ChatterBank4 mins ago
A question about stereotypes.
I'm from the States and I was wondering about American stereotypes in media in the UK.
Like:
Are there many?
Are they generally accepted as true?
Does it color(colour) your impressions when you meet somebody from the US?
Like:
Are there many?
Are they generally accepted as true?
Does it color(colour) your impressions when you meet somebody from the US?
Answers
yes he says he like to do his bit to help, i say how many feckn africans have a 63 inch waist....?
00:27 Wed 20th Apr 2011
What I like about the good ol' US of A is its diversity and tolerance, as evinced from this clip from the 60s.
http://www.youtube.co...h?gl=GB&v=dOKqzJJvEOw
http://www.youtube.co...h?gl=GB&v=dOKqzJJvEOw
When I worked in London in the 1980's the American tourists were stereotypically large, brash, rude, demanding but wealthy.
When I went to the US in 2007 I was delighted to receive an extremely warm welcome from everyone I met. I soon realised that those people I'd encountered in London were just one type and the nation is as mixed as it could be. You are far better at customer service than I had expected and far less agressive than your reputation.
When I went to the US in 2007 I was delighted to receive an extremely warm welcome from everyone I met. I soon realised that those people I'd encountered in London were just one type and the nation is as mixed as it could be. You are far better at customer service than I had expected and far less agressive than your reputation.
It says on Wikipedia that tw3 was still on the BBC in 1963. I don't know who the announcer is. Still, satire is laughing at something that's not really funny. There is still plenty of bigotry, don't get me wrong. Its a pattern of thought passed down from generations that may never be stomped out. Black stereotypes exist, but most aren't propagated in main stream culture. Tom and Jerry have had all the black-face cut out of them. Bugs Bunny too, if you see it anymore at all. Too politically incorrect. Sesame Street First Season is rated PG of all things.
I've always wanted an excuse to post this lot!
Americans . .
. . . are overweight ;
. . . are pushy ;
. . . are loud-mouthed ;
. . . believe that they live in the greatest nation in the world (despite a considerable amount of evidence to the contrary) ;
. . . don't understand irony ;
. . . have little concept of 'culture' ;
. . . are likely to 'bible bashers' ;
. . . shy away from any political ideas which could be branded as 'socialism' without even considering the possible merits of those ideas ;
. . . fail to understand that their flag is just a piece of cloth ;
. . . are insular, with little knowledge of what's going on in the rest of the world ;
. . . expect everything to be done 'the American way', even when they're thousands of miles from home ;
. . . believe their country to be above international laws and agreements ;
. . . seem willing to accept a considerable amount of aggression and violence in their media but flinch from the portrayal of loving sex ;
. . . believe that 'quantity' is far more important than 'quality' when eating a meal ;
. . . don't know what good beer should taste like ;
. . . have no real concept of what a love of quality cheese is all about ;
. . . are obsessed with 'celebrity' ;
. . . are incapable of producing quality TV ;
. . . fail to understand that European cinema (particularly in France and Spain) is vastly superior to anything that Hollywood can turn out ;
That's just a few starting points!
Well, you DID ask for stereotypes!!!
Americans . .
. . . are overweight ;
. . . are pushy ;
. . . are loud-mouthed ;
. . . believe that they live in the greatest nation in the world (despite a considerable amount of evidence to the contrary) ;
. . . don't understand irony ;
. . . have little concept of 'culture' ;
. . . are likely to 'bible bashers' ;
. . . shy away from any political ideas which could be branded as 'socialism' without even considering the possible merits of those ideas ;
. . . fail to understand that their flag is just a piece of cloth ;
. . . are insular, with little knowledge of what's going on in the rest of the world ;
. . . expect everything to be done 'the American way', even when they're thousands of miles from home ;
. . . believe their country to be above international laws and agreements ;
. . . seem willing to accept a considerable amount of aggression and violence in their media but flinch from the portrayal of loving sex ;
. . . believe that 'quantity' is far more important than 'quality' when eating a meal ;
. . . don't know what good beer should taste like ;
. . . have no real concept of what a love of quality cheese is all about ;
. . . are obsessed with 'celebrity' ;
. . . are incapable of producing quality TV ;
. . . fail to understand that European cinema (particularly in France and Spain) is vastly superior to anything that Hollywood can turn out ;
That's just a few starting points!
Well, you DID ask for stereotypes!!!
But you also asked for whether those stereotypes colour* my impressions when I meet someone from the US. (*Thanks for recognising that US English isn't the ONLY version!)
My response is to state that I'm unsurprised when I meet someone who conforms to most of what I've written, but I'm also pleased to acknowledge that many Americans don't conform to stereotypes.
For example, I met a guy (through this site) who was visiting the UK for the first time. We corresponded a great deal and I eventually gave him a guided tour of Paris (on a day trip from London). He lived in the Rocky Mountains (Lake City, Colorado) and his attitudes seemed 'stereotypical'. (He didn't even attempt a single word of French in Paris, not even a simple 'Merci'. I got the impression that he just assumed that US English ought to be used everywhere in the world). Throughout his stay in the UK he wouldn't go into a pub, as he was convinced that the beer wouldn't be to his liking and that he's probably get attacked anyway!
But a few weeks ago I met a US couple (from Nevada) who had only arrived in the UK an hour or two earlier. They immediately sought out a traditional British pub (which is where I met them), ordered British beer and (after enquiring what is was!) 'toad in the hole' for lunch.
I was unsurprised when the first guy met many stereotypes but I was delighted to meet the couple who didn't. (I used to run a railway station, where I met many American tourists. The vast majority were happy to immerse themselves in British culture but there were still a small minority who repeatedly, and very firmly, protested "We don't do things that way in the States"!).
Chris
My response is to state that I'm unsurprised when I meet someone who conforms to most of what I've written, but I'm also pleased to acknowledge that many Americans don't conform to stereotypes.
For example, I met a guy (through this site) who was visiting the UK for the first time. We corresponded a great deal and I eventually gave him a guided tour of Paris (on a day trip from London). He lived in the Rocky Mountains (Lake City, Colorado) and his attitudes seemed 'stereotypical'. (He didn't even attempt a single word of French in Paris, not even a simple 'Merci'. I got the impression that he just assumed that US English ought to be used everywhere in the world). Throughout his stay in the UK he wouldn't go into a pub, as he was convinced that the beer wouldn't be to his liking and that he's probably get attacked anyway!
But a few weeks ago I met a US couple (from Nevada) who had only arrived in the UK an hour or two earlier. They immediately sought out a traditional British pub (which is where I met them), ordered British beer and (after enquiring what is was!) 'toad in the hole' for lunch.
I was unsurprised when the first guy met many stereotypes but I was delighted to meet the couple who didn't. (I used to run a railway station, where I met many American tourists. The vast majority were happy to immerse themselves in British culture but there were still a small minority who repeatedly, and very firmly, protested "We don't do things that way in the States"!).
Chris