Culture Clash: Difference between revisions
Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.2
m (Mass update links) |
(Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.2) |
||
(21 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
Cultures do not evolve identically. Even ones with similar backgrounds and languages have something they disagree about, and it just gets worse the more alien the two cultures are. Naturally, this has great potential for writers who want to introduce conflict to the plot, or just want to show off their worldbuilding skill.
Some tropes associated with
* [[Accidental Marriage]]
* [[Alien Lunch]]
Line 14:
* [[Innocent Bigot]]
* [[Protocol Peril]]
* [[Raised
* [[Your Normal Is Our Taboo]]
See [[Values Dissonance]], for when this happens to the audience. Also see [[Crazy Cultural Comparison]], a milder form of
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Space Runaway Ideon]]'', when humans first encounter [[Human Aliens|Buff Clan]], they try to call a ceasefire by raising a white flag. Unfortunately, in Buff Clan culture, a white flag means the resolve to fight until death. [[Poor Communication Kills|Much bloodshed ensues]].
* Played for humour in ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou
* Major part of the background of the Skypiea arc of ''[[
** That part of the backstory however ends on a better note. It's when the geyser starts acting up that things go awry for real.
* Interestingly subverted in ''[[
* Played for laughs in ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'': commoner Haruhi's life is so different from her ultra-rich schoolmates that they might as well live in different countries, and the experience goes both ways (witness the hosts' befuddlement over "commoner wisdom" such as instant coffee.)
* In the ''Ramen & Gyoza'' volume of ''[[Oishinbo]]'', one of Shiro's superiors takes some out-of-town Chinese colleagues to his favorite noodle shop; only to have them stop dead when they see the restaurant, accuse him of deliberately insulting them, and threaten to break off relations with the Tozai News. Turns out the restaurant's name uses an old Japanese word for China that many Japanese see as no worse than old-fashioned, but the mainland Chinese consider highly insulting. Good thing Shiro has the connections to set things right.
* In ''[[Kyou Kara Maou]]'', Wolfram insults Yuuri's mother, so Yuuri slaps him. Wolfram's brothers beg Yuuri to take it back. Yuuri, who thinks he's just insulted Wolfram back, swears he never will. Turns out [[Accidental Marriage|that's how they propose marriage around those parts]]. The engagement stands for almost three straight seasons, and by the third everyone either considers them married or has forgotten about the proposal altogether. It can sometimes be hard to tell.
* There is a major culture clash between Ichigo and Byakuya in ''[[Bleach]]''{{'}}s "saving {{spoiler|Rukia}}" arc.
* One of the prevalent themes of ''[[
* The [[Yuri Genre]] manga ''[[Flower Flower]]'' revolves around this. Two princesses from separate countries are wed but their culture clash. This leads to some interesting situations.
==
* In ''[[
** In the Water Tribes, a truce is decided upon by the women, who get together and decide that their men have wasted enough time and effort fighting, or are needed back home. Once they've determined that the men are rested and recovered, the truce is revoked and they go to war again.
** In the Earth Kingdom, the local King (or the Earth King, if it's a big enough deal), will declare a truce only as a final ceasefire, when either they or the enemy is thoroughly crushed. Truces aren't temporary... they ''end'' the war, and breaking the truce starts a new one.
** In the Fire Nation, the ranking officer can call for a truce at any time, but they will ''hold'' that truce without fail. They ''will not'' break a truce, but will revoke it and inform their enemy of the revocation before they attack.
** The Air Nomads don't ''have'' truces. They may stop fighting, or work together with an enemy for a while against a common foe, but there's nothing binding about it, and they can change their minds whenever they want, without informing anyone. This has led to them being generally liked but not trusted, and in ''Embers'', has led to '''HUGE''' problems between the nations.
* As a Crossover, the ''Naruto''/''Justice League''
* This is one of the causes of conflict between Doug Sangnoir and the [[Bubblegum Crisis|Knight Sabers]] in ''[[Drunkard's Walk|Drunkard's Walk II]]''. Coming from a world which is very liberal about treating artificial intelligences as people, he regards the Sabers as slave-hunters and murderers.
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Avatar (
* ''[[The Last Samurai]]''
* Detective/action movie ''[[Black Rain]]'' contains a ton of this when two [[NYPD]] detectives catch a rogue [[Yakuza]] member in New York and have to escort him back to Tokyo. In ''some'' ways the film is more even-handed than some works, as it shows the detectives feeling out of their depth and threatened by a different culture, but it also shows how they seem to the Japanese, which ranges from the Japanese police viewing them as bumbling amateurs, (one of the detectives being a xenophobic [[Cowboy Cop]] while the other is a [[Life of the Party]] sort) who let the Yakuza captive escape, to many others seeing them as [[Funny Foreigner
** More subtly, there is also something of a generational culture clash going on among the Japanese. Most obviously this is the case with Sato and the other young Yakuza who follow him in opposing [[The Don]] Sugai, but there are other small hints of this, like Japanese detective Mas reprimanding his son for what he sees as his son speaking out of turn to Nick.
* ''Red Sun'' involves samurai coming to [[The Wild West]], and includes a scene where Charles Bronson's cowboy character laughs at a samurai and says that he's wearing a dress.
* ''[[East Is East]]'' is about a Pakistani father struggling to come to terms with his sons being drawn more to British youth culture than his own Islamic values.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Outsourced (
* ''[[The Gods Must Be Crazy]]'' uses this as its central theme. The main focus is on the Bushman Xi venturing out into the world of modern South Africa, and getting into many misunderstandings due to his not knowing anything about its society's workings, and vice-versa. Said misunderstandings range from hilarious (accidentally sticking up somebody) to serious (getting locked up in prison).
* ''[[2 States]]'', as the name indicates, has most of the conflict based on Indian regional and generational cultural differences The main couple, Krish and Ananya, from Punjab and Tamil Nandu respectively, are modern cosmopolitan university graduates who are quite similar in values and don't see why their interregional marriage should be a problem. Their respective parents, more attuned to their regional idiosyncrasies, are not of the same opinion, so the couple has to confront not only their intransigent parents but the local culture their beloved grew in before they can marry.
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[Around the World
* In ''[[Cloud of Sparrows]]'', Emily asks Heiko what a geisha is, and is shocked when Heiko explains that the closest English word would be 'prostitute'. Heiko considers her profession an honourable one, and can't understand why Emily freaks out so badly.
* This is a big theme in most of Dave Duncan's books, but particularly the ''[[Seventh Sword]]'' series where a pacifist from present day America is launched into a fantasy world with a samurai style warrior culture. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* [[Robin Hobb]]'s ''Soldier Son Trilogy'' is a showcase for this trope.
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[
* In [[Harry Turtledove]]'s ''[[Worldwar
* ''[[Shogun]]'' has plenty examples of this being about an Englishman in 1600s Japan. A rather blatant example is when certain Japanese taking care of him, after being commanded to cater to his every need, politely ask him if he'd like sex with one of the girls looking after him. When he declines embarrassed, they ask if he'd prefer a man.... and then whether he'd prefer a boy!
* A minor example occurs in Chen Yi's house in ''[[Conqueror|Lords of the Bow]]''. Khasar tries to figure out chopsticks, before getting frustrated and shoving them into a bowl of noodles so they stand vertically. To the Chin, this is quite insulting.
* ''[[Three Worlds Collide]]'' by Eliezer Yudkowsky.
* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars|A Princess of Mars]]'', Dejiah Thoris tries to appeal to John Carter, and fails.
{{quote|
** In ''At the Earth's Core'', David Innes fights for Dian. He does not realize that after it, he could take her hand to claim her as his wife, take her hand and let go to free her, or do nothing to [[Made a Slave|make her his slave]]. He does nothing. She is ''not pleased.''
* In Chris Roberson's [[Warhammer
* This is a huge, ''huge'' aspect of ''[[
* Both averted and subverted in a scene in Frank Herbert's ''[[Dune]]''. A young Paul Atreides receives "watercounters" (a symbolic currency) as a result of [[Trial
** It
* In [[Patricia C. Wrede]]'s ''Thirteenth Child'', when Brent tells Eff that the feathers are a symbol of how high they can fly without magic, Eff declares that you can't fly without magic. He laughs and says he sees he will find this very educational in more than one
* In [[Wen Spencer]]'s ''Endless Blue'', Turk and Paige get into a furious argument when Turk discovers that she is partly descended from genetic modified Reds and Blues; Turk himself is a Red, traumatized by his upbringing in a society where Reds are property.
* In [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' series, much is made of the differences in culture that have evolved between Hold, Craft, and Weyr over the centuries since the original settlement of Pern. Holds are charged with the management of the land and contain the majority of the population, supplying food to the more specialized Crafts and Weyrs. By nature they are highly conservative and resistant to change. Crafts are the professional tradesmen, operating on an apprenticeship system and preserving the skills of the Pernese people. Weyrs are the dragons and their riders, charged with fighting off the periodic Thread incursions that would otherwise destroy most of the organic life on Pern. There's also a very significant culture clash in the main series between the modern dragonriders and the Oldtimers that Lessa brought [[Time Travel|from the past]] to battle Thread.
* ''[[
* A girl rescued by the [[Five-Man Band]] in ''[[
* In ''[[The Secret Garden]]'', Mary expects to be dressed by the servants since she had been in India "It was the custom." The English maid finds the notion silly.
* In the second book in the [[Petaybee]] series, the ordinary Petaybeans take issue with the customs of the cult that raised 'Cita.
* The women of the Dales and the invaders in Jane Yolen's [[Great Alta Saga]]. Garunian society is extraordinarily patriarchal, whereas that of the Dales is anything but.
* In the [[Incarnations of Immortality]] series, the [[Sassy Black Woman]] version of Atropos laughs at Japanese culture a bit. Also, Mym, a Hindu, is a bit offended by Western culture and the fact that its version of the afterlife is the "correct" one.
* Some of the most interesting parts of the [[1632|Ring of Fire]] series are about how Germans see modern Americans.
* [[Rudyard Kipling]] has a fondness for this trope. Several of his short stories are light comedies about this.
* [[New Jedi Order]] is all about this on an epic, [[Anyone Can Die]] scale. To elaborate, the two sides of the conflict are the familiar galactic civilization from the movies and the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Yuuzhan Vong]], who each see the other's society as repulsively, irredeemably evil (the fact that the Vong are a religious extremist, totalitarian
** In the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], this is one of the main sources of conflict between the Mandalorians and the Jedi. Besides being a [[Proud Warrior Race]], Mandalorians are extreme [[Mama Bear
* In John Barnes ''A Million Open Doors'', when the hero, from a planet founded on the ideals of the
* From [[The Kingdoms of Evil]]: Everyone and everywhere.
* The war between the [[Steampunk]] and [[Psychic Powers]] fueled Sharonans and the [[Magitek]] powered Arcanans in [[David Weber]] and Linda Evans ''Hell's Gate'' series stems from this. Also on Arcana itself the three main civilizations are a [[Proud Warrior Race]], a caste system with magicians on top, warriors in the middle and everyone else as serfs and a mildly hedonistic republic.
* In [[Jorge Luis Borges]] short story
* Elizabeth Bathory vs. all Slovakians in ''[[
* The Clans and the Tribe in the ''[[
* In Michael Scott Rohan's ''The Singer and the Sea'', [[The Blacksmith|Mastersmith]] Olvar, from a land where every smith is also part mage, searched far across the ocean to find a group of refugees fleeing an evil Power. When he reached them, their leader, young Telqua, made a few wisecracks about [[The Big Guy|how bulky he was (most of it muscle)]] compared to her (practically starving) people, and how he wasn't very skilled at moving stealthily. And then she took to pinching his arm every now and then, and seemed puzzled, even hurt, when he glared at her for it. Eventually, he figured out [[Nonverbal Miscommunication|that pinch was meant as a caress]]....
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* This happens quite a lot in the ''[[
** Happened to the crew in ''[[Star Trek
** The ''[[Star Trek:
*** Data's uniform was mistaken for pajamas when he went back in time to the [[Wild West]].
** ''[[Star Trek
* On ''[[
** It's a little more complicated than that. Sheridan warns his superior officer that sending a captain with a bad record of [[First Contact]] situations to meet an advanced, mysterious race is a bad idea. He is ignored. When the Minbari fleet approaches the Earth Force fleet, their powerful scanners jam half the systems on the human ships and are misconstrued as a weapon. The opened gunports are simply the last straw to the aforementioned Captain Jankowski, as, with their sensors jammed, they are unable to tell if the weapons are armed (i.e. they would detect an "energy spike"). Minbari leader Dukhat realizes opening gunports in front of a new race is a mistake but doesn't have time to order them closed.
* In Season 9 of ''[[Smallville]]'', Clark Kent now wears a [[Badass Longcoat|black version of his future costume]], as a homage to traditional Kryptonian garb, but [[Green Arrow]] says it looks ridiculous. Pretty funny coming from a guy who wears tights.
Line 105:
* In one episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', Jack tries to teach Teal'c boxing, but Teal'c dismisses the footwork as "dancing". Of course, in a show with aliens, pretty much every episode has culture clash.
** Strange, as any martial artist knows that footwork is at least as important as everything else. Someone like Teal'c should definitely know that. On the other hand, he probably never tried to "float like a butterfly."
* In the last episode of ''[[
* One story from ''[[Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction?]]'' featured a man finding himself in the Wild West. He is accused of walking around in his underpants, even though he is wearing sensible sneakers, hiking shorts, and a t-shirt.
* Behind almost every plot and joke in ''[[Outsourced (TV series)|Outsourced]]'', which is based on the premise of an American manager heading up a call centre in India.
== [[Theater]] ==
* [[Cyrano De Bergerac]]: One of the principal themes of the play is to compare the conventional Frenchmen’s culture with the [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Gascon’s]] Culture. First Played for laughs, then played for drama:
** [[Played for Laughs]]: At Act I Scene IV, De Valvert and Cyrano engage [[Volleying Insults]]. De Valvert, part of the [[Deadly Decadent Court|court
** [[Played for Drama]]: At Act IV Scene X: The Spanish Army is very surprised to see a [[Martyrdom Culture|single]] [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|company]] make a [[Last Stand]] instead of [[Run or Die|retreating]]. Lampshaded by the Spanish Officer:
{{quote|
Line 122:
== Webcomics ==
* ''[[Harkovast]]'' features numerous clashes and misunderstandings between the different cultures, particularly in [http://www.drunkduck.com/Harkovast/index.php?p=724690 this]{{Dead link}} chapter.
* In ''[[Templar, Arizona]]''. Mose is betrothed to an 11-year old girl whom he only knows from letters and photographs. His friend-with-benefits Tuesday is utterly apalled by this.
* In ''[[Endstone]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20120616141513/http://endstone.net/2010/11/18/4-42/ deer don't kiss.]
* ''[[Drive (webcomic)|Drive]]'' has one of the main plot lines built upon the [[Unstoppable Rage]] of the Makers at the Humans, for stealing their invention. Also, there's [https://web.archive.org/web/20190925131438/http://www.drivecomic.com/archive/190830.html a moment] with Qen being easy to misunderstand.
== [[Web Original]] ==
Line 133:
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In the ''[[
* In ''[[Samurai Jack]]'', The Scotsman and his family repeatedly mock Jack's outfit, saying he is wearing a basket on his head and a dress, and mock his katana for being small compared to their claymores. When Jack tries to greet them by bowing, they ask him why he bent over and stared at the ground. On the flip side, Jack cannot stand bagpipe music and most Scottish cuisine.
** Which was quite out of the norm for the character. Having trained under many masters and nations around the world in his youth, Jack was shown to be quite open to the lifestyle's and customs of the peoples he encountered. Perhaps the music and food was just that bad?
Line 139:
** Or since Jack is from the past and is now in the future, customs may have possibly changed.
** Alternatively, perhaps Scotland was one of the few places he didn't go to, considering it's hard to go further from Japan than there.
* In ''[[Batman:
* The House of Mouse episode "Mickey and the Culture Clash", where Mickey reads a letter in the newspaper saying Minnie wants a more 'sophisticated' boyfriend. He tries to be more fancy, but then finds out it's all a trick by Mortimer so he can steal Minnie away from Mickey.
* Pretty much the premise behind ''[[Mike Lu and Og]]'': Her urban city ways against their strange island customs.
Line 145:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Morality Tropes]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
|