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Akeem’s cultural ignorance is something that becomes a part of the movie, and carries over into his attempt to find his bride. Akeem’s attempts at finding a bride are at first futile, mainly because he has no knowledge of the culture of dating. Akeem has also been raised to have respect for others, and not to be frivolously unkind, a feature that is crippling when it comes to attracting a woman. Another factor hurting his chances with women is the fact that his entire life, women have thrown themselves at him, and performed sexual favors for him willingly, substantiated in his discussion with his father where the king says that he hopes Akeem has come to learn that he can have sex with his bathers as his father does. These factors in Akeem’s life have led him to become what American dating culture terms, a “nice guy.”
Being a nice guy in America is perhaps the worst thing a man can do to himself if he does not have some high social status, or great wealth. Anita McDaniel’s article that talks about women and their strange aversion for nice guys when it comes to dating says that “Women are not people that you have honest, reciprocal relationships with. You “keep” a woman. You “play the game” with a woman” (1). A key dating concept that Akeem does not possess an understanding of. Characters that are important to the nice guy tenet are introduced after Akeem goes on several dates with women that do not suit his preferences, and he decides to go to a black awareness week event showcasing the beautiful women of Queens NY. At this event, the final keynote speaker is introduced and she becomes the object of Akeem’s desires. In an attempt to meet Lisa and attract her, Akeem decides to apply for a menial job at her father’s fast food restaurant, advertised at the end of her speech, under the assumption that he is a poor man.
image borrowed from wikimedia.com
