This political cartoon, entitled "Globalization is Killing the Globe," illustrates a specific view of globalization. This image was used to illustrate a news article about global economics. Why are everyday products being portrayed in a violent scene? Why use classic Disney character as soldiers? Is there a significance to the products being shown? Why use this setting as opposed to something modern or familiar? Why do the natives look terrified when they are presented with products that we view as beneficial?
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In the picture, everyday products are being used to represent how the American brand is spreading across the globe at a rapid pace. Classic Disney characters are used because they are easily recognized as an American product. The significance of the products shown is that they are major corporations that are striving to strongarm the world market. The setting is used because it symbolizes an invasion of American products and ideas. The natives are terrified due to the forceful nature that they are being forced to assimilate to the overwhelming American culture.
At first glance of this cartoon, we first view some cute Disney characters we are familiar with, such as Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy. However, they all dress in military uniforms and hold guns with them. The image uses classic Disney characters to symbolize the USA, which has the leading position in globalization. Also, Disney has become a kind of new popular culture and business already, so using them as soldiers can embody globalization as culture and business invasion vividly.
After paying attention to the details of the image, we can see lots of familiar brands and goods that are prevalent in America, but they are depicted as aggression—corporate ships, planes, missiles. The TV channel CW represents cultural invasion; IBM and Microsoft represent technology invasion; McDonald’s, Nike and Coke represent business invasion. These everyday products seem beneficial, but were portrayed in a violent scene in order to reflect the dark side of these exotic products—they have more negative effects in essential.
The facial expressions of natives are so painful and panic. Some people lift their hands and run away desperately; some people even fall down on the ground. These people may feel pressure about these overwhelming invasion. They love their own culture and are used to the original life style, so when encountering diffusion of globalization, they become bewildered and even lost. These people also symbolize small local companies, who suffered from the competition of big foreign corporations and facing business loss and even bankrupt.
The whole picture ironically reflects how globalization is devastating some countries especially some small developing countries that can not catch up the fast renewal speed of the globe and adapt to these instantaneous changes. Obviously, globalization makes more chances for many countries to develop quickly and become modern, and lots of countries benefit from it as well; However, it doesn’t apply to all since the most suitable model is the best.
I want to say this cartoon is too radical to criticize the Globalization. And definitely doesn't really point to the real and the most essential issue of the globalization of trading worldwide.If American brands just spread their product worldwide, and establish industries outside around the world in other developing or poor countries, it doesn't ruin anything. But why the economy in those countries are getting worse? Actually, this is because they don't have enough protection.As we know, the price of a single labor is extremely expensive than one in developing countries though they make the same value product. And those labors in developing countries can just gain very few salaries from selling the products in market. Is that a sustainable mode? This will damage the economic system in those developing countries. And who decide how much money to give back to those labors? Those big companies do! And who allow and encourage those big companies to do that? The government. Why the government do that? In this unfair trading mode, those alleged large countries gain most benefits. Instead of using their own resource, they take what ever they can from other lands without too much humanity. Therefore, it go back to the basic point that is avarice of the human, of the countries. And by the way,those weak greedy men can never pillage from others.
This picture contains much information with many interesting elements.
First, we can see many locos of world famous brands, such as McDonald, Coke Cola, Motorola, Windows System, the Disney cartoons of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, IBM, etc. These are all the famous monopolies in developed countries. Then we can see these locos are all printed on the weapons, for example, the loco of McDonald is as the flag on the warship. The Motorola is printed on the fighter jets. The flag printed with Windows is as a sign to declare victory. The cartoon characters become the soldiers with guns and the pop cans of Coke Cola become the shells. We can see what is going on is a battle.
Second, we can discover the place that the battle happens should be the developing countries. People in the third world are forced to surrender.
All these elements tell us that the globalization brings some negative effects to the developing countries, especially in economics. Globalization makes lots of world famous brands become the monopolies in the third world. This deprives the rights of people in the third world to manage their own economics.
Many Donald, Mickey and Goofies dressed in army uniforms. It is kind of weird for such lovely Disney cartoon characters to dress so aggressive and point guns at people, which judged from their skin color and palm trees, they are certainly African. Also, waiving big Microsoft flag, these intruders are coming by ship from IBM and McDonald’s, and throwing coke cans as bombs on our friends. The weapons are all the big names we are familiar with.
Then you may ask why they are doing this. Because of globalization, the world become smaller, and certainly big powers intrude less-developed countries in many different ways, making their own culture vulnerable. The Africans are forced to accept the American culture, using American brands, which are always against their will judging from their facial expressions.
Actually mixed culture is somehow a good way for people with boundaries to get acquaintance and erase prejudice. But the case showed in this picture is not a nice thing for the people aren’t willing to be immersed in such culture. Many unique cultures will vanish under such circumstances. Imagine if one day the world speaks the same, drinks the same, entertains the same, looks the same, what is the pleasure of living? And where has diversity gone?
The use of Disney characters and, not just everyday products, but some of the most successful and international franchise in the world, in this picture are use to symbolize the takeover of the global economy by these brands and how it is "killing" other countries and their economies. All of the brands i see look to be American based so essentially America's massive amount of consumerism is depriving the rest of the world, and more specifically what looks to be the an Asian population in this photo, from being able to sustain certain areas of their own economy. This setting could be during the time where colonization was a frequent issue throughout the world. The U.S. was never a big colonizer of other countries in the sense that they wanted to take over, occupy, and control other countries for themselves. What this picture could be saying is that the U.S. is colonizing other countries and controlling them in a much more subtle way, through using economical tactics to practically force other countries under our control. This, of course, terrorizes the local population, although in this picture it is blown out of proportion for the sake of proving a point. In real life the terror would be more internalized within the native population. This entire picture is simply a hyperbole of what the U.S. and it's companies are doing to the world in order to show the audience what is happening right under their noses.
Looking at this picture about globalization satire it is easy to capture many American culture elements in it. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Coke, and other American products like weapons are attacking this land. Natives are forced to surrender by the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck troops. These funny cartoon characters become aggressive in the picture, and wearing the green military uniform as soldiers. We could see the culture invasion is the purpose that composer trying to satirize. People are familiar with these typical elements, so audience can easily to recognize which country brings them to other countries. Globalization kills local culture since imported products can replace domestic products. Children like Disney cartoons, so they may not be interested in own country’s cartoons, and this will destroy local cartoon industry. For instance, Chinese government had to stop local TV stations playing foreign cartoons in order to support and save domestic cartoon industry. Another product like Windows is almost everyone using in daily lives. The composer of this cartoon is trying to say the globalization kills the globe, but I see the benefits the globalization brought, and although America’s strong culture impacts domestic market, it is incapable of killing the local culture. American fast food is popular in China, but it won’t kill the Chinese food since it is more popular worldwide. The traditional culture is not easy to be removed by the new culture which is imported.
I think this image or drawing is very accurate. The invading powers are everything corporate and money driven that have changed our world. These things are invading what looks to a very simplistic beach or island with natives still inhabiting the area. It displays how Coke and Disney and Microsoft are now integral parts of everyday societies all over the entire world. Using the army and battleships as transportation it shows how it is an invasion to some rather than the acceptance of new things. In some areas, it is very plausible that the population or even government wasn't in sync with everything else that was going on.
When first look at this picture, instantly you see some classic cartoon characters wearing army uniforms. In our basic opinions, the Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck are always cute and funny. However, in this picture, these characters are portrayed in a totally different way. They come to the island from military ships and helicopters, most of which carry guns and weapons. Natives put their hands on their heads; their faces express fear and pain. And one of them is lying with his face towards the ground, maybe he is too tired or maybe he has already dead. It indicates that they are under a cruel control of these cartoon armies. In addition, some franchising brands are presented in this picture, such as Nike, IBM, Coke, Microsoft, etc.
The most striking elements in this image are that familiar products are used as weapons. The corporate ship with the sign of “Nike” is firing cokes; military helicopters are projecting TV channel CW. Lots of ironies can be found. The daily products and familiar brands that we view as beneficial represent evil and terrify. It reflects that the globalization will have negative influence on lives.
Everyday products are being used in a violent scene because commercialization and globalization are destroying certain parts of the world. In some parts of the world, companies are taking over and destroying the local economies with their products. The classic Disney soldiers and products are being used to signify the commercialization that is destroying these areas. This setting is used for the comic because it is a well known scene of destruction. The scene is also an invasion, signifying the invasion of certain parts of the world by commercialization and globalization. The natives in the comic appear terrified because these companies and the products they bring could mean the destruction of their economy and their way of life.
Before analyzing this picture, we should recognize war first. The war is a collective and organized use of violence to each other, can also be interpreted as the use of violent means on the order of destruction and maintenance, collapse and re-construction. Invasion has three basic characteristics: 1.The progress of Invasion is fierce and large-scale; 2.Invasion will bring the enormous injury to local society. The behavior what the photo maker comparing product intrusion and influence of foreign culture to the war can express that he wants to show the deep degree of harm of product and culture invasion.
First, through the picture, many American brands can be found such as Texaco, Macdonald’s, CNN, and Nike. The appearance of those brands represent America commit culture invasion under the veil of globalization. It is no doubt that America is the most powerful and wealthy country in this world so that it made the product made in America carries authority. Because of this authority, people in developing country or the other country which is not wealthier than America will be like to prefer the product from USA. And that I think is the basic reason why those products become popular in the other areas.
Second, the picture maker uses classic Disney character as soldiers. As it is known to all, Disney is America cartoon industry. And I think it represents not only American commodity enter into the other countries, but also the product of America culture are worldwide. Because of the effect of globalization, more children have chances to touch the America culture, for the reason I said above which is the authority, the children will obsess with the America cartoon.
Comparing product intrusion and culture invasion to the war can tell public that the harm of those behaviors has the same harm as the war to the local country. The local industry may be dependent on the foreign product or mimicry what foreign country did instead of developing the local product which has traditional characteristics. Although some local industries want to expand local culture, they may go into bankruptcy because of the highly possible fail of the competition with the foreign industry. As time passed, a culture will lose its own characteristics and become accessories of America culture and local people may forget who they are. This is not just alarmist talk. The harm of culture invasion is soundless, motionless and invisible but the degree of it is not second to a real war!
Another element which is interesting is picture maker find perfect objects to compare those brands. Such as the CNN is a video brand and radio has similar shape of bomb and Coke can is truly like the cannonball, Nike is a brand of cloths and Windows is better shown on a flag.
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