Pop Culture Cancer

I was out tonight for a friend's birthday. We went to Outback (yep, they have those here). I ordered the Bloomin' Burger, which has those fried onions on top. It was tasty going down, but I started to feel sick not long after dinner. It was dessert at Haagen Daaz that put me over the edge, literally and figuratively.

There was a young boy sitting in Haagen Daaz as we left. He couldn't have been more than twelve. He wore the crisp white candura that most men wear here. What struck me was that he was sitting all alone in a huge booth with an obscenely large bowl of ice cream. That was five scoops if it was a scoop. He was just sitting there, dwarfed by the huge red oversized booth, all alone with his ice cream...

They've bought into westernized culture, lock, stock, and barrel. They've imported almost all of our restaurant and ice cream chains. There's a Nestle Toll House cafe opening soon, and a Cheesecake Factory. They shop at British department stores, watch western television, carry designer purses and wear the latest trendy shoes. They've embraced the "bigger is better" attitude.

It occurred to me upon seeing that little boy how much western pop culture seeps into places, takes root, and spreads like a cancer. Singapore is almost entirely lost; there are only tiny pockets of indigenous culture there. Sri Lanka isn't bad, but they are catching up. Mass media onslaughts from the internet, movies, commercials, and magazines have convinced so many people that the western "ideal" is bigger, better, flashier, and can be bought if you have the cash.

Perhaps the saddest story comes from one of our teachers. One of her sixth graders said to her one day last week "If I had four wishes I would be pale, blond, and Christian, with an American passport." She loathes everything she is. This thirteen year old girl with lovely dark eyes, mocha skin, and beautiful dark hair hates herself. She wants to "be American".

But hey, everyone can buy the western dream, can't they? So they import the food, buy the jeans, wear the flashy jewelry and drive the biggest SUV's they can find. For what? I think it's so they can have their piece of the dream being sold to millions through TV, movies, magazines, and the internet. And the bonus buy? The UAE has the fastest growing population of diabetics in the world. Childhood obesity has grown by god knows how much percent. Something crazy like 40% of the women suffer from depression. They market liposuction and cosmetic surgery to fifteen year old girls. Their social norms constantly clash with this ideal that they've bought, causing I can only imagine unbelievable stress and conflict. Congratulations, Emirati culture! This is what you get with your purchase of the artificial western dream.

And young Emirati boys sitting all alone in Haagen Daaz consoling themselves with large bowls of rich, velvety, ice cream...the first in long lines of emotional eaters.

Is this what we look like from the outside? Makes me wonder how the world actually sees us.

Maybe it's just because my stomach aches from that horrible food, but seeing that little guy all alone with his big bowl of ice cream just made me ache inside and out.