Cultural Imperialism

defined...
• Cultural imperialism is the displacement of a nation’s customs with those of another country. The global dominance of American media is often resented overseas. Many countries dislike American incursions into their native culture, accusing the United States of cultural imperialism. France and Canada is the example of country that imposed limits on the imports of U.S TV programming. Fear of cultural imperialism is often blamed for anti-Americanism overseas. (Rodman, 2008)

In my opinion, cultural imperialism is a serious problem for a long time warranting serious attention... Serious and drastic measure should be taken to control the circumstance to prevent youth today abandon our traditional culture.( which is happening ritgh now...Facebook is the new culture) The problem with the cultivation of western culture leads to the distortion of reality of the teenager’s perception towards the world.

Glee TV series.

Glee TV musical series was introduces in 2009 and has taken the world by a storm. The series by Fox Studio Network gain much publicity for its originality and high energy musical ensemble comedy of high school students has won three Television Critics Association (TCA) awards.

The musical series is shown in Star World, Astro on Wednesday at 9am and can be catch online at Fox.com.The series has become a huge hit because it portrays the reality of the life filled with different race, ethnicity and culture.

Gossip Girl

Introduced in 2007, Gossip Girl was created by Josh Scwartz who also created The O.C and his co-creator Stephanie Savage. The series is originated from its best selling books entitled Gossip Girl which has been in the best sellers’ lists for months before it decided to be taken into production. The series has been a huge phenomenan since it first viewed and now continues to the fourth season. The story revolves around six teenagers and located on the heart of Manhattan,New York. Upper East Side is the origins of the rich and wealthy teenagers that entangled with many secrets and lies.

Issues
• unsuitable content that may affect Malaysian teenagers morally : homosexual lifestyles, teen pregnancies, use of obscene words and unsuitable language and attitudes from characters that plays a role of teachers and adults are widely portrays in the show.

• language used :harsh and inappropriate.

• a propaganda technique

“Well, Josh Schwartz (fellow co-creator) and I use the term ‘cultural permeation,’ ” said Savage (co creator of Gossip Girl). “We feel it really has had a lot of impact on pop culture in terms of music and fashion and certainly the cast taking off. That’s very rewarding creatively.”(Savage.2010)


The quote is from Stephanie Savage, a co creator of Gossip Girl. She stated that the TV series is trying to create a cultural permeation of to spread or past through so that every aspect is affected.

In short, cultural imperialsm...Not cool! love our culture, don't let it gone extint ..

My First Hand Experience on a Murder Hearing

Last week, my friends and I visited the High Court Shah Alam on 28 September 2010 to hear a murder trial of a Nigerian man, Muhamad Taha Ismad who killed his girlfriend’s child Alyah Eman Hussain bt Abdullah on 6th November 2009. The trial was a continuation from the previous trial that discussed the DNA and evidence found during the search.

• Nigerain Guy
• Killed his girlfriend's child
• 4 years old
• and molested her
• What is happening to the world?

We arrived exactly at 9.00 in the court and three of my friends were there already waited for me there. We entered the court area without any problem from the security which we later learn that the court are opened to pubic and press. The only problem we faced was finding the room for the trial. There are other trials going on about embezzlement and other company stuff which didn’t really raise our interest. The place was filled with smart looking people with coat and briefcase on their hand. We passed by busy looking people which I believe were lawyers, several policeman and most horrific scenes, people with handcuffed and prison shirts. Bumping into them would be the scariest memory of the trip.

Prowling around, we were still looking for the most interesting case. We then found a court room which is still empty and about to start the hearing and asks the permission of the policeman nearby to join the trial but he politely explained that the particular hearing is a private one so he suggested the room above us which were doing the murder trial hearing. We thank him and silently walked to the room pointed. We then entered the courtroom which was already in session. The room was not packed with the attendance of the judge, the prosecutor, the Nigerian suspect and his lawyer and translator, two policemen and a typewriter. There, we also met our fellow UiTM students who were covering the case as well. They seemed bored ad drowsy and we politely to a seat in front of them. On my right, I can see the Nigerian family came for support. The suspect’s mother, whom I assume in the middle of fifties, kept on reading the Koran silently. There is also the presence of several press which then I was later inform, from Utusan Malaysia.

The judge, YB Dato’Abdul Alwi bin Abdullah was a calm man. He listens to the trial closely, took notes and asks for further explanations when there are doubts. The prosecutor, on the other hand was a complete opposite. I have never been to a trial in my life but the prosecutor didn’t strike me as brilliant. He is a bulky Malay man in his middle thirties and in charge as the prosecutor of the case. I have always assume that lawyers are someone who have a way with words, able to manipulate facts and uses words as their weapon but unfortunately, this particular prosecutor wasn’t up for my standards. He was a bit slow, lagging the case and once told off by the judge for being too deliberate. The one scene that caught my attention was when the prosecutor would like to explain to the court on the 29 items found on the crimes scene which later tested by DNA tests while only 5 of the items are related and contributes to the case. The judge told him not to waste his and the court’s time explaining things that are not related to the case.

The witness in the stand was a female DNA specialist who was tasked to tests the evidence found. She later explain that the first stage of the test involve with sketching the evidence found. Next stage is to tests the evidence with DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) and the findings were a bit shocking and disturbing to me. The claimed to have found several hair strands of the suspect’s hair on the victim’s vagina. The also showed the blood stains on the cushion cover, mattress, t-shirt and towel. There were also semen found on the victim’s singlet and diapers. They also showed the evidence such as the cushion cover and t-shirt which were still covered in dry blood. It almost made me nauseous but I couldn’t stop watching. All this time, the suspect appears nonchalant and unconcerned. Several times, he yawns as though the case had no effect on him. The clock showed I was almost 12.00 noon and my friends and I had to leave for our next class. Although the trial is interesting, we reluctantly had to eave. We then silently made our way out, bowed to the judge and leaves. This certainly won’t be the last time of my court visit. Before, I had always thought that to be in court, we need to be apart of the press or related to the case. And since most courts trials are open to public, I would certainly visit it for the next time. I am glad we are assigned for this assignment since I have always been interested to be a crime journalist and covering crime cases. This certainly has given me the taste of being a journalist.

The Introduction (i'll be very brief...promise)

this is sooo exciting! my first entry..

it started on one very nice morning ( Tuesday, humid..air conditioner decided to take a vacation, 8.30 am..almost late but thanx god my lecturer came in at 9.00 and sweaty from the heat...my only distraction is my 8 gig i-pod wif full battery..thanx god..remind me to send a letter of gratitude o the person who invented the i-pod..brilliant..in fact, i love everything about apples..DKNY be delicious apples,i-pod by apple,apple apple lovely ripe apples...)

what was i saying? owh yeah..my class at 8.30 (well..lets make it 9.00)
so my lecturer waltz in ( walk actually..please don't mind my dramatic act) and announce that each of us needs to create our own blog for his subject (online journalism..figures..)
I'm a broadcasting major although my dream is to become a journalist (don't ask how i got here...i believe in god's plan...haih..)

don't get me wrong...writing is entertaining..and satisfying to my soul but usually the only thing that reads it is at the back of my pillow...
i believe in conventional methods of writing..as in journals, diaries to keep tabs in your personal life...

in advertising,people would call me a latent learner..the last troops of grouchy people who refuses to follow the trends or technology till everyone else is soo tired of the 'it'thing and moves to the new 'it' thing n finally realizes we need to keep up with 'it'thing before the new 'it' thing took over the world....haih......

i would be the last creature on planet earth to finally have her own blog even though people has moved to tumblr and tweeter..(no..i dont have account on both n yes!! i have facebook...i might b living in Third World Country but we do have modems and satellites..i think..)

so the intro about my blogs..

• still no direction..(i'm up for any suggestion..please..) well the thing is my lecturer said dat we can create a blog about anything...n i'm not that bright so i still cant find that 'anything' yet..
• i know the title of my blog is the kaki makeup..which means a make up junkie, but i dont wear a lot of em' i buy them..for fun..n give them away..because i'm a philanthropist..(i now giving them away a month before the expiry date does not consider me as a goodwill ambassador but what people dont know wont hurt them...wink*..n expired make up is not that dangerous..it wont put u in mortal peril i swear..been there done that..)
• i will.....wait...this sounds like my new year's resolution list...i promise to tell my mom when i accidentally messed up my car's paint job..to my defense i didnt know the kancil is so near...i wont wear white while eating spaghetti meatball...i will stop picking my food...i...ok..my point is to always stick to the universal rule..WRITE WHAT U KNOW...its as simple as that aite?
• i promise to update my blog (for the sake of my 10% marks)

i think dats it for now..holla!