Quote:
Originally Posted by noodle
MMM, i totally agree with you, i've met lots of nice americans (one married my good friend who was english) that didn't judge me cos i was speaking in a british accent or what not. but unfortunately human nature (me anyway) seems to retain bad experiences more than good experiences thus many stereotypes are created (to make one feel better in a way).
You should also blame the media for creating stereotypes.. for example the "american kids are fat, stupid...... etc" in the news and the net i don't stop seeing stuff about this. for example last night i saw a clip on french tv where and american journalist asked people in the street "in terms of the war on terror, which country do you think is next to invade" Some of the answers were ridiculous, like some young boy and his mother both said FRANCE, and when they were asked to put a pin on the map to show where france was, they put it on Australia cos they changed the names of the countries.
This kinda media just encourages all the stereotypes.
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This media is in shown in the US, too. It is tragic and embarrassing. I do understand where these sterrotypes come from, and you will find no flags waving in front of my home. That kind of yellow journalism is a partly at fault, but it's also that we live in a big country bordered by two oceans and only two other countries, so people, especially in the middle are literally insulated from the rest of the world.
I spent only a small amount of time in St. Louis (which is in almost the direct center of the US) and the idea that I was 1,500 miles from any ocean was almost debilitating to me. People get used to what they get used to.
