The French View of Americans

This was a rather funny and enlightening learning experience for me when I learned how French people see Americans. Some of it I had expected, like being seen as very large and overweight, driving big cars and having large houses. But what I hadn't expected is that they assume all Americans speak like cowboys or with a southern accent. I suppose having George Bush as our president for 8 years didn't help this image either. And so, they were all quickly surprised when I didn't speak with this kind of accent and, in fact, they could understand me easily. Since most French people are not fluent in English, Americans who speak fast or mumble their words are difficult for them to understand. They also seemed to have the view of Americans as being a bit arrogant and demanding (I can't imagine where this came from) which ironically is a similar view Americans have of the French. I believe most of these beliefs, however, are based on stereotypes and not on actual experience for the most part. In all the times I have visited France, I've never had a negative experience, and the people who typically have this view have ironically never been to France. Hmmmmm, interesting. So, as I was saying, we're all seen as fat, arrogant, cowboys with big cars and houses. Yeehaw! In addition to this lovely image, Americans are not seen as being very cultured either. Obviously these are huge generalizations, but I believe this is partly due to the reality that Americans don't travel as much and have more of a limited world view. America is also such a new country compared to Europe, that our "culture" isn't rooted in the same plethora of architecture, history and art.

Interestingly however, I also see the injection of American culture in French life and the fascination French people have with Hollywood. The American movies, for example, that are shown in France are typically the big blockbuster action movies like "Mission Impossible," and the music videos seen on TV include Rihanna, Beyonce and Maroon 5. The "CSI" series is also quite popular here and many of the reality and TV shows in France have been adopted from the original American version such as "Big Brother," "The Voice," and "60 minutes." French people are actually quite curious about American culture and want to know about things they've seen in the movies such as our high school and college experiences with fraternities, proms and sports. Even today while I was watching the French news, there was a report about the "Super Bowl," and the different commercials that would be aired.

Many French people have also traveled to the United States and typically go to New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. French people really love New York and can even be found wearing "I love New York" t-shirts and sweatshirts as well which I find funny. I think the reason for this love of New York is because it is very similar to Paris with it's tall buidlings, compacted city, fine couture and cuisine, rich culture and the similar transportation system.

So, with all this said, my words of advice when traveling are: don't judge someone before you get to know them and don't judge a culture before you get to understand and know it; stay open to the experience of learning from a new culture, regardless of your preconceived ideas; and make an attempt to speak the language and to get to know the people.