Shopping for American Culture
samyfern December 8th, 2007
I never thought of malls in such a wide perspective as the author of this essay did. After being brought to my attention, it is very easy to view malls as art galleries, cultural institutions, or public architecture. Malls are a good place to view all of the different aspects of American culture in one place. Whether it’s age, gender, race, or even religion, one can find all types of people at an American mall. Therefore, it’s agreeable that malls are a very intricate example of American culture at work. However, when the author states that “malls are a manifestation of popular philosophy” it becomes a little farfetched. It’s hardly believable that the mall could answer questions such as “what does it mean to be human? [or] what are people for?” Humans were around long before shopping malls, and they had a meaning then. Therefore, it’s difficult to believe that a person could find the meaning of being human by buying a shirt at the mall.
