So, lets label an entire nation based on the actions of their government without their consent.
What bugs me about the attitudes in this thread is that, despite the immense railing against stereotypes on this board in our “War on Ignorance” ;), this particular stereotype seems OK with many people.
“But it’s just a joke!” people cry. But there are different kinds of intranational jokes. Some are a gentle poking of fun, and then there are jokes about Germans being Nazis, Irish being drunken terrorists, Americans being obese and ignorant, Poles being stupid, etc. They’re not funny.
I think it’s perfectly reasonable to argue against French foreign policy, as I would on many an occasion, but it’s also perfectly feasible to do so without bigotry.
Of course, you could always go to Times Square and yell “Watch out! The planes are coming!” and watch all the cowardly Americans jump into the sewer.
Ha ha ha ha! How terribly funny.
Here it is http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=2135923 Click to enlarge
BTW, I’m absolutely no fan of the French government, but I don’t judge the french people I know by the actions of Chirac, any more than I would want to be judged on the actions of Ahern’s government.
To reiterate: according to this website, France lost 650,000 people during WW2. To put that into context, note that the US “only” lost 408,000.
France’s population in 1940 was about 50m. The USA’s was about 132m. This means France had a death rate over four times that of the US as a result of WW2. You might want to think about that next time you make jokes about “surrender” and making things nice for the Nazis. Not only is it extremely tactless and offensive to all those people who fought and died, it doesn’t even reflect reality.
gobear - I think you’re somewhat missing the point. The French government does some pretty shitty things. Hell - the French people do some pretty shitty things. So do the English. So do the Americans. None of that has anything to do with this “my country owns your country” attitude we see so often on these boards whenever the French are discussed.
To bring out one of jjimm’s earlier points: how would you all feel if every single bloody time the US was so much as mentioned on the SD there was a rush 10 or 20 posters starting in with jokes about Nicaragua, Vietnam and calling you all smelly, unpleasant burger-munching jingoistic xenophobes? Even if most of the people doing so were doing it in jest? It’s tired, it’s old and it’s offensive.
And yojimboguy? No offense and I know you meant well, but the part of your post addressed to Fran has got to be one of the most patronising things I’ve ever seen on these boards. And not even based on a correct premise. Where in the hell did you get the idea that she was living in France? Does one have to live in a country to recognise bigotry against it now? And is it so very hard to believe that one can understand the cultural context behind the bigotry and still find it unpleasant? Your post indicates that you too find such things unfunny and tired, so I’ve no wish to pick a fight. But I gotta tell you - I almost gasped when I read the tone of that post. I’m sure such was not your intention, which is why I’m passing this information on for future reference.
pan
You’re right. I can see the equivalence behind selling a nation conventional arms and selling two nations the equipment and materials to build nuclear arms.
You could, but it wouldn’t make any sense. Unless I’m mistaken, cowardly Americans jumping into sewers isn’t a funny stereotype. Much better would be something like going to Times Square to yell “Watch out for the planes!” and watching the Americans drop their burgers and shield themselves with flags. Or something along those lines. See how that works? We have the burger stereotype and the jingoistic flag-waving stereotype. The essence of high comedy.
Sigh
I reiterate: everyone’s hands are dirty [pdf].
then can you see why is it’s not funny to stereotype the French?
And another thing - no more Americans going onto French message boards to post nasty things about the French.
I see this happening all the time…and it’s got to stop.
Jesus, you guys are some thickheaded fucks.
Yes a lot of you were joking, yes you can slag them off, yes some of the French governments behaviour has been disgraceful, yes some did horrible things during WWII but that doesn’t change the fact that there does seem to be a mindset of “We went over and won the war single handed no thanks to those cowardly French” or other nonsense with similar meanings.
I and obviously a lot of other posters have picked up on that trend even here a supposed bastion of enlightenment :rolleyes:
If you say it enough some idiots are going to start believing it and I personally think it’s been said enough.
Jack, explain why this board is the exclusive domain of Americans.
of course, if you are being serious and there is nothing between your words, I’ll retract my question.
Well, first of all, that’s not even a parallel joke, since that has nothing to do with a joke stereotype. A parallel joke about Americans would have something to do with a stereotype of Americans.
Secondly, you need a sense of humour to make funny jokes.
Some jokes are funny. Some are not. This may amaze you, but sometimes one joke is funny and another is not even when they bear certain similarities. Some jokes can be offensive AND funny. Some jokes are offensive and are not funny. It depends on the context and that ever-elusive sense of humour thing. .
This thread was all a bit of an over-reaction when it was only about a throwaway gag on The Simpsons, but recently there’s been some rather ugly comments and generalisations made.
It does strike me as somewhat hypocritical, particularly considering the shitstorm that was this thread. And how about the reaction that this one got? It seems a lot of people here can dish it out much easier than they can take it.
No no Twisty, he’s right - it is perfectly OK to be a bigot as long as you keep your perpetuation of bigotry within your own country’s borders. Anyone who comes to your country is just asking for it, dude. Let the fuckers have it!
No wait… that’s not right, is it? Jingoism is nasty, pettry and obnoxious whether one encounters it at home or elsewhere. Sorry Jack, looks like your point is complete assanine crap after all. Ah well, back to the drawing board.
pan
Gex, its not got to do with the gag on the Simpsons, but the fact it is continually used to perpetuate an unfair stereotype. Frannie started it as a reaction to the constant stereotype against the French.
gex gex, thank you for that research.
I should add that Lobsang, formerly Lobley, has recanted and apologised for those threads.
gex gex what the fuck does that have to do with anything?
Has anyone said that there isn’t bullshit being thrown around about Americans? What is this a playground?
I’ve been searching for a thread(must have been lost in one of the crashes but I remember it well) all morning where one of our French posters said how they had problems with American policy and was insulted for being French in a very offensive manner by several posters to prove that it’s not just about a Simpson’s quote.
It’s about a attitude a lot of people seem to be exhibited on this board and beyond it. It’s nasty, it’s wrong and above all when related to this site it pig fucking ignorant.
I should proof read more.