They seem to be the one nation we can ‘get away’ with hating.
Jerremy Clarkson springs to mind. He can’t reference Truck drivers murdering Prostututes, but he can hate the French with impunity.
I don’t hate the french. I found them quite pleasant when I went there a few months ago.
I dare anyone to find me some pre-1960 hatred of the French in American culture. At the end of World War II, the US fully embraced France, says I. Look at how France and the French were portrayed in the movie Casablanca. Look at how all things French were romanticized in the 50s and before: French wines, French fashion, French decorating styles, French cuisine, actors with fancy French accents, French artists, etc.etc. Kids were expected to take French in school, so as to be cultured, y’know. Paris was flooded with American tourists.
And there’s the rub. Maybe we embraced France a little too tightly. Becuase the French, or Parisians at least, came to resent being overrun by Americans, and I think that generated some of the stereotypical French rudeness, and some of the stereotypical French contemptuousness toward America and Americans.
And I think that as that resentment and contemptuousness developed, the US responded in kind.
There is a pretty extensive article in Wiki on anti-french sentiment in the US. Link
At least in New York City, when the natives call you a provincial rube stupid tourist, they do it in English!
It’s not stereotypical; it’s real, even if it’s not as omnipresent as it is portrayed as being.
My ex-wife and some friends took a day trip to Paris while studying in Austria in college. They stopped somewhere to eat lunch. After trying their best to order (one friend had, I believe, high school French), they asked the waiter if he spoke either English or German. He replied in perfect, unaccented English, “No. This is France. We speak French.”
He then abandoned them.
Well, screw them on that basis, then.
I’ve experienced exactly that sort of rudeness myself. In my experience it’s quartered in Paris. I’ve had nothing but good experiences with the French in other parts of the country.
Could just be urban rudeness, mixed with resentment of omnipresent American tourists.
Invariably, my conversations with people who spout the usual cliches about the French go something like this:
French hater: I don’t like the French because they’re so rude.
Me: Really? How many French people do you know?
FH: Well, none, but they are.
Me: So you’ve been to Paris?
FH: No, but I’ve heard people say they’re rude.
Me: What people are those?
FH: Loses interest and wanders away.
It’s ignorance, as with most things. Somebody on TV said it, so it must be true. I’ve been to France on many occasions, both on business and vacation, and have never been treated poorly.
Portugal, on the other hand…I could tell you stories.
Gah, I hate how a single pissy waiter can become the example of how an entire group of people must be.
To use a similar example (Québec instead of France): Every time I have conversations with English Canadians (in Ontario, mostly) someone brings up some random story about how some waiter or gas station attendant or whatever was “rude” to them because their French wasn’t good enough when they visited Québec. Therefore, all Québeckers are rude, apparently.
The thing is, every time I have a similar conversation with French Canadians, someone brings up some random story about how some waiter or gas station attendant or whatever was “rude” to them because their English wasn’t good enough when they visited [Ontario/the US/whatever]. Therefore all [Canadians/Americans/whatever] are rude, apparently.
I wonder how much of this is a self-fulfilling prophecy? You go somewhere new, where people speak a different language, and you expect them to be rude, so you actually take on an attitude that portrays that expectation, whether you intend to or not. In reaction, the person you’re speaking to might actually meet your expectations (while you’re meeting theirs, of course, since tourists are always rude!) and everyone walks away wondering why they were treated rudely while they obviously were perfect little angels.
Hey, Captain America likes them. That makes them OK in my book!
And don’t EVEN get me started on China!
So says one of my brothers. But I went there, and found people exceedingly friendly and pleasant (including police officers I unfortunately had to deal with). I didn’t have a single remotely negative experience there. The behaviour of Portuguese people I met was one of the main reasons why I enjoyed so much this stay, and I don’t miss a chance to advise people to visit this country (which has much to offer besides friendliness, cod and fado).
Of course it happened, in the sense that some people in some places did it at the time. (And of course it was childish and shameful when they did it.) I think what astorian was getting at (if I may speak for him) is that it simply didn’t happen in any widespread way, as was portrayed at the time. Heck, it didn’t happen in any even a small way – it was infinitesimal, and made to seem far bigger than it was. No, I don’t have statistics to back that up, because I doubt they keep statistics on that kind of thing. But I have never, ever seen a menu in the United States that advertised “freedom fries,” and I have never spoken to anyone who claims to have seen one first hand either. I’d bet that less than half of one percent – if that – of all the menus in the country that list french fries changed the name to freedom fries.
YES. Yes, it is. I cringe every time I see them. Whatever moron it was that made it policy that all soldiers had to wear those stupid thing should be court-martialed for dangerously lowering morale and for degrading the image of the United States Army.
I think that the fact that it originated from the US House of Representatives is what blew it out of proportion.
From what I hear, London makes NY look nice & friendly. Maybe they should visit Boston to see what generalized contempt really is.
Hey, that might be the extent of his Anglais!
I think, though, that’s sort of a relief compared to the German situation. A college instructor of mine was from southern Germany. He told of going to a restaurant in Germany, I think in his home state, & the waiter starting to speak to him in English–just assuming English as a default. He was bemused by this.
Was this a clever reference to the Rainbow Warrior or were you just being unwittingly wity?
Nuclear testing in the South Pacific and the Rainbow Warrior are the reasons why the French were (and are still) hated in New Zealand
applause
It was widespread. The congressman got the idea from a restaurant. It was in the opinion columns, it was on TV. Everywhere. Even on this SDMB. I do not think you could find anything similar regarding any other country. Much less an ally who just happens to disagree on one point. That episode was a facet of America at its worst.