The quote describes American culture as one built upon the idea of nostalgia, yet there's a gap between the nostalgia and memories. Thanks to mechanical reproduction, previously analyzed by Walter Benjamin, there's a capability for "print capitalism" to reach out to other corners of the world, creating a power of mass literacy. Americanization can be closely bound to commodification, a term discussed by Jameson, creating blurred lines between reality and fiction.
Arjun talks about the distance from metropolitan areas and their correlating lack of reality to media images. I found this to be an interesting concept because it's an idea I found relatable to my personal knowledge. Think of the locations in America, away from all big cities or with smaller populations, and the way they perceive the modern world. On a much smaller scale, I've had friends who had never been to New York City and the way they would talk about it would be so far fetched from it's reality, in the sense that I have visit numerous times and know the city pretty well at this point. To go even further, there's the separation between countries, bringing back Hooks discussion of the Other and people's desire to come in contact with it.
http://thechive.com/2010/08/04/asians-in-american-t-shirts-made-me-lol-more-than-i-should-24-photos/
The shirt, pictured at top of page, is from China where they wear clothing with English as fashion statements and yet the wording tends to make no sense. I thought this exemplified, in a humorous light, the gap between two cultures.
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