To riff again on well-worn themes. . . I think what I object to is this - despite the popularity of curry in the UK, there isn't one chain of Indian resteraunts, there isn't an Italian owned chain of Italian's (though there is Pizza Hut and Pizza Express and Dominos), no Chinese chain of Chinese (offering tie-in merchandise and reduced tickets for Chinese films with every childrens meal, and the main song on the soundtrack plugged to death on Chinese Music TV). On the other hand, where American culture is represented over here, it's almost always by the chain or franchise. I used to love the little (pre-fashion by several years) bagel shop run by an ex-pat American in Cardiff, with coffee served in the sort of mugs you'd drink from at home - but the spread of The Bagel Company and Starbucks is another matter, as is The Gap - we have enough bad chains of our own, thank you. Now I'll accept there's plenty of people in the US who feel strongly about this too - strongly enough to not actually eat in McDonalds and then complain about American cultural imperialism after, but the point is this is how, generally, your culture makes itself felt on the rest of us, not in the way it did 30 years ago. _____________________________________________________________ Want to find the best email lists? Check out the Topica 20! http://www.topica.com/topica20
