This movie is situated on the premise that prince Akeem is completely culturally ignorant of American life, and his assistant, Semmi is more adept and informed. Because of this, Akeem seems to develop distaste for the person that Semmi has become after living in America, because Semmi is sewing his wild oats while the king only thinks that Akeem is. Akeem however is focused on one target, Lisa, and is a nice guy in his approach. Lisa however is like most women, and involved with a man that is the typical bad boy, and the relationship is straining her. This movie both supports and disproves the nice guy mystique. This happens because although Akeem makes nice guy mistakes like purchasing $500k earrings for Lisa and calling himself an admirer in the note accompanied with them, he seems to be making positive progress with Lisa, and is able to remain the nice guy that he is. This culturally contradictory development may leave the audience wondering why Akeem’s advances are working, but the only explanation is that it is a movie, which is ultimately fictional. While making his attempts to enter into courtship with Lisa, Akeem’s cultural ignorance has abated, and his true romanticist side is revealed. The premise of the McDaniel article does not hold true for Akeem, nor does it hold true for many movies, but it is this cultural fantasy that allows for audience satisfaction. If this movie was a real life sequence of events in America, Akeem’s efforts would be met with staunch opposition and heartbreak.
