America has been known as the global center for movies and shows since Hollywood’s start. Even today, when scrolling through Netflix, the majority of movies are from America. Many Americans recognize the immense popularity of American movies and music, but many may not realize how strongly we dominate global media all over the world.
In 2016, the six largest Hollywood studios accounted for over half of global box office sales. When I visited Germany over the summer to stay with my cousins in July, America’s strong media influence over daily media became very clear.
In Germany, when my cousins brought me to food markets or to the mall, I would constantly hear Sabrina Carpenter or Taylor Swift songs playing. When I shadowed my fifteen-year-old cousin at his school, his classmates asked me if I followed American TikTok creators they watched, showing me videos of Crumbl Cookie reviewers and other American creators. On Friday nights, my family and I would have movie nights in which they showed me their favorite films: “Rocky,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Troy.” We even watched “The Summer I Turned Pretty” when the episodes were released every week.
Eventually, I realized that Germany was immersed in American culture. When I came to Germany, I was curious about German music and films, but to my disappointment and surprise, America dominated the media everywhere. Even on the news, I watched reporters discuss the latest updates about the Trump administration. In a way, I couldn’t escape America’s influence anywhere I went.
In my international experiences abroad, I have been asked surprising questions by individuals about life in America. For example, when I visited Chengdu, China, on an exchange trip hosted by Masters, students asked me if there were shootings everyday in America. In Germany, I was asked by my cousins if half of the population in America was overweight. There is some truth to their questions, since on average 125 people are killed by firearms each day, and around 70% of adults are considered overweight in America.
Yet, the experience didn’t just show me the strength of America’s influence; it also showed me how little I knew about other countries. Every time I spoke with someone from another country, they knew a lot more about American society than I knew about their country’s culture.
American narrow-mindedness has been largely portrayed online as ignorance. On Tiktok and YouTube videos, and even on the Jimmy Kimmel show, Americans are unable to answer basic geography questions, leading to the depiction of Americans as having a limited global perspective. Even in Germany, my cousins and their friends would ask me how much I knew about geography since they watched American geography fails online.
While Americans’ lack of knowledge about other nations could be viewed as obliviousness, it could also signal America’s national self-absorption. American media does encompass domestic diversity, as shown by a study of 2,307 American films in the Top 50 U.S. box office from 1980 to 2022 that found an increase in ethnic, racial and gender representation. However, global cultural representation has not improved. Despite America’s global outreach, many U.S. adults answered only half of an international affairs quiz by Pew Research Center correctly.
Although American movies and music can be entertaining and a positive influence on other countries, America’s impact also carries responsibility. The U.S. should use its influence in the media to represent other countries more fairly and share stories from other cultures, not just our own.
In addition, there needs to be more efforts in American education to teach students about international relations and geography. My understanding of the world in comparison to my family in Germany made me realize my lack of global awareness, which is a disappointing gap considering America’s influence not only culturally, but also economically and politically. When students travel to other countries, whether on international exchange trips or for vacation, they should make an effort to engage in new cultures and learn about that nation. My international experiences have taught me that awareness begins with curiosity and a desire to understand cultures beyond the American borders, which is essential for becoming a better global citizen.
