I keep reading articles from this website – Project Syndicate – that continue to bring new ideas and perspectives to the mind. The articles discuss many things from economics to culture to national security and identity. It’s really interesting and I’m slightly disappointed that I have only recently found it. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly recommend it.
A recent article discussed the all-American male adventure. The author, Naomi Wolf, is a social and pop culture critic that has written some interesting stories in the past. In this article, she says that what used to propel America into the eyes of people around the world is no longer the dominant case. In film, Hollywood is being challenged by Bollywood, while in music, South Korea and Japan produce as many wannabe pop stars as America. The one thing that still has America at the top without any other contenders is the adventure-epic. She lists a handful, but think movies / books like The Hangover, Into the Wild, or Bringing Down the House (21) - The stories of a man, or a group of men, taking on the world, or some sort of mission, and the problems that they face along the way. I’m no expert on international pop-culture and I have no idea to the validity of this fact, but it still raises some interesting points.
I found it intriguing for a couple reasons. The first, at least in my mind, is pretty obvious - the fact that, well, I am an American male on my own personal adventure in Thailand. The second, is that it made me think about how many people I know that have had or that want to have that same adventure. Whether it’s on a soul-searching mission to India, or the ridiculous, all-night, black-outness that happens when a group of men gather in Vegas, this article says that the bottom line is still the same. It’s an infatuation with the unknown. The belief that one can deal with whatever challenges come across them. It doesn’t matter what the situation, or what the circumstances, but a true man, a true American can deal with these problems.
This almost irresponsible sense of masculinity can be said to be one of America’s greatest and worst assets, all at the same time. In some ways, it’s what has propelled America to be the international power that it is now. Whether literally or figuratively, the limits can and always be pushed. People aren’t content to just be content. They push for more. They strive for excellence. And they want to be the best. But at what cost has all of this come?
It’s this same mentality that has had Americans also being projected as arrogant and cocky. It’s what makes Americans seem like they don’t care about anything at all because they are only focused on themselves. Their own adventures. Their own dreams. From an international perspective, it makes Americans seem as if they aren’t able to look at what they have and what they know because they are always so focused on what else is possible, on what they don’t have, and on how they can get there.
Who knows whether it’s true or not, or even if it’s good or bad, but it’s definitely an interesting perspective either way.
