What stereotypes are perpetuated in the minds of arabs and europeans from watching american TV and movies?|||I can't speak for Arabs, but being British I can say that the effect of TV and movies has a number of ways of impacting our impression of Americans.
Initially, when I was younger, I noticed how different the US sense of humour was to ours. However over time this seems to be less so - I'm not sure if this simply because of the higher levels of US TV that we have now, or possibly the increase in globalisation which has led to some US brand targeted humour being more easily understood by us, as we share more and more brands with the US.
Beyond this, I began to notice how much history seemed to be re-written by Americans - especially in regards to the second world war; the role played by the US being increasingly portrayed as the only role of importance and indeed that of other nations being portrayed as insignificant or even counterproductive. A most obvious example of this can be seen in a film called U-571, which completely rewrote the facts to make the crucial taking of said u-boat and the most important enigma machine that it carried a US operation, rather than the British success that it had actually been.
Such rewrites of history leave a bad taste in the mouth of nations whose importance to the war effort was every bit as vital as that of the US, as well as giving the impression of a rather ego centric nation, intent on establishing itself as THE world power in every aspect of history that it can.
Moving on, the nature and role of firearms in the culture of Americans is portrayed as almost the only facet of American society with any real meaning - almost every TV show or film that comes out of the US involves guns in some way or other. This is very different to the lives of most Europeans and gives the impression of a gun toting cowboy/hoodlum civilisation in the 21st century - something which I failed to see during my time in the US. In fact, beyond the airport, I cannot remember seeing any guns at all in my 2 month stay in the US.
Although to a continuously lessening amount, the nature of white Americas racism is also quite apparent in both TV and movies, even if only in the extent to which black and white people are shown to interact socially. More unconsciously this is also portrayed in the nature of black roles in US TV or films - if someone has to die it always seems to be the black guy - so much so that this has even become an established part of black counter culture comedy, such as can be seen in many Wayan brothers productions.
Money, whilst no doubt important globally, is shown as being the only real measure of a persons worth in the US, with programs like The OC and the 90120. Aspiration is shown only toward financial goals, with little (if any) importance placed in the community (local, national or global).
Unfortunately, this is also supported not only through US TV and movies, but also within US home and foreign policy shown on the news, as can be seen in the US healthcare (which has finally seen some reform, even if it only managed to pass by a narrow margin) and welfare or actions such as going to war for oil (despite alternative "justifications" being given).
Maybe one of the biggest impacts, on the view of overseas viewers on American life, is the portrayal of a docile people, lied to and ignored by its government, even when the evidence surrounding the lies is staggering and made so public. Most obviously this refers to events such as 9/11 and the assassination of JFK, but also points to the the above healthcare issues, the war in Iraq and more - all of which has been shown in US documentaries shown here.
Finally I would point to the high levels of nationalism portrayed in US TV and movies, which has some relation to the point I raised regarding US historical re-writes. All too often we hear "America is the greatest place on earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", screamed and shouted either by military personnel or drunken jocks. It would seem, if the TV were taken as a true representation, that there is some need for Americans to convince themselves of this idea, no matter how much truth there may be in it, given that the US does not even feature in the top 10 countries.
In summary, the overall impression of Americans given by US TV and film is that of a violent, mentally enslaved people, obsessed with financial gain and the assertion that they are and their country are the most import thing in the world, ever.
As bad as this may seem, it is important to note two things:
1. This is an impression left on us by your own media.
2. Most importantly, this view does not stand up to real life experiences of Americans. As I have mentioned, I spent a little time in the States and can only say that I found everyone (without exception) that I met to be most friendly, genial and engaging.
Additional:
Rochester McBean's comments seems to only support the above - how funny is that!!|||I am an Arab girl %26amp; here's the stages of what I thought of Americans:
Stage number (1)
when i was a kid, I used to think of them as pure evil who are always drunk %26amp; taking drugs! and all of them got HIV, Fat %26amp; Dirty! that they molest children %26amp; rap women 24/7, murders and thugs! etc etc lol
Stage Number (2)
when i was a teenage %26amp; due to the influence of watching Oprah and listening to Britney lol I have became obsessed with the American lifestyle!
Stage Number (3)
Late teenage when I truly disliked their government %26amp; the way they fund and support Israel %26lt;The Terrorist%26gt; against Palestinians %26amp; allowing them to do whatever they want! I hate their Ignorance %26amp; racism towards anything that's non white or even American~~
Now I am in the NUMB stage lol|||That the americans are stupid beyond belief. They eat the worst food for the body and wonder why they're fat and out of shape. They no very little about their own political system, world events, etc. Also, they are arrogant. Of course, they are few who deviate from the mean...|||Many people who have European or Arab heritage are living in the USA.
They are these Americans you are asking us to describe in stereo types.
That is why they used to describe America as a big melting pot.
If you want to know what people who live either in Europe or the Middle east and have only experienced the USA through it's media because they have never travelled think of Americans?
Well, perhaps if I was a very stupid British person I might be surprised that Americans do not all look like Bruce Willis and do not always arrive on the scene in a flaming car wreck, toting a missile launcher, machine gun, utility belt, several hand grenades, puffig on a Cuban cigar, eating a big mac and guzzling a diet coke.
Most people these days are a lot less stupid than Americans believe them to be.|||That we are the wild west...lol, but the funny thing is the wild west stereotypes tell a lot about how America still is to this day.|||Untrue, prejudice, stereotypes.|||What makes you think Americans give a SHlT ??
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