Sunday, November 21, 2010

Blog Post 11: Globalization

Globalization can be defined simply as the way by which nations become more interrelated and alleviate dissimilarities in their respective culture and between their people.  This process of unification is enhanced with new technologies, phones and the internet for example, which allows for even easier communication and transference of ideas and media. 
Hybridization, a part of globalization, is the use of an idea or formulaic success that has occurred in one nation and attempts to adjust it to a new nation in the hopes of having a similar success.  The mixing of ideas, that of which were formally separated by the boundaries of each individual nation, allows for nations to evolve their cultures with outside ideas and may eventually yield a completely new culture altogether. 
A perfect example of hybridization is exemplified through the expansion of the Top Model series.  Originally beginning in America with America’s Next Top Model, the show has now branched production to a plethora of new countries creating such subsequent series as Canada’s, Australia’s, Britain’s, Brazil’s and Vietnam’s Next Top Model.  This not only portrays the hybridization of the media format of the show being a success but also the portrayal of a cultural standard that is slowly being established globally by the show.  The competition is for the most part identical in each country and the contestants are for the most part similar in appearance, thus gradually setting a global standard for beauty among women.  The different series, the American and the Brazil for example, have also intermixed themselves on the actual show with guest judges and trips to foreign countries.  This cultural crossover on the show only furthers the globalization effect with the two cultures interacting with each other on the same medium, in regards to the shows formula and the image of the people on it.


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