Does an Item’s History and Origin Make It Inevitably American? If Yes, How?”

I would say yes and no, as far as fast food I would say yes; during my time in the military I came across a lot of fast food chains. Mainly McDonalds, but what really surprised me was when I went to Singapore; they had Burger King, Subway, and KFC. When I saw KFC, I had to try it just to see if it was like America, and it was. I mean they didn’t have these restaurants near the pier where the ships pull in, they were out in town. Hard Rock Café and Planet Hollywood are other places are other examples of why I say yes. When it comes to music, other countries watch MTV and Hip Hop is really big. I was watching a Hip Hop award show and noticed that they had rappers from other countries rapping in their language, I was amazed. As far as TV shows and movies I would say no; we as Americans are running out of ideas, meaning we are now copying shows from other countries. American Idol and XFactor are two examples of why I say no, both shows were knock offs from Britain shows. When it comes to films I never knew how many movies we (meaning Americans) have taking foreign movies and put a twist on them until I was working at Blockbuster videos. I can name two movies that were copied; “Let Me In” came out in 2010 is a American romantic horror film which is based on the 2008 Swedish film “Let the Right One In”. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2009 Swedish drama thriller film based on a Swedish novel; in 2011, an American version was in the theaters. I hope my examples justify why I say yes and