CULTURE TOPIC.. why did I choose the Kennedy brothers?!?!?!

As our culture days are coming closer and my culture paper is finally finished I want to tell you guys WHY I chose this specific topic. Well, I have to admit I am not very interested in politics. I know that I SHOULD be, after all, politicians can decide what’s happening in our country. And we can definitely not take it for granted that we have at least a little say in Austrian politics. That’s why I request everyone to go to the elections and make use of the chance to have a say in our politics! Many countries do not have this right..

However, I don’t want to digress from my actual topic… why did I choose the Kennedy family… good question. First of all I have to tell you that I have always been interested in people’s biographies. Although this might sound a bit weird, but I just like it. Of course I am not interested in my neighbors biography (this would be really weird!!), but in lives of people who have achieved something great. That’s not the only reason why I chose them. It was a couple of months ago when I was watching a documentary film about the family. As they are one of the most famous families in America, there are a number of movies and documentaries about the clan. The one I watched lasted for about three hours and really captivated me. It was actually about JFK himself, and his life before his presidency as well as the few years (1000 days!) as president of the United States. Of course they were also talking about his assassination and the various theories ..”WHO killed JFK?!?!?!” Well, this is probably a question that will never be answered. 

Anyway, before I had watched this documentary I didn’t really know a lot about John F. Kennedy, let alone the rest of the Kennedys. When we were talking about a culture topic in English class, I immediately had them in mind. I wanted to know more about the Kennedys anyway. It took me some time until I decided to write about the Kennedy brothers, John (Jack), Bobby and Ted (there is another brother, Joe, but he is not that important) but in the end I really got a deeper insight into their lives. What surprised me the most was the fact that, apart from JFK, Robert Kennedy as well was very important in American politics and even ran for president. When I was doing my research I also found some shocking information. A large number of Kennedys died in mysterious accidents. Besides the fact that Bobby Kennedy got assassinated too, there were several plane crashes which killed some members of the family (for example their sister as well as JFK’s son). 

All in all, the topic was very interesting and I gained at least a little insight into America’s politics. 

Bobby, Ted & JFK (l. to r.)

"The land of opportunity.."

As I was studying some of the American culture I came across a lot of very interesting topics. Some topics really fascinated me! But I have to admit that I didn’t really know a lot about the American history before. Some terms had been totally new to me such as Appalachia, the Forty-Niners or the Louisiana Purchase and the Trail of Tears. As America is one of the biggest and most influential countries in the world I think it is necessary to know about its cultural background. 

A lot of the events happened in the 19^th century, such as the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 or the California gold rush in 1848. It fascinated me that so many people travelled to the US just because they wanted to get rich. I wonder if such an immigration wave would break out nowadays too. Probably not.
What really caught me was the speech of Martin Luther King. Of course his name wasn’t new to me but I have never listened to his whole speech before. I just knew his famous words “I have a dream..”. King mentioned some really important points in his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial, who was a very important man in American history too. It is almost inconceivable that it took such a long time until the blacks got the same civil rights as the white population. Although the black people technically became citizens in 1868. It took another 100 years until the end of segregation. In 1963 Martin Luther King fought for the rights of the black population and 45 years later America got his first black president. What a great turn in America’s history :)

Talking about the president, I have also learned about the Capitol and the process how bills become laws. This was quite interesting as well. I think it is not that different from Austria’s system. Well, I am not quite sure as politics has never been one of my favorite topics :D 

Anyway, I really enjoyed learning something about the American culture and I think it is never bad to know the backgrounds and the beginnings of a foreign country. Especially if it is the culture of a world power.. 

the stereotypical image of the USA :D