The general public in Saudi Arabia was first allowed access to the internet in 1999. Up until six or seven years ago satellite dishes for home televisions were illegal and if they weren't well hidden, ran the risk of being shot at by radical imams hovering over the roof tops in helicopters with AK-47's. And while satellites are still illegal in more conservative towns and the Great Saudi Firewall blocks a significant portion of what it deems inappropriate content on the web, both have brought with them immense access to global media -- the entertainment portion of which being unquestionably dominated by Hollywood -- resulting in tangible benefits for Americans' perception abroad.
A discussion about favorite television shows in my classes here runs about the same as it has anywhere else in the world I've been. "Lost", "24", "Prison Break", "How I Met Your Mother" "CSI What-have-you". "Friends" is always popular. And everyone sees whatever the newest film starring the most beautiful people happens to be. McConaughey, Pitt, Jolie and Cruise are all household names. In fact, first names are more appropriate. And what this familiarity with our stars, dramas, and sitcoms does in effect is put a face on America, one that for the most part is a sympathetic one.
I for one don't see it. But, according to a number of sources-- mostly but not limited to friends of mine's mothers-- I apparently bare some resemblance to Matthew McConaughey. My point is not to compare myself to a man chosen by People magazine as the sexiest in the world (just sayin') but more to illustrate how the world's familiarity with our pop culture, particularly our movies and television, has created a sense of intimacy that for the most part benefits us and our perception abroad. Every time someone in a foreign country has made mention of this supposed likeness the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. The individual usually first learns that I'm an American and then makes the jump, maybe thanks to my subtle Hoosier accent coming across as somewhat Texan to the untrained ear, and I am immediately thrust into the center of attention and everyone wants to be my friend and hear my story.
The point, though, is that the jump is easy to make. When people's only experiences of interacting with Americans for the most part come from developing these para-social relationships with our actors and actresses, those bonds are mostly positive and in turn we are much more well-received. It can even prove to create a sense of wonder about the States as though everything there is right out of the movies. It reminds me of a conversation some American friends and I had with some 18 year-old Hungarians who were talking with native English-speakers for the first time. "It's just like in the movies!," they said and they couldn't get enough. And who hasn't experienced that sense of romanticism and association with Hollywood, like for example a Midwesterner visiting New York for the first time and hearing his first authentic Brooklyn accent.
Abroad though, our perception is so much more important. When the only images put forth of Americans were soldiers driving tanks over boarders and clips of violent rhetoric from our politicians, we weren't seen as a sympathetic people. We were easily vilified and dehumanized. With our humanization, however, has come a growing sense of commonality and in some cases wonder and even idolization. And while there certainly are things about our exported media that do not play to our advantage, do not represent our citizenry accurately or responsibly, and are not good in my opinion to purport either within our society or abroad -- namely over-sexualization and violence -- the overall affect abroad, in my experience, is a positive one, and has done more to dissuade hatred and create understanding than any amount of "winning of the hearts and minds" ever has.
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