Show America Some Love
Being a Brit and living in Europe its hard not to notice that over the last couple of years the medias favourite sport has been bashing America and Americans.Now let me say from the start I'm no fan of the current administration,I think they're a bunch of self-serving opportunists who should stop acting like they own the country and remember that they're supposed to serve it.Having said that it seems like a country of 300 million people is getting unfairly judged on the actions of a handful of corporate politicians,that really annoys me its lazy,innacurate and racist.
So to do my bit to redress this injustice I give to you some of my reasons that America and Americans deserve your love:-
THEIR TV PROGRAMS.
Now I'm rightly proud of British TV there is some wonderful stuff produced in this country,but when America gets it right they can't be beaten.I've grown up with US Telly all my life from watching The A-Team and Knight Rider as a k** to classic sit-coms like Cheers,Soap and Friends.Then there's all the groundbreaking drama from Hill Street Blues and E.R. to more modern classics like The Sopranos and C.S.I..As a proud geek I love the Sci-Fi especially Smallville,Heroes and Battlestar Galactica,how dull my life would be without those shows.There's far too many great shows that have come out of the US to list but here are a few of my faves:-family Guy,Arrested Developement,Firefly,Carnivale,My Name Is Earl,Scrubs,That 70's Show,Will & Grace,House,Dexter,Chuck and so-on and so-on I've got to stop I could go on all night.
How can you not love a country that gave the world The Simpsons,possibly the greatest TV show ever made,that should be a get out of jail card for invading at least 2 or 3 small countries!
One more point about TV though,you have to stop MTV exporting their shows to Europe,Newlyweds,My Super Sweet Sixteen,The Ashlee Simpson Show and Date My Mom are doing more damage to Americas reputation here than anything Bush and his cohorts could do!
THEIR SENSE OF HUMOUR
Its an established stereotype here that American humour isn't as sophisticated as British/European humour,that American humour is slapstick or dick and fart jokes,that's absolute balls!Some of the greatest stand-ups ever are from the US Bill Hicks,Joan Rivers,Chris Rock,George Carlin,Lenny Bruce,(early)Steve Martin,Richard Pryor and Jackie Mason to name but a few.Its also thought that Americans can't do sarcasm or irony but how else do you explain Dubyas' election in 2004 if it wasn't a few million Americans showing us Europeans that they can be as sarcastic and ironic as anybody.
THEIR DIVERSITY
Whenever a story comes on the news over here about some crackpot Yank doing something bizarre we shake our heads and say "only in America" as if its a bad thing.This is something that should be celebrated,America is so big and made up of so many different races,religions and lifestyles that anything is possible.I love the fact that if you can imagine any lifestyle choice no matter how eccentric it probably exists in America,I truly believe you can find the very best and very worst of humanity in America and that's pretty special in one country.
ROCK AND ROLL
Arguably the greatest cultural event of the 20th century was the invention of rock and roll,I know you can quibble about where its roots are from but its essentially an American art form that has probably bought more joy to more people than any other.Imagine what your record collection would look like without it and all the music that it has spawned,its a pretty scary thought isn't it.
This is by no means a definitive list of the things I love about America but I don't want to bore you anymore than I have,I could have gone on about their movies,books,comics and ice-cream in more than 3 flavours(Rocky Road WOW!) but I'll leave you to think about that.So despite what its fashionable to think nearly every American I've met in person or online has been smart,kind,fun and a pleasure to talk to so give them some love and don't be drawn into the hating its just not cool.
So to do my bit to redress this injustice I give to you some of my reasons that America and Americans deserve your love:-
THEIR TV PROGRAMS.
Now I'm rightly proud of British TV there is some wonderful stuff produced in this country,but when America gets it right they can't be beaten.I've grown up with US Telly all my life from watching The A-Team and Knight Rider as a k** to classic sit-coms like Cheers,Soap and Friends.Then there's all the groundbreaking drama from Hill Street Blues and E.R. to more modern classics like The Sopranos and C.S.I..As a proud geek I love the Sci-Fi especially Smallville,Heroes and Battlestar Galactica,how dull my life would be without those shows.There's far too many great shows that have come out of the US to list but here are a few of my faves:-family Guy,Arrested Developement,Firefly,Carnivale,My Name Is Earl,Scrubs,That 70's Show,Will & Grace,House,Dexter,Chuck and so-on and so-on I've got to stop I could go on all night.
How can you not love a country that gave the world The Simpsons,possibly the greatest TV show ever made,that should be a get out of jail card for invading at least 2 or 3 small countries!
One more point about TV though,you have to stop MTV exporting their shows to Europe,Newlyweds,My Super Sweet Sixteen,The Ashlee Simpson Show and Date My Mom are doing more damage to Americas reputation here than anything Bush and his cohorts could do!
THEIR SENSE OF HUMOUR
Its an established stereotype here that American humour isn't as sophisticated as British/European humour,that American humour is slapstick or dick and fart jokes,that's absolute balls!Some of the greatest stand-ups ever are from the US Bill Hicks,Joan Rivers,Chris Rock,George Carlin,Lenny Bruce,(early)Steve Martin,Richard Pryor and Jackie Mason to name but a few.Its also thought that Americans can't do sarcasm or irony but how else do you explain Dubyas' election in 2004 if it wasn't a few million Americans showing us Europeans that they can be as sarcastic and ironic as anybody.
THEIR DIVERSITY
Whenever a story comes on the news over here about some crackpot Yank doing something bizarre we shake our heads and say "only in America" as if its a bad thing.This is something that should be celebrated,America is so big and made up of so many different races,religions and lifestyles that anything is possible.I love the fact that if you can imagine any lifestyle choice no matter how eccentric it probably exists in America,I truly believe you can find the very best and very worst of humanity in America and that's pretty special in one country.
ROCK AND ROLL
Arguably the greatest cultural event of the 20th century was the invention of rock and roll,I know you can quibble about where its roots are from but its essentially an American art form that has probably bought more joy to more people than any other.Imagine what your record collection would look like without it and all the music that it has spawned,its a pretty scary thought isn't it.
This is by no means a definitive list of the things I love about America but I don't want to bore you anymore than I have,I could have gone on about their movies,books,comics and ice-cream in more than 3 flavours(Rocky Road WOW!) but I'll leave you to think about that.So despite what its fashionable to think nearly every American I've met in person or online has been smart,kind,fun and a pleasure to talk to so give them some love and don't be drawn into the hating its just not cool.
14 年 前
i see now, what happened 6 days ago.