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This article discusses the "culture" of the United States; for customs and way of life, see Culture of the United States.
The development of the arts and entertainment in the United States— music, movies, dance, architecture, literature, poetry and the visual arts—has been marked by a tension between two strong sources of inspiration: European sophistication and domestic originality. Frequently, the best American artists have managed to harness both sources.
American culture has a large influence on the rest of the world, especially the Western world. American music is heard all over the world, and American movies and television shows can be seen almost anywhere. This is in stark contrast to the early days of the American republic, when the country was generally seen as an agricultural backwater with little to offer the culturally advanced world centers of Asia and Europe. Nearing the end of its third century, nearly every major American city offers classical and popular music; historical, scientific and art research centers and museums; dance performances, musicals and plays; outdoor art projects and internationally significant architecture. This development is a result of both contributions by private philanthropists and government funding.
American culture also exhibits a tendency to hybridize pop culture and so-called high culture, and generally questions normative standards for artistic output. This is likely an effect of the country's egalitarian tradition, and the nation's history of constitutionally protected freedom of speech and expression, as enshrined in the First Amendment.
American popular culture has expressed itself through nearly every medium, including movies, music and sports. Mickey Mouse, Babe Ruth, screwball comedy, G.I. Joe, jazzFor other article subjects named Jazz see jazz (disambiguation). Jazz is a musical art form characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. It has been called the first original art form to develop in th, the blues, The SimpsonsHomer, Marge, Maggie, Santa's Little Helper, Bart, Snowball II, and Lisa. The Simpsons is the longest-running animated television series and sitcom series in U. television history, with 16 seasons and 338 episodes since its debut on December 17, 1989., Michael JacksonFor other people with the same name, see Michael Jackson (disambiguation Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958) is one of the most successful popular music singers of all time. He has been called the "King of Pop" or the "King of music video"., Gone With the WindGone With the Wind is an American novel by Margaret Mitchell which was published in 1936, and an American film based on the book, that relates the story of a rebellious Georgia woman named Scarlett O'Hara and her travails with friends, family and lovers i, Michael JordanMichael Jeffery Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a former National Basketball Association player, by many accounts the best in history. An unstoppable force at both ends of the floor, Jordan ended a career of 15 full seasons with a regular-season scorin, Indiana JonesMadame Tussauds Indiana Jones is a fictional character, a bullwhip-toting archaeologist with an overdeveloped fear of snakes, played by Harrison Ford in a series of films by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Jones is modelled after the strong-jawed heroe, Sesame StreetA Celebration of Me, Grover showing much of the main cast of Sesame Street''. Left to right, a penguin, Elmo, Zoe, Big Bird, Grover, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster Sesame Street is an American educational television program for young children, which led the, Catch-22--these names, genres, and phrases have joined more tangible American products in spreading across the globes.
It is worth noting, that while America tends to be a net exporter of culture, it absorbs many other cultural traditions with relative ease, for example: origami, soccer, anime, and yoga.
It can be argued that this ability to easily absorb parts of other cultures and other languages is its greatest strength and helps American culture and language spread. Americans in general do not worry about protecting their "indigenous culture"(see below) but instead eagerly create and adopt new things and then change or modify to make them their own.