Orientalism and The US of A

Orientalism is all around us. From the Chinese food we eat to the movies we watch. There's no escaping it. Did you know that on the menu's of the Chinese food places, most of the items on there aren't from China? Most of them are from other parts of Asia brought together to make the ultimate menu. When I found this out, I was shocked. I also wasn't that surprised. Then there are the movies. Some of the actors that should be played by people from Asia are represented by A-list actors that seem to "fit" the role. The actors primarily from Asia are sent to perform Kung-Fu Fighters or antagonists in other movies. The one thing I've noticed is that the countries in Asia appropriate our cultures as well. For example, Bollywood. Bollywood is the equivalent to Hollywood. They have there own A-list actors, and they're own area where they make there movies. I've seen part of one of the there movies, and I can safely say that they are as corny as ours. Another example is Japan. After we dropped the nukes and decimated most of the places in Japan, they rebuilt themselves to mirror the US. In the 50's and 60's, they wore our clothing, made movies like us and even started producing cars that looked like ours. One prominent vehicle being the Nissan skyline Kenmeri. The car came out in the 70's and looked a lot like the Mustang fastback at the time. The commercials for the car featured an American couple promptly named Ken and Meri. They went on road trips and toured the countryside. Not only is this a slight robbery of American culture but if you flip the names and add an A to the beginning, you get Ameriken. Interesting isn't it? Throught the years there have been loads of appropriation from all nations. But I thought that we wouldn't have some of the best things like ramen or, even in Japan, burgers. Orientalism has it's good and bad parts, but it partially makes the world go around.