Culture is a summative term that describes people’s way of life, including their social codes, art, and customs among other variables that differentiate them from other groups (Gil, 2013). Since culture is collective, it is classifiable into such categories as material and non-material culture, representative symbols, and formalized and casual culture among others. Quantifying the total number of global cultures is nearly impossible due to the numerous ethnic groups and people’s infinite diversity. Therefore, this diversity creates interest among cultural sociologists and psychologists to study the cultural characteristics of various ethnic groups – this comparison helps them to recognize identifiers and influencers of culture. ‘Where to Invade Next’ is an informative and educating documentary in which Moore visits a horde of countries across the world, identifying various desirable cultural elements he intends to bring back to the USA.
Material culture describes tangible resources or wealth that unites or differentiates a particular group. In the documentary, Moore visits Germany, where he learns that its manufacturing system is one of the main elements of the country’s cultural identity. Moore learns that the Germans blend into a manufacturing society working tirelessly for sustenance by earning monetary remuneration, rewards, and surpluses. Moore visits the pencil manufacturer Faber-Castell, which is one of the largest pens and pencils manufacturers. He learns how companies engage their employees to help find solutions and get recommendations on what to change. The country’s manufacturing system and products are some of the typically fascinating cultural elements that Moore identifies. It is astonishing to him that none of the employees at the firm hold a single job. The documentary identifies various cultural differences between the USA and Germany, particularly both countries' material cultures. For instance, technology is a typically recognizable cultural component among Americans. Children acquire and develop technological skills from a tender age, while scholars embrace this cultural norm across various levels of education. Besides, the American commercial system is technology-based, especially in its marketing and telecommunications industries. Germany, compared to the USA, is a less materialistic culture. Companies remunerate their employees fairly. In the USA, salaries are barely enough, which motivates numerous people to get a second job.
A non-material culture describes immaterial notions describing people, either at the national level or along ethnic lines. Moore's visit to Germany reveals the nation’s historiographical accounts embedded in their education system teaching and imprinting critical German values systems derived from history. Nazi Germany is one of the most renowned historical states, and Germans identify with it as a reminder of their dark past. The documentary mentions Nazi history to underline the country’s chief non-material cultural elements – humanity, tolerance, and acceptance. Similarly, America identifies with one of the most celebrated non-material cultural events of the century – the slave trade. The trans-Atlantic slave trade altered American history centuries ago but remains one of the most discussed historical topics in the world. Americans understand that it changed the country’s ethnic composition along racial lines, which culminated in the development of such social notions as racial majority and minorities. Therefore, the two nations are alike since both experienced historical events that their citizenry identified with forever.
Symbols are representative characters put in place to pass a given message to specific people who understand the coded information. Symbols vary in form ranging from graphics to national emblems. In the film, Moore visits Tunisia, where he learns about what turns out to be one of the most prominent events featured in the film – the drafting of the Tunisian Constitution in 2014. The event describes the unification of Tunisians under a new rule by a new ruler, Jasmine, after the removal from power of former president Zine al-Abidine. Thus, the new constitution is a symbol of the onset of a new beginning for Tunisians since 2014. Such a historical event engraved a cultural connotation and symbolized to all Tunisian nationals the dawn of a new era of prosperity and excellence guided by a new ruler. However, this symbol prominently resembles the Statue of Liberty, which is a cultural and national symbol of the United States of America’s democracy and freedom. Likewise, the US Constitution is a national symbol of the rule of law, good governance, and democracy. It represents national cohesion and unification of Americans from various states. It confirmed that states agreed to unify and form a perfect union for the sake of the people’s interests. Both of these events – the drafting, enactment, and promulgation of the constitution – constitute important cultural symbols that inspire unity among the citizenry of both countries.
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Formal norms entail the legal, cultural codes that guide a particular society and that which its populace recognizes. Legal documents capture these codes in-depth, and in detail. Violation of such codes is punishable by law as defined in the constitution and the code of conduct – the penal code. The film captures constituents of formal norms, such as the compulsory hijab dressing code among Tunisian women. The film reflects the cultural restrictions associated with such codes and the discontent they cause in a country’s citizenry, sometimes boiling into protests and unrest. For instance, Rached Ghannouchi criticizes such norms, citing that no society holds the right to intrude on the private lives of its citizens in an attempt to uphold cultural norms. These Tunisian formal norms contrast with American informal norms. Informal norms entail legally unrecognized societal trends among a people, borrowed and spread among diverse members of the society. Fashion is a suitable example of an informal norm. In American society, people embrace the freedom of dressing as they please without legal restrictions. Fashion trends, thus, spread through the people, gaining recognition and getting assimilated into the cultural mainstream. The restrictions imposed on Tunisians, as shown in the film, contrast with America’s cultural freedoms, which highlights the significant difference between these two nations.
Culture shock is the confusion that an individual suffers due to engagement in or witnessing an unfamiliar cultural system of beliefs, principles, norms, and values. The film features a culture shock scene when Moore visits Tunisia and he learns that women must always adorn a hijab. As a Christian, I suppose that this was the most culturally shocking scene in the film. I believe that every human being is sufficiently dignified to practice his or her most preferred cultural norms, including religious ones. Accordingly, if dressing in hijabs among Tunisian women is made mandatory, how would such people enjoy the freedom of religion? What if one is a Christian in such a country? Would the law still forcefully make such a person oblige dressing like a Muslim? All these questions reveal the cultural dissatisfaction probably expressed by Tunisians. Likewise, if formal norms only applied to hijabs, then the cultural norms are unacceptable for failing to apply across the board to men as well. My cultural freedom explains my vehement criticism of such laws as unacceptable. Without a doubt, this is qualifiably the epitome of culture shock in the documentary.
Cultural relativism describes the notion that the norms of certain people are better understood by those people who practice them, as opposed to appraising such norms against those practiced by others. Therefore, it is unfair for Moore to judge American standards by comparing them with other alien cultures, since each society thrives on its identifying norms. Therefore, the negative or positive elements Moore feels plague the American culture may not bare unchangeable through positives picked from outsiders. Such norms do qualify as unacceptable to Americans. Introducing cultural practices borrowed from outside is tantamount to accepting the inferiority of the American culture. Therefore, the variations in cultural standards are justifiable differences in cultural norms and values between Americans and their surrounding neighbors.
Culture is a summative word that collectively describes opinions, beliefs, values, and norms held by a particular group of people. Therefore, culture consists of elements such as material and non-material constituents, symbolic representations, and legally documented, as well as casual codes of beliefs, principles, notions, and norms. For instance, the distinction between the German manufacturing approach and the American technological, materialistic culture exemplifies the difference between the two typical categories of non-material and material culture in both countries, respectively. Moreover, cultural symbols such as the Tunisian and the American constitution represent the unification of the people under the same rule. However, issues featured in the film, such as the compulsory dress codes, feature a new dimension of culture shock, which curtail cultural freedom around the world. The film reveals that each culture is distinct and unique in its own and cultural comparison is a myopic methodology of studying cultural diversity.
Reference
- Gill, G. (2013). Culture, Complexity, and Informing: How Shared Beliefs Can Enhance Our Search for Fitness. Informing Science: The International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline, Vol. 16, Pages 71-98.
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