When Cultural Export Becomes Cultural Imperialism: The Booing Heard 'Round Perth
The sound of 50,000 Australians booing the Star Spangled Banner at WWE Crown Jewel in Perth last week has been echoing through my mind for days now. There’s something deeply satisfying about that collective “nah, get stuffed” moment that perfectly encapsulates how many of us feel about America’s relentless cultural evangelism.
The whole thing started because WWE decided to play the American national anthem at an Australian event, despite most of the wrestlers not even being American. When someone pointed this out online, the responses were fascinating - ranging from genuine confusion about why they’d do this, to tales of American anthems being played at speedway events and rodeos across the country for decades.
What struck me most was how normalised this behaviour has become. We’ve somehow accepted that American companies can rock up to our shores and treat us like we’re just another state in their union. It’s not just WWE - this is part of a broader pattern of cultural imperialism that we rarely question. When an American company hosts an event here, they bring their flag protocols, their anthems, and their assumptions that everyone should just go along with it.
The discussion reminded me of visiting a tech conference in Sydney a few years back where a Silicon Valley startup opened their presentation by getting everyone to stand for… nothing. They just expected us to stand because that’s what happens at their American events. The awkwardness was palpable as a room full of Australians slowly realised what was happening and reluctantly got to their feet. It felt like being made to participate in someone else’s patriotic ritual without consent.
But here’s what really gets under my skin - the complete lack of reciprocity. Can you imagine an Australian company hosting an event in America and making everyone listen to Advance Australia Fair first? They’d think we’d lost our minds. Yet somehow we’re expected to show reverence for their symbols while they couldn’t name our Prime Minister if their lives depended on it.
The rodeo connections mentioned in the discussion are particularly telling. Apparently, it’s common to see Confederate flags flying alongside Australian and Aboriginal flags at these events, which is just… bewildering. The Confederate flag represents a four-year period of American history - about as long as SeaChange ran on television, as someone brilliantly pointed out - yet we’re importing that symbolism along with the oversized belt buckles and Jim Beam sponsorship deals.
This isn’t really about hating Americans, though. Most Americans I’ve met personally have been lovely people who are often as confused by their country’s flag-worship as the rest of us. One person mentioned how they’d moved here from the States and found the daily pledge of allegiance ritual genuinely disturbing in retrospect. When you step outside that bubble, it’s easier to see how bizarre the whole performance really is.
What bothers me is how this soft power projection works. It’s not just about playing anthems - it’s about normalising American cultural dominance to the point where we don’t even notice it happening. Every time we passively accept these rituals, we’re reinforcing the idea that American cultural values should be universal values.
The Perth crowd’s response gives me hope, though. That spontaneous booing wasn’t organised or orchestrated - it was just thousands of Australians collectively saying “enough.” In a world where we’re constantly told to be more deferential to American cultural exports, there’s something deeply refreshing about that kind of authentic pushback.
Maybe it’s time we started expecting a bit more cultural respect from our international visitors. If you want to host events in Australia, respect Australian audiences. Play our anthem first, or better yet, skip the nationalism altogether and just get on with the entertainment. We didn’t come to see your flag ceremony - we came to watch people in masks throw each other around a ring.
The booing in Perth wasn’t anti-American - it was pro-dignity. And honestly, we could use more of that energy in our dealings with all forms of cultural imperialism, whether it comes wrapped in stars and stripes or any other flag.