Even though we rarely contemplate it, it is amazing how big an impact mass media has on our everyday lives. It plays a major part in determining our future by influencing what decisions people make or how they choose to live their lives. And because it can be spread on such a large scale, it can do tremendous good or change things for the worse. Also, because every culture is different, the media it produces is very different also. Therefore you can have the opportunity to make many interesting observations about the culture that native people may not pick up on. Japanese media is no exception. .
Although very entertaining, Japanese media seems to be a lot more commercialized than even over-the-top American media. I realize that I may be desensitized to my own culture and I just don't notice the level that American commercialism raises to, or maybe because I do come from another culture with the same sort of problem, I am more able to notice these flaws in Japan, even though they may not bother me as much in my own country. I often wonder how Japanese people feel when they come to America; do they also feel as though they are suffocated by mass marketing and commercialism?.
TELEVISION.
Judging by television, it is easy to notice that what Japanese people consider "funny- or "amusing- is quite different from what westerners perceive to be entertaining. .
Half of the time, their commercials are just plain bizarre and usually don't have any relevance whatsoever to the products that they are selling. They are more abstract than commercials in America and usually consist of adorable girls trying to act as cute as possible while singing catchy songs that quite easily get stuck in your head. Western movie stars are also popular and you can see them in the cheesiest commercials promoting the most inane things. One example of many; Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing as a "funky- reporter in an obscure commercial (Hu, 2000).
