Identity Crisis

My first intellectual impulse to explain the urge to theme all aspects of life is to say that it is a lack of cultural identity that gives birth to the dishonest pastiche of themed environments that both define and suck the life from American culture. But the successful spread of American behemoths like McDonald's throughout Europe and the world and the new phenomenon of China's literal themed-cities would serve to discount that argument, given that Europe and China both have strongly entrenched cultural identities. Perhaps in China it makes some sort of sense; yes, they have a strong traditional culture, but it is entering a point of transition in its history whereby it is taking a leading role in shaping the world, emerging from its rural, dynastical past into a (sub)urban economy of corporations and consumption, where food and family is becoming replaced by money and entertainment as cultural currency. Naturally, its identity is being lost in this transformation. Also, in places like Africa and India, the same sort of phenomenon is occuring, where ancient societies and traditions find they no longer hold any relevance in the modern world, and when these past identities are still being clung onto, they are at the same time being watered-down, swallowed up in the machine of global modernization.

Without a strong cultural identity to hold onto, many people will swallow up whatever seductive image is offered to them. Particularly in American society where individualism is (ironically) the strongest commonly held ideal, it is damn near impossible for a singular identity to unite its purposefully diverse population. Basically, by embracing diversity we are failing to truly understand any one people's culture, satisfying ourselves with theme-park renditions of Venice and the Forbidden City à la Disney's EPCOT, always only scratching the surface of the true depth and beauty of an entire people's inherited history.

The "edutainment" factor in museums underscores this charlatanization of cultural (mis)understanding. In an attempt to draw bigger crowds and "educate" more people, museums are making their displays more theatrical, more fun at the cost of historical accuracy.

In my road trip down south this spring break I discovered the difference between seeing something and actually experiencing it. My friend does this thing called "waterfall hunting," where he tromps around the forests of South and North Carolina looking for cool waterfalls (ideally with fun water-slides) that no one knows about. He is in it for the experience, the discovery, the more intimate knowledge of a nearby wilderness. It is not a touristic endeavor to simply see "the Southeasts's tallest waterfall" and bring home the memories in pictures and souvenirs, but to find the hidden beauty of nature and allow an unexpected, uncontolled, unpredictable, inefficient experience to infinitely enrich his non-standardized life.