News release: US Culture - the good, the bad and the ugly

Abstract

Love it or loathe it, we can't get enough of it, but what do we really think of the USA?
The BBC is hosting a unique debate on the issue and Professor George McKay, from
the University of Central Lancashire, has joined in by providing his own contribution to
this global perspective.
'What the World thinks of America', due to be broadcast on BBC 2 on 17 June, will
explore the world's conflicting opinions on American values, politics, leadership and
culture. Professor McKay, who has researched widely on the legacy of US culture, is
featured on the accompanying BBC website, on which he discusses the positive and
negative impact of American culture throughout the world.
He looks back on the 'vibrant and energetic cultural innovations' of the twentieth
century, in areas such as film, music, the internet, fast cars and even fast food.
However, devouring such inventions as we do, has left us with another legacy, that of
anti-americanism and resistance to its culture.
As Professor McKay says: "Regular accusations of dumbing down, or of the
homogenisation of local cultures, identified in terms such as coca-colonisation, or the
McDonaldisation of Disneyfication of society, point towards a continuing anxiety in
many countries around what has been called American cultural imperialism. This, too,
is part of the US's cui tural legacy".
For more information, visit the website www.bbc.eo.uk/ameri ca .
13 June 2003
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