Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Cultural Clash

I just witnessed a perfect example of a cultural clash. A new reality show aired on TV tonight called “Made in Sweden”. It’s about 3 world famous Swedish song writers trying to help 2 young Swedish singers to the top - to make it not only in Sweden but on the international arena. And one of the song writers has a pretty tight relationship with the world famous Desmond Child. So, they invited Desmond to come help write the single for one of the singers (the guy)… and that’s when the cultural clash took place. lol.

I can totally see both sides - I understand both of them. This is an excellent example of cultural differences where both sides completely misunderstand each other.

I am sure all of Sweden hates Desmond Child by now. :) In the US people are very honest, they usually tell it as it is even if it hurts hearing it. In Sweden they pretty much sugar coat everything, they never say anything that will hurt someone even if it means not telling the whole truth. Well, big shot Desmond Child arrives and the singer starts singing one of his songs – in English I may add which is not his native language – and Desmond asks him when he finishes about some part of the text. He tells the singer “this does not sound right, I don’t like it, it’s not something you would say”. The singer defends himself saying “I do not agree with you – I think it sounds good”.

We have a problem!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

I understand that Desmond Child feels like “what?... you don’t agree with me?.. Who cares- I’m the expert called in to help you, not to forget, I’m the only native English speaker in this freakn’ room”… Now, Desmond didn’t say that but he brought the singer back to reality pretty fast. ;) ..no sugar coating AT ALL…:) This is not something Swedes are used to, and it pretty much broke the singer. I mean, I understand the singer too. Desmond totally hurt his feelings… I felt his pain and I felt sorry for him. I did. I do. At the same time, I would like to ask the singer “have you never heard the music industry being referred to as “the Cut Throat Industry”… ??? I mean, it’s not for nothing it’s called that way.

Yeah, yeah yeah, so Desmond could have handled the situation in a less harsh manner, but in the US it’s a lot about respecting the people who sit on the expertise. I can only take Mr. L as an example who’s been in both the military and the police force, he has always said “as a rookie you gotta pay your dues… once you have, you’ll get the respect”. It's kind of the same thing here - you are a nobody at this point, but you are getting help from some of the world's best writers... so why are you telling the expert (i.e. Desmond) you don’t agree with him? Even if that is how you feel… keep your mouth shut and go with the flow. Desmond is not here to hurt anyone’s feelings, he’s here to help someone make it as a singer.

CULTURAL CLASH – BIG TIME!!!

7 comments:

Amber and Nala said...

That's too bad. It is so hard to be "helpful" sometimes without hurting feelings. People tend to take things to heart (me included) and have a hard time being objective. I tend to sugarcoat things sometimes too but have days where I just wish I could say exactly how I feel. :) Today was one of those days but of course I had to be the "nice girl". It's hard either way so I totally get ya. :)

Amber

Anonymous said...

Jag håller med dig, men tycker inte att Desmond gjort något fel. Tvärtom. Han kom dit för han blev ombedd att hjälpa till med texten för dom hade "kört fast". Tyckte det var Bagge och Carlssons fel som inte informerade den här stackars killen varför Desmod egentligen skulle komma dit. Stackars killen trodde bara att dom skulle jamma lite...=) Kram på dig!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I would love to see this show! I tried to look it up but I can't find it as a torrent file or so... you say the program is called 'Made in Sweden', but what is the original Swedish name? And would you happen to know where I can find it online?

lew said...

Hi Adi,

The show is called "Made in Sweden" - it has an English title in other words. :) Go to: www.madeinsweden.se
To the right you can view clips from the first episode and it's the clip called "Desmond sågar Kims låt". Hope this will help you. Good Luck! ;)

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much, I was able to watch the clip! Definitely see your point, and yes, Desmond is pretty much always brutally honest - another very interesting clip is of when he was working together with Vince Neal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmqzcJrizl8

It may be harsh, but you can't really cuddle someone to death on something like this - the way he says it may hit hard, but it will definitely help a lot. Interesting btw that he did these two Swedish shows then, cool to see more of him in Europe!

lew said...

I checked out the clip, Adi... and yes, Desmond is brutally honest but I like that. :) I just looked att the clip from "made in sweden" again and they didn't show the whole thing... 'cause after Desmond said it sucks ..and the singer defends himself... that's when Desmond really goes hard on him. :)You can view the whole empisode on their website but most of it is in Swedish so unless you speak Swedish ... ya know.. however, you can fast forward so you at least get to see the whole Desmond part. :) Look at the left side, scroll down a bit and you'll find a clip that says "Replay.. Se Made in Sweden igen"... that's the entire episode. :)

Gabbi said...

Ja, eftersom Bagge x2 och Carlsson själva kritiserade texterna hade det varit mer fair att förvarna Kim om att Desmond förmodligen skulle totalsåga grabben. Hur som helst tycker jag att det går att säga ärligt vad man tycker på två sätt. Ett respektfullt och ett rätt "tykigt". Desmond hade rätt i sak men jag tyckte nog han drog åt det "tykiga" hållet...