Globalization's Effect on Culture

     Culture is one of the ways a nation makes itself unique or different from other nations. It gives a society an identity and dictates one's membership in an imagined community. It unites people of the same interest, beliefs, traditions, language, food, and etc. Meanwhile, in the growing bond and interdependence among countries, these cultures are being adapted and localized from a country to another. The establishment of international trade and investments plus the growing communication through internet influences a country's culture. Moreover, given the modern technologies and more patronizers of movies, cultures of different countries are now being explicitly displayed all over the world. It is no longer enshrouded in a country's boundaries.  Given this situation, can we say that globalization steals the cultural identity away from a nation, like what happened when the Americans stayed in Japan as shown in the movie Memoirs of Geisha, or are we just giving them the chance to let the whole world see and admire their beautiful culture?

     Globalization influences one's culture. It introduces new habits, technologies, fashion, language and etc. to one's culture.  On the other hand, it gives an idea of what a country's culture is. It also lets the other nation get a glimpse of one another's identity. It is only up to the members of the society on how they are going to let globalization affect them. Given the movies like memoirs of geisha, we are given a chance to understand one's culture --Japanese culture in particular. However,  it is also shown in the movie that culture can really be devalued and taken away from a nation. Some people renounce their culture and virtue for survival, some may also forsake it just to be with the hip. It is not always about us being influenced by their culture; it can just be an admiration and an attempt to appreciate the way they live before or even until today. On the whole, globalization can destroy one's identity or can just give more chance for a nation's uniqueness to grow and correct misconceptions. It just all depends on how they are going to let it in their system.