July 5, 2006
It's really the WORLD Cup (unlike the "World" Series)
It's such to watch the buzz about the World Cup, and to know that it really is the WORLD playing. I can't count the number of times I've been ribbed by non-American friends about our calling the annual baseball championship the World Series. A silly name, and, no, it's not called that because it was sponsored by a paper called the World News. That's an urban legend. I'm afraid it's plain old American hubris, something that raises its head from time to time.
Of course it wold have been nice to see an African or Latin American country in the semifinals. Amusing to see that it was "old Europe."
Posted by Karen Christensen at 8:05 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2006
A tale from the American West
I've just read a fabulous book, Buffalo for the Broken Heart, that I hope readers outside the United States will be able to find, because it beautifully presents traditional, iconic life in the American West along with changing consciousness about sustainability--and responsibility. It's the bad and the good, in an engaging memoir that may help you to understand us a bit better. It's also witty; I especially loved Dan O'Brien's observations about his neighbors, whom he is clearly fond of:
The lives and the pedigrees of my friends and neighbors were heavily vested in the belief that this land is 'cattle country.' In the view of some, their progenitors sacrificed everything to wrench the northern plains away from the dark forces of wildness, and they do not want to hear that the salvation of the land, and perhaps of the economy, might lay in a retrenching, a falling back to the greater wisdom of evolution. Hell, most of my neighbors don't even believe in evolution, even though they have been engineering evolution in the form of modified cattle for generations.
Dan O'Brien, ends the story with the launch of Wild Idea Buffalo, a company selling grass-fed free-range buffalo meat by mail order. Our first package arrives today, and we'll be eating it with our first peas.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 4:19 PM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2006
The national character of the Americans
One of the most famous, and infamous, books every published about the United States is Domestic Manners of the Americans, by Fanny Trollope. It was a huge hit in England. I can open it anywhere and find something amusing, acutely observed, and possibly true even today. I picked up my copy this morning and this was the first thing I saw, "Having now arrived nearly at the end of our travels, I am induced, ere I conclude, again to mention what I consider as one of the most remarkable traits in the national character of the Americans; namely, their exquisite sensitiveness and soreness respecting everything said or written concerning them." What do you think?
Posted by Karen Christensen at 8:49 AM | Comments (0)
June 6, 2006
A thought about Western civilisation
On Mahatma Gandhi's arrival at Southampton, 1930:
Reporter: "Mr Gandhi, what do you think of Western civilisation?"
Gandhi: "I think it would be a very good idea."
Posted by Trevor Young at 7:49 AM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2006
Watching "Super Size Me"
I guess I was wrong about Americans being unable to laugh at themselves. The documentary "Super Size Me" pokes fun at Americans and it was a big success; McDonalds really took a beating, and actually made changes in what they served after the movie took off. It showed more disgustingly bulging stomachs and thighs than I've seen in a while. The narrator was obnoxious though. Maybe his being thin (at the beginning, anyway) made it worse: do we like Michael Moore (those of us who do not hate him, that is) because he's fat and out of shape just like all people he's interviewing in the Midwest? Are they more comfortable talking to him because he is chubby and wears a baseball cap?
Fast foods is one of America's gifts to the world, and McDonalds is the most potent symbol of a host of global food companies. I got into trouble once for using the word 'McDonalds' in a book when I was talking about fast foods in general: it got me, and my small London publisher, caught up in the infamous McLibel trial, and I have the dubious honor of being the only American citizen harrassed as part of that expensive effort by McDonalds to stifle criticism. Read the letter I received from McDonalds's lawyers in London.
Like many things American, fast food is something many people around the world (our Xian taxi driver for one, whose favorite was KFC) love--and love to hate. Oddly enough, all cultures have their own fast foods, usually very delicious and cheap. Eating American food is a symbolic act, I suspect, to do with modernity and economic aspiration. If only we had something better to offer the world!
Posted by Karen Christensen at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2006
Comic perspectives on the U.S.A.
Americans are not known for a self-deprecating sense of humor, or even, it seems, for being able to laugh (an English colleague told me last week that she thinks Americans are far too serious about everything). But people in other parts of the world sometimes enjoy a good laugh at our expense, and seem to be able to find plenty of people in the United States to help them along. Here are a couple of clips from an Australian comedy show. First, "How about Kyrgystan?" from CNNN in Australia. Another CNNN clip made the rounds on the Internet and landed in my inbox last week. Consider it forwarded; you'll need to open this link, "Where to Attack Next" in Windows Media Player. Copy and paste the URL into the Media Player if clicking the link doesn't open the file: http://www.berkshirepublishing.com/assets_news/blog/wheretoattack.wmv
A posting on a message board comparing this show to "The Daily Show," which is one U.S. show that does get us to laugh at ourselves. It's hard for me to believe real people would say such stupid things, but perhaps I'm overestimating my country's people. Are they really unable to identify that very, very large island in the south Pacific? The interviewer has it labeled Iraq at one point (hm, Iraq? Australia?). If only I could believe that this is just a joke.
We've just set up a popculture database about global perspectives on the U.S.A. and would love to have volunteer contributors. We've put together wonderful collections on other topics, like Community and Human-Computer Interaction, and make them available free to teachers and students at our website. You'll need a password to be able to contribute, at the moment anyway, so please drop us a note if you'd like to take part, or send your list of suggestions.
Posted by Karen Christensen at 3:44 PM | Comments (0)