Anime in America

As an American youth, I have noticed a growing trend amongst television shows. Most particularly on channels targeted towards adolescents and young adults. It seems that we are being infiltrated with Japanese culture through an animation style referred to as Anime.

This particular movement happened slowly over time. Anime has been available to the public for years through the local movie renting facility. However, apart from the few Anime aficionados, the general American public was oblivious to the presence of anime in America. This began to change upon the arrival of "Dragon Ball Z". Although this animation is now considered to be of low visual quality, it stands as the classic that sparked the American Anime mania. This fascination grew further with the birth of the late night Cartoon Network program, Adult Swim (http://www.adultswim.com/). This program featured evolved Anime shows consisting of:
"Witch Hunter Robin"(http://www.adultswim.com/shows/witchhunter/index.html), "Cowboy Bebop" (http://www.adultswim.com/shows/cowboybebop/index.html), "Paranoia Agent" (http://www.adultswim.com/shows/paranoia/index.html, and "Full Metal Alchemist" (http://www.adultswim.com/shows/fullmetal/index.html). The reaction to Anime in America was profound. Not only did it spark interest in Anime itself, but also in Japanese culture.

Due to this Anime mania, American cartoonists jumped on the bandwagon and began to create their own versions of animation that had an Anime flare. Cartoon Network began to feature these animations during its daytime program. A few examples include: "Teen Titans" (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/titans/index.html), "Samurai Jack" (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/samuraijack/index.html), and "The Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi Show" (http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/puffyamiyumi/index.html).

After the success of Anime on Cartoon Network’s programs, other channels began to follow the trend. G4TV recently added a late night program advertised as "Barbed Wire Biscuit"
(http://www.g4tv.com/animeunleashed/index.html) which features slightly mature Anime for a more adult crowd.

The appearance of Anime in America has created its own sub culture. Marketers have taken advantage of this craze and created a huge market of everything from clothing to bumper stickers to DVDs pertaining to Anime. In America, Anime has grown from a rare form of literature to its own subculture money making mass market.

"Commander and Chief"

abc's revolutionary show

http://www.mackenziewatch.com/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060128/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_interview

ABC’s new show, "Commander and Chief", is certainly an indication of changing times in America. The premise of the show presents a situation that would have been almost laughable only years ago. The plot consists of a women portrayed as the President of the United States of America. This show presents two particular indications. Firstly, it provides a statement on the ever-changing roles of women in American Society. Secondly, it is acting as a preparatory tool for the possibility of women running in the next presidential election.

"Commander and Chief" is an effective reminder of changing views towards women in America. Years ago, a show like this would have been seen as a simple fantasy. The perception of women on television is a relatively accurate portrayal of what the ideal women of each particular time period was expected to be. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, shows like "I Love Lucy" and "Bewitched" portrayed women as the good housewife. They were obvious indicators of society’s views of the ideal women. It was a common belief that a woman’s place was in the home. Through the 1970’s and 1980’s, shows like "The Partridge Family" and "The Cosby Show" displayed the growing acceptance of providers and caretakers of the family. And as portrayed in "The Partridge Family", women were even being accepted as single parent providers. The early 1990’s gave birth to "Murphy Brown", which depicted the escalation of working women into powerful business positions. Like these past shows, "Commander and Chief" depicts social evolution, and hint at women’s acceptance in politics.

This show also seems to be acting as a tool to acclimate the American Public to the ideal of a female president. Such a preparation is particularly important, especially after President George W. Bush stated that Hilary Clinton was a "formidable" candidate for the next Democratic Presidential Nominee.

In conclusion, "Commander and Chief" is an indication of the evolution of the American perception of women.

The Producers

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395251/

When I went to the local cinema to see the movie production of the broadway play, The Producers, I was expecting to be dazzled with song and dance. To my delightful suprise, the plot not only fulfilled my singing and dancing standards, but also presented a number of social issues that effect us every day. It dealt with greed, fraud, the failure of the American Dream, sex, and homosexuality, with a beautiful sense of humor and causualness.

Such a film is important in a society that often lacks balance between utter seriousness and juvenile humor. It offered a temporary refuge from the harsher things in life while leaving my IQ entirely intact.

I most particualarly enjoyed the satire it made of stereotyping the entire cast. It allowed for a sort of cathartic release. Each person could find someone in the cast to relate to, because in a sense, we are all part of some sort of stereotype. In laughing at them, it allowed you to laugh at yourself. This is indeed important. I think any form af literature that can let you laugh a little bit, even about serious situations, or yourself, is worth reviewing. The world is a serious place, and a little whitty comedy always makes it easier to swallow.

Farenhight 451

By, Ray Bradbury

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345342968/104-7139836-3952738?v=glance&n=283155

Upon pondering what to write about, i decided to begin the year on somthing I know well. Ray Bradbury's novel, Farenhight 451, came to mind first. This novel encompasses so many themes that have pressented themselves in American society throughout history, and most predominately today. What fascinated me is Bradbury's ability to read into American trends of the nineteen fifties and paint an eerily accurate portrait of today's society.

In his novel, Bradbury presents an America that has willingly abandoned the persuit of knowledge in exchange for a mindless media society. This society is ignorant and closed minded.

The premise of the book is the initial burning of all literature. The fictional society realizes that the ideals, theories, and propositions of most literature conflicts. They believe that the lack of "unity" in the ideals presented buy literature is a catylist for public difference in opinion. They believe that this differnce in opinion causes the greatest of all evils...controversy and unhappiness. Like our current American Society, this fictional world has trouble with accepting differing beliefs. Instead of realizing that all beliefs can have Truth, and exhist together in a harmonic sense, they see the differences as a means of disturbing some kind of absolute truth. Because the society cannot deal with controversy, it ends the supposed source by enforcing a national book burning. This ideal of dealing with differences has certainly presented intself today. The nation, and the world is often divided over differing opinions. The current issues of abortion, capitol punishment, and gay marriage are examples of catylists of American controversy today. Instead of realizing that there may be no absolute answer for these issues, and that all sides of the issue contain some Truth, we bicker over which is absolutly right and absolutly wrong. We often lack the willingness to accept the fact that others have belifs that differ from ours.

Apart from his initial statement, Bradbury also comments on the increasing influence of the electronic media. Bradbury's characters live in a television based society. They are constantly bombarded with television, and its obvious partner, advertising. Apart from their biological families, these people have TV walls that display a television family. This TV family interacts with the living family through mindless chatter and sly advertising. Instead of creating real relationships with real people, they form bonds to their electronics. Scarily enough, such an idea is not unplausible today. Although we do not have "TV families", Americans spend a good majority of their off time in front of the tube. Instead of doing somthing productive, we isolate and inhibit ourselves in front of the television. It has almost become the personification of a "friend". Bradbury also links this television overlaod with advertising. We too are bombarded wit advertising. We cannot escape the radio and television commercials, the billboards, the pop ups, the jingles, and the living & breathing advertisements in their Gap t-shirts.

Bradbury seems to have written a warning for the unaccepting, TV-watching, advertisement bombarded Americans. I sometimes wonder how much more our world will become like his before we realize what harm we have caused.