A case in point ...
Jan. 8th, 2011 04:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blamebramptonSo, there we were, having a chat on a friend's LJ about the differences between the US and the UK for purposes of a self-Britpicking list, with participants from both sides of the pond and beyond and frequent diversions into baiting and comedy from all sides, and apparently it has become a source of Flocked Drama.
Consider the argument very carefully: At least one American is very upset that British people prefer to be depicted in accurate ways.
And if you can't see why that's a bit dodgy, replace the word British with any other nationality.
I don't want to overstate the case, because really, it doesn't culturally oppress us the way that some other cultures have been oppressed by this sort of thing, since we don't deeply care and we had an Empire first. And while the original source of the complaint is a preference, it's certainly not a sine qua non, and we read heaps of stuff that gets us wrong, and some of it is good and some is crap, and really, at the end of the day we still pronounce and spell aluminium in ways that are scientifically logical, which in itself is enough. But, honestly ...
Interestingly, one of my points of difference was a tendency to soap-opera-like over-reactions in fiction. Clearly I drew the line too narrowly.
AND I left off the fact that it the entire United States has been the subject of mass-brainwashing to accept caffeinated flavoured beverages as coffee. Though I see Starbucks has dropped the word from their logo, truth in advertising at last!
Consider the argument very carefully: At least one American is very upset that British people prefer to be depicted in accurate ways.
And if you can't see why that's a bit dodgy, replace the word British with any other nationality.
I don't want to overstate the case, because really, it doesn't culturally oppress us the way that some other cultures have been oppressed by this sort of thing, since we don't deeply care and we had an Empire first. And while the original source of the complaint is a preference, it's certainly not a sine qua non, and we read heaps of stuff that gets us wrong, and some of it is good and some is crap, and really, at the end of the day we still pronounce and spell aluminium in ways that are scientifically logical, which in itself is enough. But, honestly ...
Interestingly, one of my points of difference was a tendency to soap-opera-like over-reactions in fiction. Clearly I drew the line too narrowly.
AND I left off the fact that it the entire United States has been the subject of mass-brainwashing to accept caffeinated flavoured beverages as coffee. Though I see Starbucks has dropped the word from their logo, truth in advertising at last!
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-08 07:44 pm (UTC)I have found that the popular culture, art, and media in the three countries I've lived in as a card-carrying local have tended to provide fairly accurate representations of expected/common beliefs and behaviours.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-08 08:15 pm (UTC)I don't understand this statement.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-08 08:17 pm (UTC)What I said was that stereotypes aren't stupid because there's no such thing as American culture (that is, they're stupid for other reasons). Because there IS such a thing as American culture. That was kind of the whole point of the comment preceding the last sentence...