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Media Literacy And Cultural Studies Analysis

“You may have heard it said that the United States is imperialistic when it comes to cultural products, specifically when it comes to films and television programs. No matter where you go in the world, you find that Hollywood films dominate the screens of local cinemas, and U.S. sitcoms and soap operas fill the program schedule of local television stations. And you may wonder why that is.”1(Yahya R. Kamalipour)

The above statement from this author speaks well of American influences in media, particularly films, across the globe. I have chosen to do my paper on the movies “Yesterday” and “The Joy Luck Club” to discuss how international people and places are portrayed in American films and to show the extent of American culture presented as a dominant culture within these films.

“Yesterday” is set in the Zululand in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. Although the movie was financed through Home Box Office, the cast were comprised of South African actors. The main character in the movie is named Yesterday and is an African woman who takes care of her daughter while her husband is away working in the mines in Johannesburg. The movie starts out with Yesterday performing her daily duties of gathering water and firewood along with the other women in the village. These women meet at the water pump to fill their receptacles and to talk about the goings-on in the village similar to way American women would discuss their home and professional life while waiting for their hair to dry under a hair dryer. Yesterday has noticed over a period of time that she has developed a cough and that this cough has become more persistent as each day passes. Under the advice of one of the women, Yesterday visits a clinic which is some distance from her village, to find out what was making her sick. Two attempt to see the doctor were unsuccessful because the daily number of patience that the doctor examines had been reached (the second time she went, she was one patient shy...