German views on America.

http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t146811-30.html

When looking for a source of information to base an entire countries view on America I unsurprisingly had some difficulties. It is hard to round up enough people who represent their country and unique viewpoints well enough to be statistically accurate, so I thought instead of trying to use statistical views or percentages I would use a blog site full of opinions because after all having a view on something is merely an opinion.  So what better than to use a blog site of German people 'rambling' and joking over their stereotypes of America.

First of all what I found obvious was that most of the topics followed food and drink, media, TV and music. German being a country who is stereotypically proud of its food and drink it did not surprise me to see quotes like this: 'And don't get me started on American beer or bread.' Another obvious view point that came from Germany was a slight fear and reluctance of American patriotism, they found it disturbing, however we have to ask ourselves if this is due to the past in Germany and their inherent fear to love their country and follow their leader too much because of the happenings around WW2. We have to ask ourselves whether Germany dislikes certain parts of America because it is American or because they do not want to pick out their own flaws and because they are all too proud of their produce.

Another interesting point that people addressed was it's America's vastness, although they had views on the industries of America, their food and their scandalous tabloids they would not specifically negatively portray the people themselves, they mention that, 'I think there are Americans that are assholes, idiots, and ignorant people, just like you'll find the same type of people here and any other country in the world.' This view surprised me, so many people on the blog were ready to argue that American culture and its portrayal in the world is negative and wrong, however the specifics about its people remain mainly positive, this view makes me feel that Germany does not think that American people are bad, they believe it is their portrayal through the media, their music and food industry that remains the worst part of America.

The German views I found within this blog especially in pages 2 and 3, seemed to skim over the important factors like WW2 and their own history and concentrated on less important factors like beer, their ability to cook and their scandalous and corrupt politicians which seemed to be very ironic coming from a German point of view. One of the first criticisms of America on this site was, 'Americans are over-sensitive to past sins of their politicians,' this adds to the irony that Germans within this blog post are trying to avoid the obvious large elephant in the room when it came to discussing America. Therefore I do not believe that Germans on this blog have talked about anything specific about American people because they understand that because of the stereotypes of their own country it would be wrong or hypocritical to talk about America in a way which does not involve the obvious issues of music, TV and food.

Here are some of the quotes I found interesting and quite funny within the blog:

'I do think many Germans are too harsh in their opinions about the US, and don't see the full picture, simply because of how Americans are represented in the media (which is pretty far off reality in my opinion).' An issue of media portrayal within America.

'Not to generalize, but I find that Americans are, surprisingly, more interested in whistling and less in frottage, while they enjoy leather trousers they do not spend enough on talcum powder, their notion of a flan is frankly laughable and their attitude towards a souffle would shame a Botswanan bushman, while at the same time their resourcefulness in avoiding goat herds deserves all our admiration.' An Issue of the production of food and Drink within America

'It's that last sentence that really stands out. I'm disturbed at the notion that anyone in the world hasn't carefully compiled a comprehensive opinion of Americans.'

'The thread is ridiculous, because you can't compare an American from bum-f*ck Arkansas to one from San Francisco. The country is HUGE. It's like comparing a Hamburger to a lederhosen-clad Bavarian, only worse.'