Defining American Culture Essay

American Culture, two different words that have different meaning.  When put together this word can say so much about one country.  American culture is what make America great, but for many people that don't live in the United States may have different interpretation for it.  For those that do live in the U.S. they would say American Culture stand for democracy, freedom, religion, sports, and entertainment.

    What is American Culture? In order to find out we must go back to 1776 a time where American still wasn’t “discovered”.  People were coming to America for one particular reason, and that was religion.  Now that religion is established around the world there are other things that define American Culture.  For instance, America is

known for their government.  Unlike North Korea, Russia, and so many dictatorship country we have freedom.  In this Country we have freedom of speech something that not many people can say.  We have the right to protest and speak about how our government can be unfair.  We have the right to speak out against our government without having to be afraid about being thrown in jail or in some cases get murder. In other country like North Korea Under the rule of Kim Jong-Un, “North Korea remains among the world’s most repressive countries. All basic freedoms have been severely restricted under the Kim family’s political dynasty.  Any type of criticism of the regime or the leadership in North Korea, if reported, is enough to make you and your family ‘disappear’ from society and end up in a political prison camp. It goes without saying that there is no free media inside the country.” (North)  There has also been cases where people would flee their country in order to go to America.  Countries like Cuba and Mexico are known for having their people fleeing their countries and coming to America for a greater life, and freedom that their country doesn’t offer.
    How about countries like Canada, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and United Kingdom countries that are similar to America.  They see us as having some of the greatest sports entertainment than anyone one in the world.  Sports plays a big role when defining American Culture.  Americans take sports to the next level, making us known around the world as being so of the craziest fans anyone has ever seen.  American see sports in many different way than other countries do.  Certain ethnic groups see sports as a way to escape poverty, they see it as a way out getto.  “It has often been said that sports are ahead of society when it comes to hot-button issues such as race relations, such as when Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1945.” (Lomonico)  Sport can also be a social gathering, events like the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, and the World Cup are treated like a holiday.  Sports has become a big part of our life that we can go one second without finding out if your favorite team is winning or losing, or is the game almost over.  We have gone to the point that if we can't see the game, we go to the extend of listening to the game on the radio.  Some even take radio to the sporting event that they are attending in order for them to feel like they are part of the game.  The way sports plays a big role in everyone life it is no wonder why everyone wants to play professional sports.  Any kid that grows up in America, grows up playing one of the five major sports in America.  The moment a kid touches or holds a baseball, football, basketball, or a soccer ball, it brings a smile to the kid and tears to the eyes of the parents.
    Many countries would say that sports exist all over the world.

While America does have some of the greatest athletes, other countries may argue that they have the greatest athlete.  So what is one thing that America does right that not everyone can imitate? It would be the Arts in movie or television entertainment.  Movies made in America are far greater than any movie made anywhere around the world.  When people think America they think hollywood, movie stars, and money.  There is no other country that does it better or even come close to it.  For better or worse television is a big part in people's lives.  It is helping to shape who we are, how we interact, and how we see ourselves.  Here are ways that tv has shaped american culture, it has sparked socialization.  Socializing while watching TV has always been around, but social media takes it to a whole new level.  The American culture is well known for being more violent thanks to television.  Ostroff explains “that maybe you don't watch an episode of "Breaking Bad," and then go on a shooting spree, but you might be more likely to react violently in a stressful situation, because you've been desensitized to that type of behavior or think it's an acceptable reaction.” (Striepe) Movies and TV has defined american culture and what people think about us.  Even the people that live here are starting to change thanks to television and movies.  Television has affected the way we see ourselves in the mirror.  Now everyone believes that anyone that live in America are either movie stars or

models.  
    American culture has many viewpoints in how others see us like and how we see ourselves.  Movies, TV, sports, and government are just a few viewpoints in how people that have no idea what America culture can get a feel for it.  Even though there are hundreds of more examples of what makes America, these are just the biggest examples.