Media in Americanah (so far)

One of the interesting aspects Adichie explores in Ifemelu's transition to the United States is the role media plays in Americans' self image, and the ideal of happiness. Ifemelu has watched American television programs and films for much of her life because they are available in Nigeria, but she is first exposed to American advertisements when she arrives in the U.S. She explains, "She ached for the lives they showed, lives full of bliss, where all problems had sparkling solutions in shampoos and cars and packaged foods, and in her mind they became the real America, the America she would only see when she moved to school in the autumn" (Adichie 114). Through this exposure to media, Ifemelu begins to understand the fundamental ideals of the American population, and even finds herself pulled into the culture, dreaming of the kind of happiness these advertisements boast of. Interestingly, she also notices that the news channels she tunes into are full of tragedies and fear. Though she finds herself reacting in her own fear, refusing to go outside alone at certain times in the night, her aunt scoffs at the dramatized portrayal that American newsstations offer: "If you keep watching television, you will think these things happen all the time. Do you know how much crime happens in Nigeria? Is it because we don't report it like they do here?" (Adichie 115). Aunty Uju is aware of the ways in which American news stations have turned true events into entertainment, and expresses that though the same events occur in Nigeria just as (if not more) often, they are not advertised as they are in America to incite fear and to keep citizens glued to their television, dependant on their nightly newscasters to keep them informed and warned. 

I wonder how much of this focus on the existence of an "ideal" that everyone should strive for is inherently American. What is it about reaching for an ultimate goal of happiness, and then complicating and dramatizing this picture with images of fear and danger in the news, that is so quintessentially American (or at least Western)? For many American youth, children of immigrants and immigrants themselves, from all over the world, are depicted as having very specific standards, stressing the need for an Ivy League education and a useful, lucrative profession. Why, then, is it American culture that seems to stress so strongly the need for the "right" kind of happiness, created through materialism and wealth?