I love being an American. I am live in a great country that lets you be who you want to be and drink beer out of an flag colored can while watching Fox News tell you why America is so good. That isn't the REAL reason I love America, but people will tend to make up their own minds about why people think America is great. I think it is easy to poke fun at American, we do some silly things sometimes. I am planning a trip to go to Daytona Florida with some buddies from college. 10 guys in a 12 passenger van riding around wearing tank tops and drinking beer. This will undoubtedly look ridiculous (especially if Joe orders those matching wolf t-shirts), but I can guarantee we will not be the only ones looking outrageous.
I have never been to a nascar race, but I am imagining some pretty outrageous things. In my mind, I will be overdressed if I only cut the sleeves off my shirt...
It would make sense that America would be the butt of a joke in other countries. I recently watched a clip from a British show starring Hugh Laurie (aka "House") where he played an American singer. He looks like a typical rocker from Jersey... plaid shirt, bandana, and an undeserved sense of accomplishment. It was funny as he played a song consisting mainly of the word "America" sung over and over in a very pious manner. It sends the message that when you are talking about America, the only thing to say IS "America."
Is this how we are seen by the rest of the world? I think that we are viewed differently by different cultures and countries. We might be cocky and dumb to one country but evil and dominating to another. It is clear that to those of the BBC viewing area we are pretty much in love with ourselves and while it is only a comedy show made to get a laugh, I think this sketch is true on some level. We have many things to boast about in America, but there are many things we can do better.
This clip also made me think of another British take on America and that is the movie "Love Actually." In it the newly elected Prime Minister meets with the President of the United States. The Prime Minister is a humble and confident man with good morals while the President is a southern chauvinistic jackass. The opposite is seen in the movie "The Patriot" about the revolutionary war. In it the Americans are freedom fighters whereas the British troops are murdering dictators. Obviously "Love Actually" is a a British made film where "The Patriot" is made in America.
So this goes both ways, different cultures view other cultures differently. I guess we just want to make it seem like the way we live life is normal. Other cultures must be lesser, inappropriate or wrong compared to ours because if they are normal... then what does that make us?
2 comments:
Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyHSjv9gxlE
I think it is really interesting how you incorporated the films to show how different countries show their take on a situation. I was trying to think of a similar example but could not come up with any. Also, Americans make fun of many other countries and cultures so it seems natural to me that we would be the butt of other countries jokes as well.
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