December 29, 2012

Resentment is indeed a dangerous sentiment… it not only blinds.

Sir, I cannot for my world understand how Christopher Caldwell can find “Gangman Style” to be more an expression of South Korean culture than of US culture, nor do I understand what myth of US cultural genius he sees debunked, nor what he finds so “stylishly” and not “dumbing down” about “Gangman”, “Gangman stylishly debunks myth of US cultural genius” December 29 2012. 

But no doubt Caldwell is correct when writing about how the US is often resented, as his article is in itself an absolutely perfect example of that, since how else can one otherwise explain an argument such as “iTunes is an American invention” which “magnifies US cultural advantages”. 

And where does Caldwell get that the “Americans think they are better at making popular culture than other people”? I have never really seen Americans making an effort to produce popular culture for other people, but only that other people, mesmerized with American culture or perhaps with what they perceive as the American lack of culture, often soak up more of American cultural productions than they perhaps should… but that is not America’s fault.