Capitalism, Advertising, and the Destruction of American Culture

Throughout My Year of Meats, by Jane Takagi-Little, numerous cultural phenomena are displayed, analyzed, and interpreted. One of these phenomena is centered on the differences between two cultures, more specifically, the differences between the American and Japanese cultures. This comparison, however, is not presented through a simple literal comparison, but through the experiences of Japanese citizens and their interactions with America, Americans, and American culture. When commenting on Yoshihiro Hattori's murder, Little states "Guns, race, meat, and Manifest Destiny all collided in a single explosion of violent dehumanized activity" (89), emphasizing the common American ideology of superiority as a cultural phenomenon.
Although this idea is blatantly stated in the text of this novel, there are many more underlying ideas revolving around cultural collisions and the fusion of diverse ideas. Drawing a close parallel to the collision revealed by Takagi-Little lies the combination of the cultural phenomena of capitalism, racial demographics, and diversity. This combination, although not directly visible, is expressed throughout this text and conveys a strong underlying message about American culture and its interpretation. The first of these cultural phenomena is centralized around the American capitalistic economy and its unsurppressible schemes for making a profit. Though capitalism benefits many Americans, it continues to negatively affect many more through its destruction of the diverse cultural selection of America itself. An example of this type of cultural exterminations is revealed when Little states "Main street is dead... When I returned home from Japan and visited Quam, I found that all the local businesses from my childhood had been extirpated by Wal Mart." In emphasizing the effects of capitalism Little, referring to Wal Mart, goes on to declare, "If there is one single symbol for the demise of regional American culture, it is this superstore prototype, a huge capitalist boot..." (56) This clearly reveals the negative effect superstores and one-stop shopping stores have on American culture and its diversity.
Another underlying theme of this novel is racial demographics and the representation of Americans as one conformed sample of culture and identity. This idea is revealed through the advertising selectivity of BEEF-EX, an American beef exports company.
When conversing with Sloan, Takagi's musical lover, about My American Wife, BEEF-EX's Japanese advertising production, and its demographic selectivity; Takagi states "BEEF-EX people are very strict. They don't want their meat to have a synergistic association with deformities. Like race. Or poverty. Or clubfeet." (57) These statements clearly display the capitalist idea of "real America" and the way America should be portrayed to potential international consumers. These ideas introduce capitalist America as one giant advertising machine, lacking any trace of compassion, reality, or integrity. These issues also highlight profit as the sole purpose of American Corporations; willing to lie, cheat, and sacrifice any dignity they retained in order to further their "cause" and deepen their bank accounts.
The ideas of capitalism and racist marketing are huge problems individually, but are far more prevalent when combined within a corporate operation. The problem is that these two ideas are ceasing to exist as their own separate entities, and are becoming more and more visible in joint action. This collision is very dangerous to America and its culture because it has numerous negative effects on American citizens and their cultural identities. Through the expansion of corporations such as Wal Mart and their utilization of biased advertising, American cultural diversity is at risk of a rapid decline. Also, the idea of a "typical" American is being strongly misrepresented, creating a divide within America among its citizens and an "American" existence that few Americans are able to truly identify with. It is because of these underlying ideas and the coupling of capitalism with racist advertising that Takagi-Little is able to display the immense danger that American citizens are beginning to experience, with the end consequence being the total extermination of a diverse American culture.