"We all livin' in Amérikaaaa"
Everyday on TVs we are made to see some commercials about foods. The most interesting commercials are filmed by such foreign companies on fastfood. Burger King and McDonald’s commercials seem to be trying to trigger the hunger in people. But actually they are triggering the change in their minds. They triggered my mind, too. In a Burger King commercial there was a strong saying “Fire is calling up!” ( Ateş seni çağırıyor! ) But I haven’t seen any fire in Burger Kings. I saw some microwave ovens though… But I saw the fire around Döner! It turns again and again on the fire. However, we don’t see any döner commercials on TVs. Is it because döner is something disgusting that none of us would want to eat? No It’s just… “You know what I mean man! Oh dude! Money talks guys!” I want to ask you if you had two choices now, what would you prefer “Döner or Hamburger?” (If the class says döner) I think the American guys must pay more for commercials! Or try to change the way of presentating, because we Turks change the channel on TV when commercials start! (If they say hamburger) As you see, American culture overcomes our own culture in our own country.
Even we accept or not there is a change in countries who are addicted to foreign investments. Turkey is one of them. When foreign companies make an investment in Turkey, they don’t only bring their Money, they bring their culture together. With the way they can show their products, they make us buy their brands. But actually from now on we buy those products because they are really better than local products. For example, think of shoes, none of those Turkish brands are as strong as Nikes or other foreign goods. The way we are worn and eaten has changed the way we live. 100 years ago none of the Turks would think that they will be just the same as Europeans. Actually it had good effects too, for example boys and girls can easily make friendships. But it made us lose our own roots. Even the music has changed in Turkey. In USA country music is still listened but in Turkey, our old songs are not listened by the new generation.
Let’s forget the lifestyle, music, relationships and everything… The daily language we use includes too many English or French words. But in the language they use there are no Turkish words. Furthermore in Latin and Central America, the tribes lost their own languages because of the dominance of the major language in the world. The language is important, because it is one of the indispensable values of a culture. Probably the most important one. It shows the way of telling feelings and it differs a lot in each culture.
The countries which are wealthy, had the chance to be stronger and stronger. Therefore they could show themselves as the “ideal” one. That’s why all the others were ready to be invaded. And the weapon to invade these countries was the word “westernization”. It should have been “simplification” indeed. During westernization of the poorer countries, they adopted easily the values of western countries. That was the point when Globalization and Westernization became Imperialism and cultural assimilation.
All these things happened in a way that no one could notice. In my view globalization has been an irrecoverable situation. Because in our minds, we all have the idea that “west is the best”. I’m not telling that any country should close their doors to the west. But every country must care about its cultural values, and do more than caring them, they must protect them.
