With the end of the Cold War, the lifting of the Iron Curtain, and the explosion of telecommunications, the United States increasingly came to dominate world popular culture in the 1990s. Through its ubiquitous corporate icons and a bewildering array of well-marketed food, beverages, clothing, cars, music, computer software, restaurants, and films, the United States became a presence in even the most unlikely locations. One of the most visible developments was the proliferation of American fast-food companies accompanying the collapse of Communism in Europe—in particular the symbolic opening of the first McDonald's in the Soviet Union in 1990. By the end of the decade, the chain had 24,500 restaurants in 115 countries. The Coca-Cola Company, another American icon, owned more than 900,000 vending machines in Japan alone. The international influence of American popular culture was also well illustrated in the film industry. As of mid-1999, the top-40 highest-grossing films outside of the United States were American productions, aside from two James Bond features that were joint efforts between the United States and the United Kingdom. One had to drop to number 76 on the same list to find a movie that was not in English (‘Life is Beautiful' by the Italian director Roberto Benigni). The hegemony of the United States and the English language internationally engendered a peculiar mix of adulation and resentment. The incursion of American culture in France provided a telling example. While fond of comedian Jerry Lewis, the French resisted such imports as fast food and Euro Disneyland, the theme park that struggled after opening near Paris in 1992. Yet even the French grew more accepting of American ways. By the end of the 1990s, the park, renamed Disneyland Paris, had turned a profit, and the stalwart McDonald's had more than 600 outlets throughout the country. |