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"I just wanna say one thing: God bless America."
—Biff Tannen, Back to The Future
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The United States is somewhat popular.
There is a certain hard-to-describe quality in the idea of something being "American". It means wholesome values, hard-working Protestantism, apple pies and soda shops. So, it's only natural that some American works will put "American" in their title as a way to signify what they are all about.
But, as some people would notice later, there are some Unfortunate Implications in including the word "American" as some sort of superlative. So, nowadays, it's more likely that you'll see an American Title in an ironic fashion than not, subverting the original meaning.
Of course, there's always the less popular American idea that the term "American" refers only to the place of origin of the described term, and is not related to a truckload of ideology, but thanks to Misaimed Fandom, it might be hard to convince others of this. It also raises the question of why no-one else does it.
Compare It Came From Beverly Hills
Contrast Eagle Land—this trope refers to titles that try to induce that American idea...in America!
Not to be confused with Market-Based Title.
American Examples[]
Of the straightforward variety[]
Film[]
- American Cousins
- American Graffiti
- American Movie
- The American President
- Coming to America
- In America.
- Once Upon a Time in America
- Made In America
Literature[]
Live-Action TV[]
- The American Embassy (which was set in London - ironically, the series was never screened on British television)
- The American Girls (about two correspondents for a newsmagazine called The American Report - this series aired in the UK as Have Girls, Will Travel)
- Love, American Style
Music[]
- American Beauty (the Grateful Dead album)
- One presumes the pasta brand and the flower (a type of rose, and the ultimate namesake of all the others) are also intended to be interpreted in a straightforward fashion.
- Don Mc Lean's "American Pie" (Song and LP)
- American Spirit
- American Recordings (Record label)
- "American Secrets", a song off of the Parachute album The Way it Was
- "American Girls", a single off of the Counting Crows album Hard Candy
Radio[]
- This American Life
- Letter From America
Western Animation[]
- The civics parts of Schoolhouse Rock, "America Rock"
Real Life[]
- American Greetings
Of the subversive variety[]
Comic Books[]
- American Century
- American Flagg!
- American Splendor (both the comic books and the film adaptation)
- American Virgin, in the first issues
- American Vampire
Film[]
- American Beauty (the movie)
- An American Carol
- American Dream
- American Dreamz
- American Gangster
- American Gigolo
- American Gun
- American History X
- American Me
- American Pie (Movie)
- American Pimp
- American Psycho
- American Wedding
- Angels in America (The subversion is of the whole title.)
- Wet Hot American Summer
- Team America: World Police
Literature[]
- An American Tragedy
- American Psycho
Live-Action TV[]
Music[]
- American Idiot
- American Jesus
- American Life
- Simon and Garfunkel's "America"
- And Paul Simon's "American Tune"
- American Woman
Other[]
- American Television
- Americano (the implication of the name is that Americans can't handle espresso unless it's watered down)
Theatre[]
- American Dream, play by George O'Neil
Video Games[]
Western Animation[]
Examples where the name only describes a nationality[]
Art[]
- American Gothic, a painting named after the architectural style American Gothic, which is the style of the house featured.
Comic Books[]
- American Virgin, in the later issues
Film[]
- An American Crime
- American Ninja
- An American Werewolf in London
- American Hardcore, a documentary of the American punk scene
Literature[]
- American Girl
- American Gods
- The Ugly American, in which the title character is physically unattractive but one of the nicest people (not to mention Americans) in the book
Live-Action TV[]
- America's Got Talent
- America's Next Top Model
- American Gladiators (But both British series have managed to get away with just been entitled Gladiators)
- American Idol, to contrast with Britain's...Pop Idol
- Hells Kitchen USA
- The Office: An American Workplace: when aired in the UK anyway, to differentiate from the original British version.
Video Games[]
- Cruisn USA
- "Super Mario USA" is a subversion since the game describes the version of Doki Doki Panic that came out in that country, where it's known as Super Mario Bros 2. This was to distinguish it from the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2.
Web Comics[]
Web Original[]
- American Kitsune
- There's a YouTube video called American Akira, intended as a parody of what Warner Bros. will do to Akira.