Originally posted by: knyghtbyte
right, first things first, Gurck, with the phrase 'i hate to say this...' it does not mean im angry, the phrase is simply a modernised way of saying 'i am loathe to say this', which means i'd rather not, but feel in this instance i would like to make a point. It does not have to mean out of anger, altho i guess its possible its used by people in that context as well.
Secondly, where in my post do i 'claim' to be intelligent? i am making a point based on facts i have gleaned from various sources in my life, some are UK biased, some USA, some European, Middle Eastern, Asian, Far Eastern, eligiously & Politically biased, and simply collated them as best as i can.
Thirdly, I do not assume 300 million people can be covered by a few blanket statements, but when you use media such as film & computer games to portray historic events in a light of your choosing then you can seriously affect the knowledge of a generation still learning (meaning school children) and give them a sense of superiority without them having earned their right to that level of thought. It is all very well to make sure children are well educated and learned, but to educate them through believable media that isnt telling the truth throughout its product, but simply in a credit note at the end is not being responsible to others that share this world. I know the UK isnt blameless in regards to superiority complexes (the Tudor to Victorian Era) But this is the modern world now, truly modern, its time those ideas were nailed completely into the ground. How many children can you honestly say sit watching a film till the final credit has rolled up the screen and see it go dark?
And finally, no, most Europeans/UK people do not hate Americans, we simply have a reservation towards our history being bent to meet Hollywoods regime (which be honest, is mostly owned by people who also have a background say in things that happen in US Politics). Other than that most Europeans and UK people actually quite like American people due to the fact that you are generally nice and friendly. Like any country im sure there are elements that are not so nice in your populous, but thats nature. Overall from a tourist point of view i would be much happier visiting USA (i went to Michigan) than i would most European cities for the person to person situation (going in a shop, or restaurant, or needing help finding somewhere etc)
K1052, U-571 was not strictly a work of fiction. The events, the capture of codebooks/enigma from a German U-Boat (but with an English crew)did occur in real life. The fiction simply comes from the little tales surrounding individual crew members, and that the crew was USA.
I did see the part in the credits, when i get home i am going to check something as i cannot at the moment remember what it was, but something in those credits annoyed me (unless it was another war film, but im pretty sure it was U-571) to do with the way the English were mentioned. I'll post that later on.
Just to confirm, i personally have nothing against American people, i loved being in America when i came over, and have had many friends online from USA for nearly a decade now. The only problem i have is with the politics/media in America trying their hardest to downplay anyone elses part in some of the more significant events in history, and my main reason for this isnt out of patriotism as there have been things in the past that annoyed me that didnt even concern British history, but that i have a love for history and would rather it left intact. Yes the winners in the past were the ones that wrote the history books, but in more modern times there are far more people able to write history, which means its easier to gain an unbiased overall view. So why cant people stop trying to change the memory of history?
to finish, sorry for the massive posts, im at work, its dead here cuz Xmas is around the corner, so writing all this passes a decent amount of time.....hehe
Merry Krimbo to one and all, wherever you may be, whoever you may be, and however drunk you may be
Ah, I think I understand - so what you're saying is that Americans are too stupid to believe anything but what they see in movie theatres, thanks for clearing that up. Do you honestly think people leave a movie theater thinking they learned something or care? Those who care about accuracy will want a more credible source while those who don't might not even know what century the movie they just saw was set in, much less concern themselves with the details. If you want to make a point, stop harping on a single movie which I've never even heard of and give more & more pertinent examples. Most films don't even so much as touch on history.
By the way - you didn't visit "America", you visited the "US", and the ship's crew in the movie wasn't "USA", it was "American".. It's not that I care, but if you're going to make a stink about how all 300 million Americans don't know the difference in regards to the Netherlands based on what one American said, I'll point out that you didn't know the converse. Were I in your shoes, I would feel quite embarassed at that blatant display of hypocrisy :laugh: Going by your logic, I could hereby conclude that all Brits are idiots... but I'm not so shortsighted, and wouldn't be even if it were fashionable in the US to hate Europeans.
"cuz" isn't a word either
I'm not denigrating my country
but the fact is that we area)small
b)pretty much insignificant in the greater scheme of things
c)have great beer and chocolate
d)make great guns
feralkid
Lifer
- Jan 28, 2002
- 16,937
- 5,035
- 136
Great!
I haven't seen much about it on U.S. media yet.
I would love to some day visit some of the historic areas pertaining to these events. I was in Normandy for the 60th, and while it was quite a rewarding experience, I think because of the crowds, those who watched it on television saw / heard more of the comemorations more than we did.
Preyhunter
Golden Member
- Nov 9, 1999
- 1,774
- 12
- 81
hehe
we are top 5 in the world for internet broadband connections
you would have hated it here because in all the schools French is mandatory for all Flemish kids
there is no escaping it
SarcasticDwarf
Diamond Member
- Jun 8, 2001
- 9,574
- 2
- 76
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
I'm looking at immigrating there
you are joking right???
why would you immigrate to Belgium?
I"m really curious why
Ah, I think I understand - so what you're saying is that Americans are too stupid to believe anything but what they see in movie theatres, thanks for clearing that up. Do you honestly think people leave a movie theater thinking they learned something or care? Those who care about accuracy will want a more credible source while those who don't might not even know what century the movie they just saw was set in, much less concern themselves with the details.
By the way - you didn't visit "America", you visited the "US", and the ship's crew in the movie weren't "USA", they were "American".. It's not that I care, but if you're going to make a stink about how all 300 million Americans don't know the difference in regards to the Netherlands based on what one American said, I'll point out that you didn't know the converse. Were I in your shoes, I would feel quite embarassed at that blatant display of hypocrisy :laugh:
"cuz" isn't a word either[/quote]
I do not feel embarassed in the slightest, you seem intent on making an assumption from my words that isnt apparent, i just asked a few people in my office if they would gather what you did from what i wrote. None of them did, and that included 2 Americans.
Im talking about younger people, those up to around 18 years old (not strictly either before you pounce on that limit). The very young are simply impressionable in a subconcious way, they do not realise what they have learnt when watching a film, but it is there inside their mind now, thats why advertising campaigns are so effective on children. Those in their teenage years are susceptible from the fact they can be convinced into believing most things, especially by something they assumed they could trust because it doesnt overtly scream 'this is political'. With the right level of subtle application they can be convinced by things they trust (the media, meaning TV, films, magazines, but not newspapers) into a political slant without even realising it. So please dont tell me that movies dont have some kind of influence. Not everyone can be influenced, but the majority of people are. By the way, i do happen to work in advertising in a large UK media/publishing company, so i do happen to know the tricks of the trade as it were and how they are used to very good effect on the general population of my own country.
Your average USA citizen (am i using the correct term now?) is no more gullible than anyone else in the world, its simply that a country like the USA (or should i be saying America?) has media companies using advanced methods like the UK (or is that just England, or Britain even?, which am i??) does to convince its populous to do/say/think/agree to certain things that they dont even realise. So they come across more gullible, yet arnt strictly so in comparison to other countries worldwide.
wow, 4pm already, cool, one more hour and the weekend begins
By the way - you didn't visit "America", you visited the "US", and the ship's crew in the movie weren't "USA", they were "American".. It's not that I care, but if you're going to make a stink about how all 300 million Americans don't know the difference in regards to the Netherlands based on what one American said, I'll point out that you didn't know the converse. Were I in your shoes, I would feel quite embarassed at that blatant display of hypocrisy :laugh:
"cuz" isn't a word either
[/quote]I do not feel embarassed in the slightest, you seem intent on making an assumption from my words that isnt apparent, i just asked a few people in my office if they would gather what you did from what i wrote. None of them did, and that included 2 Americans.
Im talking about younger people, those up to around 18 years old (not strictly either before you pounce on that limit). The very young are simply impressionable in a subconcious way, they do not realise what they have learnt when watching a film, but it is there inside their mind now, thats why advertising campaigns are so effective on children. Those in their teenage years are susceptible from the fact they can be convinced into believing most things, especially by something they assumed they could trust because it doesnt overtly scream 'this is political'. With the right level of subtle application they can be convinced by things they trust (the media, meaning TV, films, magazines, but not newspapers) into a political slant without even realising it. So please dont tell me that movies dont have some kind of influence. Not everyone can be influenced, but the majority of people are. By the way, i do happen to work in advertising in a large UK media/publishing company, so i do happen to know the tricks of the trade as it were and how they are used to very good effect on the general population of my own country.
Your average USA citizen (am i using the correct term now?) is no more gullible than anyone else in the world, its simply that a country like the USA (or should i be saying America?) has media companies using advanced methods like the UK (or is that just England, or Britain even?, which am i??) does to convince its populous to do/say/think/agree to certain things that they dont even realise. So they come across more gullible, yet arnt strictly so in comparison to other countries worldwide.
wow, 4pm already, cool, one more hour and the weekend begins
You've got cojones, I'll give you that. If I had made even half as much of a fool of myself I'd stop bumping the thread and pray for it to drop to page 2 ASAP. The equivalent would be telling you that you're UK'an and that I've visited the country of English. Not that it's a crime to be ignorant, but after putting down the entirety of the US for it, it looked pretty bad. And you're one to talk about the media, what with living in a country with a compulsory TV bill and barbaric tactics used for its enforcement...
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
The US still has a militarily oriented society, hence the larger provision of backing in the UN (whether that will change due to the US decision to push the Iraq situation or not will be interesting to watch in the future once the war is actually over). The UK simply cannot afford to run an Army/Navy/AF the way it used to in the past, and has no real need to either, we dont need it for our own protection, people come here to get free benefit money now....why invade us with arms when u can just claim poverty/asylum?..lol
I cant remember my history much on the WW1 atm, but in regards to WW2 the USA mainly entered due to the combination of Pearl Harbour and the fact that Hitler wouldnt stop at Europe, once he took other countries America realised he would go for them as well, and i reckon if Hitler had everywhere else America would have gone down as well.
So although it was mainly out of concern for their own safety, i am glad the US did enter the second world war, its quite likely we wouldnt have won without our allies.
Actually, i would be more glad if there hadnt been a war, but this world has its ways and sadly we must put up with the bad times as well as the good times. (like Belgian beer being created
I still dont see how you can claim i have put down the entirety of the US? If you are still harping on about my ignorant moniker usage then i apologize, but then your being very petty to argue over that.
If you are claiming my post put down the entirety of the US in regards to its subject content then for the sake of all sanity please read the post properly and understand what i have said and then reworded for you in another post. If you cannot grasp the context of what i say then i guess maybe i should make a claim to intelligence, at least over you. I do not wish this to turn in to a personal arguement, or you trying to portray me as someone who like to put down a whole nations populous as being clones of each other with no independant thought capabilities? I was originally trying to comment against the person quoted in freegeeks signature and those that think in the same light. An attack on persons of the EU as a whole was made in that quote, which means the EU citizens were generically lumped together, and now, when you mistake the reading of a post you assumed i was making the same sort of comment? Well i wasnt, so please ask someone to explain to you what the true context of my posts was if you cannot work it out yourself without resorting to turning someones words around to mean what they do not.
SarcasticDwarf
Diamond Member
- Jun 8, 2001
- 9,574
- 2
- 76
Originally posted by: freegeeks
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
I'm looking at immigrating there
you are joking right???
why would you immigrate to Belgium?
I"m really curious why
Nope, i've thought for a few years about immigrating somewhere in Europe, prefferably Northern Europe. Now that I am in the USArmy Reserve, that is being put off for another 8 years.
So it's a big deal if an American does it but not if you do?
Unless you're admitting to being petty, which is understandable seeing as you wrote what's essentially a noveletta on it and incited this debate...The quote in freegeeks' sig is embarassing to me as an American; nothing so patently stupid could possibly be considered an insult, and I'm sure it's there because he (being non-American) finds it hilarious and because it reinforces European stereotypes of the US; 300 million slightly retarded religious conservatives sitting around in our cowboy boots and ten-gallon hats, saying "Yeehaw, we goan keel us some Ee-rack-ees!!" :roll: If you want to talk about intelligence, I'll just say I find it interesting that you didn't catch the tongue-in-cheek nature of quoting such verbal diarrhea...
<knyghtbyte>I visited Belgia once, it was nice</knyghtbyte>
Originally posted by: Gurck
So it's a big deal if an American does it but not if you do?
The quote in freegeeks' sig is embarassing to me as an American; nothing so patently stupid could possibly be considered an insult, and I'm sure it's there because he (being non-American) finds it hilarious and because it reinforces European stereotypes of the US; 300 million slightly retarded religious conservatives sitting around in our cowboy boots and ten-gallon hats, saying "Yeehaw, we goan keel us some Ee-rack-ees!!" :roll: If you want to talk about intelligence, I'll just say I find it interesting that you didn't catch the tongue-in-cheek nature of quoting such verbal diarrhea...
<knyghtbyte>I visited Belgia once, it was nice</knyghtbyte>
I give up on your inability to understand what i said in my initial posts. Oh and for your information i did catch the tongue in cheek nature of using the quote in the sig.
Oh and your wonderful attempt at humour <knyghtbyte>I visited Belgia once, it was nice</knyghtbyte>
Very nice, i suppose you would say you visited Belgium?
(despite it being Belgique or Belgie from their national point of view.....)
nothern part = Flanders
language = Flemish (a Dutch dialect)
southern part = Walloons
language = French with a very small German speaking minority
Originally posted by: Gurck
So it's a big deal if an American does it but not if you do?
The quote in freegeeks' sig is embarassing to me as an American; nothing so patently stupid could possibly be considered an insult, and I'm sure it's there because he (being non-American) finds it hilarious and because it reinforces European stereotypes of the US; 300 million slightly retarded religious conservatives sitting around in our cowboy boots and ten-gallon hats, saying "Yeehaw, we goan keel us some Ee-rack-ees!!" :roll: If you want to talk about intelligence, I'll just say I find it interesting that you didn't catch the tongue-in-cheek nature of quoting such verbal diarrhea...
I just have this sig because it is hilarious, not because I think that the US consists of 300 million hillbillies
I can say the same about Americans thinking that Europe consist of 500 million treehugging pinko liberals (which in some sort of way is true
)stupidity is universal and has nothing to do with being from Europe or the USA
btw: there is no need to derail this thread in a YAPCBEATU (Yet Another Pissing Contest Between Europe And The USA ) - there is P&N for that
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 23K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter