[ SECRET POST #4288 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4288 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #614.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

07. http://i63.tinypic.com/28wgtjb.png

[(Anonymous)]

Can only speak from my personal experience that I have extreme trouble watching "Americans" on British shows simply because it always takes me FOREVER to realize that the character is supposed to be American because the accents can be super far off. I'll be there trying to figure out why someone is slurring their words or overemphasizing 'r's, and then finaly twig that, oh, okay, they're meant to be American. (It's particularly funny when they'll go all out trying to put in a post-vocalic 'r', and then spoil it because the writers have them saying 'clark' instead of 'clerk' or 'plait' instad of 'braid').
I have equal trouble watching "British" characters on American shows who often just show a crigneworthy case of "not doing the research" or just being lazy stereotypes and I really, really, really wish our entertainment were better than that. Or believed that we, as viewers, could appreciate something better than that. Not to mention the actors are usually even WORSE at doing an "English" accent, because they mostly just try to use RP and imagine that it must come with a complicated vocabulary.
And sometimes, bafflingly, it doens't even help when the actors involved ARE from the country in question. Never forget my bafflement when Daphne on Frasier gets all flattered that Niles is "using her language" because he says "bumbershoot" for umbrella. It's like ... no, no, just because it sounds quaint and corny doesn't mean it's British English.

[(Anonymous)]

That's really interesting about the accents. Never really thought about it but yeah I can see how the faked American accent actually sounds like a weird composite and not at all real lol. I guess I'm so used to it being a kind of shorthand for 'this character is an American '. Now I think about it, our TV really needs to try harder.

Writers for anything getting American/British terms mixed up pissed me off. It's just sheer bloody laziness. Make some fecking effort.

Oh God. Wow. I don’t remember that episode of Frasier but Jesus Christ. 'Bumbershoot'? That's annoying and hilarious at the same time lmao.

[(Anonymous)]

It was in "My Coffee with Niles". (and I spent way too long trying to figure that out.)

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, even as an American, Brits on American TV bother me more than Americans on British TV. The way that Americans are depicted on British TV just seems funny, more than anything. The only time that it annoys me is when it's on a talk show and some American rando gets treated like they are The Expert on all things American.

Brits on American TV are much worse because American ideas about Britishness and "classiness" are so much weirder and more annoying to me.

[rosehiptea]

I'm American and watch lots of British shows. Not too many Americans seem to show up in the shows I watch, though I agree with the anon above that I often have trouble telling from the accent. It usually doesn't bother me too much. I can see where the portrayal of British people on American TV could drive British people up a wall.

[greghousesgf]

I remember being more than a little annoyed by the Doctor Who eppie where all the Americans were wearing American flags or football uniforms.

[(Anonymous)]

... They dont reallly do that?

*blinks*

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe at a football game or a Trump/Republican rally, or out partying on the 4th of July, but otherwise not so much. Some people will wear jerseys of various sports teams as casual wear if they’re huge fans, but not all the time.

[calystarose]

agreeing with most of the others, American's on Brit shows are mostly hilarious to me, when I can tell that they're Americans. I've never found any fictional representation of Americans to be personally insulting or offensive.

[nightscale]

I don't think I find any of the Brit stereotypes insulting, I even find the 'they're British so of course they're evil' thing in US movies kind of hilarious because it's so oddly specific.

It's more that the kind of British person you see in US TV is always the same: upper-class, posh-accented, and is otherwise prim and proper when that probably only makes up about 0.1% of the population(if it even really exists because the 'polite' stereotype really isn't true at all, we're as rude as anyone else).

Oh but there are exceptions, Daphne on Frasier for one, and I love her to bits.

So I think the only thing I find a bit eye-roll worthy is the lack of variety, but that'd be true of any country represented by those outside it, and as you said: Americans on British TV are probably just as stereotypical in their own way from our cultural notions on what we perceive them as.

[(Anonymous)]

I liked Daphne's character on Frasier but I can't believe some of the strange choices the writers made, like the casting of her brother who was supposed to be from Manchester but was clearly a Southerner - I mean, was Northern England not a big enough area to cast from? It's an intelligent show with intelligent writing. And there's more than one English person in the cast. Surely someone would have pointed out how lazy and poor this was? The accents were sooo laboured sometimes too.

I remember thinking when I first heard Hugh Laurie speaking with an American accent in Stuart Little (obviously I was used to hearing him as Bertie Wooster) I thought "god that's the worst American accent I've ever heard!" Few years later he was the highest paid actor in the US lol.

[(Anonymous)]

Absolutely - I loved Daphne, too, but the portrayal of her entire family was suddenly stereotype lollapalooza time. ESPECIALLY hated that they had Roz be initially all gaga over the brother for his 'sophisticated accent'. It's like... DUDE, no.

[greghousesgf]

:P

Actually, Anthony LaPaglia is Aussie and was doing an English accent.

[(Anonymous)]

The guy who played the brother that actually showed up more than once or twice, Simon Moon, was born and raised in Australia. Of course he played American on Without a Trace, so.

Cameron Dye, who played Nigel Moon, is American.

Or maybe you meant Richard E. Grant (Stephen Moon) or Robbie Coltrane (Michael Moon).

Re: Actually, Anthony LaPaglia is Aussie and was doing an English accent.

[(Anonymous)]

He's got a really broad Aussie accent, too!

[(Anonymous)]

Speaking as an American, the only time I've ever been annoyed with American portrayals on British tv (apart from the occasional accent cringe) is with BBC Sherlock. Amongst the many other wrongs done to Irene Adler's character is the fact that she was canonically from New Jersey (but of course, Moftiss can't have their precious Holmes sharing romantic tension with with some peasant from
Nuh Joisey). Which means that the only "Americans" in the show tend to be hostile gov't agents or bad-guy minions which is just so...*sigh*

And though both sides get some pretty annoying stereotypes of each other, it's true small potatoes to the way other nationalities are stereotyped in Anglo & American media alike. Case in point: zee French.

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, we Americans know what we look like on the global stage, I can't complain if every American in a British show is a ridiculous stereotype...

[(Anonymous)]

Not a show, but actually the only thing I can genuinely recall off the top of my head that annoyed me was how the British were portrayed in Independence Day. The bit when they get the news of the plan to bring down the ships and that one British guy is like "OMG GOD SAVE THE QUEEN THE AMERICANS FIGURED IT OUT WE ARE SAVED CHAPS"

Granted, I was like eleven when it came out so it might be colored by my youth but I just remember thinking "There is not a Brit on the planet who was sitting around praising Jesus that the Americans are sailing in to save the day. They are all annoyed that we bothered to show up late." Compounded when the second guy follows up with "About bloody time." I don't know, it always just comes off as this Hail the Americans mood which is understandable in a film centered on American characters on an American holiday (and I'd like to point out, I actually love that cheesy ass film) but regardless, annoys the piss out of me.

[liz_marcs]

Personally, I find it hilarious (and fascinating) to see how every other country looks at Americans.

I mean, American media is fairly dominant globally, and we have a shit-ton of misconceptions about people from other countries as a result because, God forbid!, someone takes time to do the research.

So, turnabout is fair play, I figure.

The fact is, I luhv it. LUHV IT! Bad accents, terrible costuming, crazy characterizations and all. The worse it is, the more hilarious I find it. Even when the Americans are the bad guys.

(Side note: Does everyone in Europe think we're all from Texas? Because there was a period of time there where I was half-convinced that everyone in Europe thought America = Texas. Could be worse. They could've all thought we were from Florida.)

In truth, the only time I got vaguely annoyed is when I tried watching Stephen Fry's BBC doc on America. I naturally gravitated to the New England episode (am from New England...so...).

It's supposed to be a docu-series and somehow, don't ask me how, he got New England completely wrong. HILARIOUSLY wrong. New England consists of six states (Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island). That's it. Somehow, in Stephen's world, New England somehow also gained New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware (all my WAT?!?).

I was vaguely annoyed, but I still found it straight-up hilarious because of just how wrong it was.

I understand this attitude makes me a weird duck, but...I don't know. There's something interesting about seeing your country through someone else's eyes.

[(Anonymous)]

i definitely think most of my stereotypes about Americans come from Texas, but personally i think that's fair because all of America's stereotypes about Germany come from Bavaria. generally humans seem to pick the most recognisable part and run with it!

[digitalghosts]

Seen the German bit done by few countries and it baffled me but I assumed the culprits really liked Oktoberfest. Quite funny to default to it though as completely ... random?

[(Anonymous)]

NY, NJ, PA, and Delaware are NOT New England!

[digitalghosts]

I remembered the London episode of "Bones" and could not tell which bits were laughing at Americans and which were mocking Brits. The most confounding part was when characters struggled to drive on local side of the road and failed all roundabouts. Hating crossings is pretty universal and roundabouts in any country OR town will confuse you (Edinburgh confuses me as one in Glasgow) while driving on different side is ... pretty easy.