CDZ What Formulates American Culture?

$ecular#eckler

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Jan 13, 2020
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I came across an interesting description about storylines in popular American children's stories. Although the article does not make the relationship, I don't think it is very difficult to recognize that children's stories do shape culture, they are not extraneous.

The release of Cruella kind of crept up on me. I was unaware of it until last night's news feed featured a review, and I have reviewed the trailers at YouTube, and it looks fun, but seems to be more adult than what I expect from Disney.

So, anyway, the article suggests that a lot of stories begin with the protagonist being an orphan, and Cruella is such.
"Women in Refrigerators" was first coined by Gail Simone to describe the trope prevalent in comic books wherein female characters are depowered—injured, raped, killed, etc.—in order to further the story of the protagonist, usually male. The term originated from Green Lantern #54 in which the titular hero's girlfriend is murdered and stuffed in his refrigerator. This trend is well-documented and extends beyond merely the medium of comics or the genre of superhero stories. Women and minorities are too often "fridged" in media for the benefit of inspiring protective or other motivational qualities in white male protagonists. Examples can be found in stories of disparate mediums, including but not limited to The Killing Joke (1988), Memento (2000), Game of Thrones (the books as well as the HBO series), and even this year during The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

So, what do you think forms American Culture?
 
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Complex question with no simple answer. I'd have to think about it for a while but I'll share a few links I've collected below.

"Consciousness permits us to develop the instruments of culture - morality and justice, religion, art, economics and politics, science and technology. Those instruments allow us some measure of freedom in the confrontation with nature." Antonio Damasio

'How to tell if you're American'



'Topical: Culture consists of everything on a list of topics, or categories, such as social organization, religion, or economy
Historical: Culture is social heritage, or tradition, that is passed on to future generations
Behavioral: Culture is shared, learned human behavior, a way of life
Normative: Culture is ideals, values, or rules for living
Functional: Culture is the way humans solve problems of adapting to the environment or living together
Mental: Culture is a complex of ideas, or learned habits, that inhibit impulses and distinguish people from animals
Structural: Culture consists of patterned and interrelated ideas, symbols, or behaviors
Symbolic: Culture is based on arbitrarily assigned meanings that are shared by a society'


 

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