING” so it fits everyone. Babies can watch it, kids can watch it, you and I can watch it, even my grandma can watch it. “OH if the movie has no depth and meaning, I am sure everyone would understand it, more people will watch it then we will make more money!”  GLOBE KILLS GOOD FILMS!

When we are thinking about how globalization is giving us more options, we always ignore the homogeneity it gives us. We might think of how diverse it is when we are deciding which film to watch, at the same time we don't realize that they are actually all the same. In fact, the more options we have, the less we can really choose because we can only see what globalization wants us to see. So Marvel can be where it is today, they should thank globalization. (THANK YOU GLOBE!)

We don’t just see how globalization is taking over the market from the film industry, we can also see it from the music and video game industry. The options we have are actually fewer than before. I think people are starting to realize this, that’s why localization has been a big topic that people love to support and talk about for the past 5 years. Globalization brings us more information, more preferences and options, at the same time, we should all try our best to defend local industries to prevent them from disappearing because of the growth of globalization. Now that’s what I call diversity.  DONT LET GLOBE KILL LOCAL FILMS!

I hope one day, we will be in that golden age where all types of good movies can be seen and heard.