Pop Culture in Romania

One of the reasons why I love Eastern Europe is that it is easier to get away from popular culture. Though I grew up in Los Angeles, in a family involved in the television news industry, I have no great love for popular entertainment. The fact that high culture -- a concept that American seem to have all but rejected -- is easily available here does not mean that American pop culture is not uncommon. In fact it’s practically everywhere, more so than in other European nations(I have now heard Tok Toc in four separate countries). While there is a fledgling Romanian entertainment industry, its offerings, along with Eurobeat, remain relatively unpopular here. This increased glorification of American pop-culture seems to be yet another consequence of the decade late start that Romanians got when converting to the capitalist system. One of the people at the office, Maria, explained her latest obsession-Lady Gaga- by saying “ I grew up in communism. For us the pop-culture was always so glamorous.” It is true that in many Eastern European countries that it was also forbidden by the government.
This is just one of the ways in which Romania is still adapting to capitalism. There still remains the idea here that anything imported from the west is automatically superior to a domestic product. This attitude applies to everything from popular entertainment, to sweets, to beer. Romanians have a few more years to go before they grow accustomed enough to the plenty of a free and growing economy and before they realize that what they can produce themselves is often just as good, or better. This period of conspicuous consumption is an understandable phase in a period of adaptation. The good news is that, while I wait, I can still by the best seat in the opera house for 20 bucks. It’s still Europe after all.