Two years ago, when I first started school in New York, I had to wait in a long line outside the Guidance Counselor’s office. The student standing in front me turned around to complain about the line and we eventually got talking. I told him that I had just moved from India and he surprised me with what is possibly the weirdest question I have ever been asked. He said, ”So, did you like, own an elephant and ride it to school back in India?” For a moment, I thought he was joking. When his expression remained earnest, I realized that he seriously believed that families in India used elephants as a common means of transportation. He had seen elephants featured prominently in countless movies about India and had assumed that the animals were a part of everyday life there.
This incident shocked me and educated me to the extent of the media’s influence on how a culture is understood around the world. Our perception of other countries and cultures is a product of our view through the biased lens of popular media. The nature of media today is to play up only the quirky, exotic parts of a culture and neglect to mention the ordinary and everyday aspects that complete the picture. On the other hand, it’s understandable that the media exploits the differences between cultures. The unique elements make for interesting, often funnier, stories and thus, better profits. The problem occurs when we, as consumers, fail to realize that movies and television shows may not be true representations of a culture. We should be careful not to stereotype cultures and identify them only through the few elements that we have been exposed to.
It’s admirable that Mr. Hwang derives from his experiences with cultural misconceptions as an Asian American and uses it to write educative plays that explore this complex subject. I think in a world where the internet and globalization are erasing boundaries, people like Mr. Hwang can help us understand the reasons for pervasive misconceptions and ensure that cultural barriers don’t stand in the way of increasing global unity and connectivity.
