American Pop Culture Rules the World!

Since I live outside the US, I'm not completely inundated by normal American pop trends. This is not a bad thing, but does lead to being totally lost when talking to other Americans about the US and what is and is not currently "popular" with the unwashed masses. Usually, when pop trends in the US hit foreign countries (like Italy), they are already over-exposed in the US and everyone has moved on to the next "big thing". However, every once in a while, something will come along and hit Italy about the same time that it hits the US. The Star Wars phenomenum along with the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are three things that jump to mind.

Last night, I saw yet another example of how American pop culture rules the world. Most people in the US know that the highly-anticipated (in some circles) Dukes of Hazzard movie opens this weekend in the US. Apparently Jessica Simpson decided to do a remake of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walking" for the movie. While I was flipping thru the TV channels last night (channel surfing is not an American quirk), I stumbled onto MTV Italia (I think) and a music video of Jessica doing a cover of Nancy's song with some help from Willy Nelson (isn't he dead yet?). I was surprised that Italians would put this video in rotation since the "Dukes of Hazzard" was a typical, American redneck TV show and the film hasn't opened here yet (if it does at all). At least, that's what I thought until the end of the video, which shows Jessica washing the Dukes of Hazzard car wearing a red bikini. So, just like horn-dog Americans, Italians will watch anything featuring a bimbo in a bikini.

BTW, after seeing this video and hearing other "stuff" on the internet, I'll predict that the movie will do very well at the box office and well enough that there will be a sequel. Why? For the main reason that movies about two "good-ol-boys" driving fast cars and featuring bikinis and other skimpy outfits for female cast members appeals to the "inner redneck" in all Americans. You might be some highly-educated, Wall Street investment banker from New York, but deep down inside, you long to hang out with men named "Cletus" and "Wilbur", make "moonshine" and drive a car named after a Civil War general. A redneck's "Peter Pan" existence.