With recent stunts like his suggesting disinfectant and sunlight to treat Covid-19, President Trump is responsible for attracting a lot of unwanted attention.
On Youtube, comments pour in from around the world, either to ridicule Trump’s America or from Americans themselves, bemoaning what a laughingstock the country has become.
Some other stereotypes, both true and false, surround the States. Off the top of my head, having talked to people from all over, they include
- Being large, which stems from massive portion sizes and fast-food chains galore
- Loving drinking, parties, and sex, popularized in part thanks to movies about college
- Behaving arrogantly (as if they own the place) and speaking loudly
- Knowing only English — and maybe a word or two of Spanish
- Dressing poorly, that is, having next to no sense of fashion
- Oozing patriotism overbearingly
In Asia, at least, everyone believes Americans to be blonde and blue-eyed. That Americans can be of a different ethnicity than Caucasian doesn’t cross their mind.
Significantly, the U.S. was thought very well of by the Philippines and South Korea, who in a poll saw over 80% of their people nurturing “favorable” sentiments about America.
I mention this because of Asia’s long history of skin bleaching and plastic surgery to achieve a more “Western” appearance. As stated here, “Western culture has become the Holy Grail of lifestyle” for the continent of Asia.
This is called White Envy, and it’d be remiss not to lay it out as a factor in Asia’s glowing reviews of America.
Still, no matter where you go, America’s influence is indisputable.
As aptly written here,
Generations in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America have grown up under the influence of the superpower U.S. and have felt awe and envy. America permeated their lives — through comics and Coke, through Hollywood and Neil Armstrong, and via the internet, iPhone and Facebook. It has been seen as the land of plenty, freedom and equality where Indian migrants could head behemoths like Google, Microsoft and Pepsi, and a South African could capture the imagination with an electric car. And after 9/11, the world grieved with America.
When asked generally about America and for what that word and its people stand, the answers were mixed.
Some showed ties to the blockquote above, that America is a “superpower”, the land of opportunity and the biggest player in the global economy.
Others were more on the side of cynicism. Gun violence, racial discrimination, and controversial military decisions all cloud judgment and bring them closer to critique than anything.
On CBS News, these were the opinions.
“They are big…in charge of everything”
“Capitalism. Money rules everything. Overweight people, Donald Trump, elections, shootings.”
“Has a very liberal culture.”
“It is powerful.”
“World power.”
“Produces a massive amount of cultural output such as Hollywood movies, music and many other (forms of) entertainment.”
“People are nice but superficial.”
“People expect to be tipped so that is why they are so services-minded. Their approach is different from ours … we do it because we care about others, they do it because they get tips … they were raised that way.”
“Interpersonal relations among Americans are much more practical.”
“Everyone is very tolerant there, in a way that there are all kinds of people, whether from different ethnicities, different countries, different religions.”
“A black-and-white look at the world. They miss nuances.”
“What identifies an American? Loudness.”
“Americans are gallant.”
“They have a language that is practically universal and almost everyone depends on that language.”
“America stands out because people recognize merit out there.”
“They believe in democracy, in freedom; they are willing to die, kill, et cetera, for that.”
It’s all there. The good and the bad.
What’s interesting is that most Europeans aren’t quick to praise America while for Asians (East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia) it’s another story entirely, as alluded to earlier.
And numbers back this up.
The Washington Post found from polling data that a great deal of Europeans, along with Canadians and Australians, don’t look too kindly on America, and on Trump specifically.
In Asia, however, the survey results were positive. “Extremely positive” scores were awarded by the Philippines, Vietnam, India, South Korea and Taiwan. Japan, though not as effusive, still had the cons outweighing the pros.
Apparently, Southern Europe, namely Italy and Greece, has a “low opinion” of Americans.
Perhaps that’s because of the “ugly American” trope of Americans abroad exhibiting “rampant arrogance and ineptitude”.
Americans are easy to spot when traveling. For locals, this couldn’t be more true.
In this video featuring citizens from around the world, comments are about being rich (“paradise…full of resources”), weight (“obese…all about food”), ignorance (“don’t necessarily understand so much about the rest of the world”), entertainment (“everything dealing with show business”), culture (“Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Friends), acting like a know-it-all (“you think you are always right”), size (“everything is big and it overshadows the concept of quality”), the American dream (“if you have a dream it can come true”), behavior (“aggressive…open, happy”), and freedom (“he has no limit, he can reach any height”).
Everything considered, it’s hard to suppress disgust when watching videos such as this one which captures crass Americans protesting against coronavirus lockdown measures.
Needing a haircut and wanting rights are two of the major themes, and both in context are ridiculous. The coronavirus has been called a hoax, and media has been blamed for brainwashing citizens.
“Fake nurses! Fake actors!” is shouted at nurses who are doing their best to help the community and save lives.
At a time like this, with the response the American people are behind, raising an eyebrow about the character of Americans is totally justifiable.
