39,327
edits
American Dream: Difference between revisions
m
update links
m (Mass update links) |
m (update links) |
||
Line 32:
Cynical takes on the American Dream also tend to treat it more as a fantasy, or even a delusion, than a realistic dream. Instead of a land of unlimited possibilities and opportunity, America is a land of limited resources and people all competing for them; this means that there's only going to be so much of the pie available to share, and not everyone is going to get an equal slice. Thus, there's at least one loser (if not more) for every winner; someone's got to clean the streets and scrub the toilets after all.
Again in fiction the [[American Dream]] tends to be depicted as either to getting really, really rich or else living a happy suburban life like [[The Fifties|1950s]] sitcom characters. But this time if you go for the former you'll discover that it's [[Lonely At the Top]] and if you go for the latter you'll find yourself condemned to an [[Awful Wedded Life]]. [[Sadistic Choice|Take your pick]].
----
Seriously, what the [[American Dream]] entails is constantly up for debate, but it's usually agreed that it involves all citizens being allowed to achieve what they want, or at least the opportunity to ''try''. Often it is pointed out that different minorities have commonly been handicapped in chasing the [[American Dream]] compared to other Americans. The term [[American Dream]] is often used in the context of immigrants coming over to the "Land of Opportunity" (think of the song "America" from ''[[West Side Story]]''). Of course, not everyone comes over to America, so a whole lot of people stay with whatever the dream is in their country.
Line 38:
May have some relation to the [[Discworld|Ankh-Morporkian Dream]], reportedly that of "making boatloads of cash in a place where your death was not likely to be a matter of public policy".
See also and compare [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], the city synonymous with "change" in fiction.
Not to be confused with [[Professional Wrestling|"The American Dream"]] [[Dusty Rhodes]], with the [[Distaff Counterpart]]/successor/possible daughter of [[Captain America (comics)]], Shannon Carter or with the erstwhile TV show ''[[American Dreams]]''.
{{reflist}}
| |||