With such poor journalism comes ignorant sentiment
By:
My journey was smooth enough; the usual customs greeting was no quicker than in any other international airport and no sooner had I changed the time on my wristwatch I'd arrived in London. On an early Sunday morning my first encounter with the notorious 'tube' awaited. Just as I was kindly informed to "mind the gap" I boarded with four other people. Instantly the doors slammed behind us and I was pressed into the middle of the carriage. And as I squeezed my bag between my legs I could feel them. Those long hard gazes of ill feeling, stripping me clean of my American identity. No longer had I wished to be from the land of the free amongst these looks that left me condemned amongst an air of ignorance. I might as well have not existed.
Am I supposed to feel this way? Am I a no good filthy American? Or on the other extreme, are they simply elitist Englishman displacing another foreigner through misinformed stereotypes? As my time in London passed and I continued to engage with this historic city, I found a hospitable openness in a very tourist friendly town. I did get the occasional odd looks, the loud American snigger and jibe, and one bus driver treated me with such disregard that I wondered if it was simply an occupational hazard. This experience heightened my awareness of why Americans have come to be held in such disregard, and to be honest I can understand some of their perceptions. And as with all stereotypes, some truth is to be found amongst them.
On my first night in London I found myself in the obligatory pub drinking the proverbial pint...'loud mouth soup' To my surprise I noticed a man drinking water while writing a letter. The sincerity of the letter concept and its demise in the modern age caught hold of me. I started a conversation with him, and we quickly began talking about the turn of time and the present political climate soon crept up.
As often as it does these days, bitterness to the war in Iraq and resentment of American foreign policy awaits American tourists on most corners. With no malice behind the sentiment, I need not fear the political satire, and I asked about anti-American feeling and whether it was beginning to rise amongst the streets of London. The gentleman, an Aussie no less, had been living in London for the past fifteen years and gave an open response to my questions. Just as he had once dealt with anti-Australian sentiment, all be it at sporting events in which the rivalry between the two nations is fierce, he still had witnessed the national stereotypes infused with British sentiment.
My Aussie friend saw the sentiment in two parts: anti-Bush Republican notions which deemed the conservative religious values of a time since past, as aged in the dawn of moderate liberal politics. Secondly, American foreign policy was the leading reason for why people in the UK developed anti-American feeling. The English were convinced purely economic reasons drove the War. Intellectual snobbery also led some of the new anti-American notions, placing the American way of life was viewed as the dregs of cultural society. McDonalds, Preachers and Paris Hilton's each treated with similar contempt.
The lower-working class in the UK is as informed as a Fox viewer regarding matters of high political concern, through yet another Murdoch media outlet, The Sun is the nations leading tabloid newspaper, with page 3 tits and all. With such poor journalism comes ignorant sentiment and the UK's anti-American feeling is often the result of misinformed individuals by various news outlets.
A million people marched against the War in Iraq but were driven by less of a stance against America but more by a reflection of North European moderate politics. As most of Europe opposed the War in an age in which western culture is swamped by American motifs and popular culture; significant unrest has arisen. No deliberate boycott of American products and culture can be noted, but a significant rise in the success of homegrown talents in comedy, popular music and literature can be noted. Just as people turn off America and new anti-American sentiment can be found, we shouldn't be put off traveling. We should work to change American perception, and through conducting yourself in a respectable manner, just as any tourist would in any other country, we can begin to change the stigmas attached to negative elements of our culture.
Am I supposed to feel this way? Am I a no good filthy American? Or on the other extreme, are they simply elitist Englishman displacing another foreigner through misinformed stereotypes? As my time in London passed and I continued to engage with this historic city, I found a hospitable openness in a very tourist friendly town. I did get the occasional odd looks, the loud American snigger and jibe, and one bus driver treated me with such disregard that I wondered if it was simply an occupational hazard. This experience heightened my awareness of why Americans have come to be held in such disregard, and to be honest I can understand some of their perceptions. And as with all stereotypes, some truth is to be found amongst them.
On my first night in London I found myself in the obligatory pub drinking the proverbial pint...'loud mouth soup' To my surprise I noticed a man drinking water while writing a letter. The sincerity of the letter concept and its demise in the modern age caught hold of me. I started a conversation with him, and we quickly began talking about the turn of time and the present political climate soon crept up.
As often as it does these days, bitterness to the war in Iraq and resentment of American foreign policy awaits American tourists on most corners. With no malice behind the sentiment, I need not fear the political satire, and I asked about anti-American feeling and whether it was beginning to rise amongst the streets of London. The gentleman, an Aussie no less, had been living in London for the past fifteen years and gave an open response to my questions. Just as he had once dealt with anti-Australian sentiment, all be it at sporting events in which the rivalry between the two nations is fierce, he still had witnessed the national stereotypes infused with British sentiment.
My Aussie friend saw the sentiment in two parts: anti-Bush Republican notions which deemed the conservative religious values of a time since past, as aged in the dawn of moderate liberal politics. Secondly, American foreign policy was the leading reason for why people in the UK developed anti-American feeling. The English were convinced purely economic reasons drove the War. Intellectual snobbery also led some of the new anti-American notions, placing the American way of life was viewed as the dregs of cultural society. McDonalds, Preachers and Paris Hilton's each treated with similar contempt.
The lower-working class in the UK is as informed as a Fox viewer regarding matters of high political concern, through yet another Murdoch media outlet, The Sun is the nations leading tabloid newspaper, with page 3 tits and all. With such poor journalism comes ignorant sentiment and the UK's anti-American feeling is often the result of misinformed individuals by various news outlets.
A million people marched against the War in Iraq but were driven by less of a stance against America but more by a reflection of North European moderate politics. As most of Europe opposed the War in an age in which western culture is swamped by American motifs and popular culture; significant unrest has arisen. No deliberate boycott of American products and culture can be noted, but a significant rise in the success of homegrown talents in comedy, popular music and literature can be noted. Just as people turn off America and new anti-American sentiment can be found, we shouldn't be put off traveling. We should work to change American perception, and through conducting yourself in a respectable manner, just as any tourist would in any other country, we can begin to change the stigmas attached to negative elements of our culture.
<<< Back to MWC |
Print this story