Popular Culture in America Today: Evolution, Features, and Impact in Other Parts of the World

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Evolution of popular culture of America
Main features
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Popular culture in America is the most discussed culture in the world today. It is widely discussed because this is a culture that has many global impacts. This essay discusses the evolution of popular culture in America, the main features of this culture, the impact of American culture in other parts of the world, etc.

Evolution of popular culture of America

The culture of Europe has made an influence on American popular culture. Especially, the culture of Britain has made a great contribution in designing this most popular culture in the world. At the same time, it is not an imitation of any other culture. There are so many other features of American culture that have originated from the country itself. Instead of having any kind of confusion, people followed the path of ultimate freedom. It was an emotion of people who lived under the cruel domination of Britain. On July 4th, 1779 America became independent. It was just not a story of getting independence for a country but also a new era in the history of freedom. “We won our first war against the British Empire and the whole world saw what a desire for freedom could accomplish. We formed a government based on the Constitutional Republic and picked up the freedoms listed in the Magna Charta with one difference; our laws could be amended as needed by a growing new nation.” (Price para 2).

Main features

The impact of British culture is very clear in America. It took some time for Americans to get released from the hangover of British impact, especially in the fields of sports and entertainment. For example, they made some changes in the game rugby and started to play football. Likewise, the works of Shakespeare’s plays were the main art form for entertainment. But at the time of the First World War, America’s own music and movies began to be popular. After Second World War, things were completely changed. British music bands started to imitate American music such as rock and roll. This was not only in the field of music but also in other fields like fashion, hairstyle, etc. Indeed, American movie actors and musicians began to be celebrities of British as well as the people in other parts of the world. “At the end of the twentieth century, British performers continued to be much in evidence on the American stage and screen. British programs are hits on American public television. American interest in British celebrities, including the Royal Family, remains high. Meanwhile, most British towns have McDonald’s and Pizza Huts as well as American-style traffic jams. Mutual imitation and innovation, most conspicuously in music, continues at a dizzying pace.” (Popular Culture: From Baseball to Rock and Roll part 4).

At first, it was believed that the popular game baseball was originated from cricket. But, historians have proved that baseball has its own origin even though the style is similar to cricket. Boxing, football, golf, etc are today’s other popular games.

Movies and music

The impact of movies and movie stars is very high on Americans. Most of the movies reflect the culture of America. And they play a great role in spreading this culture to different parts of the world. The transformation of Hollywood as the movie capital of the world is great evidence for acceptance of American movies all over the world. American music, especially rock, pop, jazz varieties also have great popularity in the country as well as in other parts of the world.

Family life

Unlike many other countries, there are not many restrictions for marriage and sexual life. But the American way of family life has been subjected to criticism many times. Divorce is very common in the United States. As in all other fields, family life also undergoes changes in America.

“NO other century promoted such rapid change in American families than the twentieth century did. Through most of the first half of the century families were two-parent plus children units, but by the 1980s and 1990s divorce was common in half of the homes and many families were single-parent or included step-parents, step-siblings, and half-siblings.” (Coleman, Ganong and Warzinik para 3).

Even though there are problems in leading unrestricted sexual life this is just one of the many examples of freedom that the United States offers to people. Now, homosexual families also have become common.

Fast food culture

The popularity of fast food is one of the new trends that has been added to the lifestyle of America. Hot dogs and apple pie are some of the many popular dishes. The concept of a supermarket is another contribution to the world.

Afro American culture

Afro-Americans had a low status in society. In the olden days, they were considered slaves. After getting independence, racial discrimination became one of the major problems in America. But, black people had been developing their own music, art forms, etc. They were developing their own culture.

Conclusion

Popular culture plays a great role in designing the culture of the world as most youngsters in other parts of the world are attracted by this. There is no wonder why the culture of one of the most powerful countries in the world becomes popular.

References

Coleman, Marilyn, Ganong, Lawrence H. and Warzinik, Kelly. Family Life in 20^th– Century America: Description. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2007. Web.

Popular Culture: From Baseball to Rock and Roll. John Bull & Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British-American Relations. 2005. Web.

Price, Sandra. The Evolution of American Culture. From Reason to Freedom: Think for Yourself. 2006. Web.

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