had a good laugh reading this.. I dunno how I find these http://finally-woken.com/2008/10/thinking-about-dating-a-british/ what do you think about them apples!
Maybe its because im tired, but i cant tell if this is supposed to be satire, if not then its a crock of **** I dont know one man who calls his missus “duckie,” “sweetie,” or “dear” and the rest is just sterotypical nonsense "the british dont show emotion" "they simply dont like women" its all been done to death before, im all for laughing at myself but c'mon lets get some new material here! Well done at guy ritchie though. Didnt bat an eyelid when his daft wife wanted to be all "English" and ride her horse through the countryside as all English people do obviously... its her own bloody fault if she fell off, shame she didnt break her neck.
I'm quite glad that I didn't read it entirely seriously. But I'm just a geeky 17 year old, I've not got much to add to this conversation. Other than most of the complaints seemed to stem from someone who only quoted dates with boarding school attendees, which is a bit of a shocking generalization.
Yanks have made fun of the Anglophilic read-to-me-from-the-phone-book phenomenon so often that I've made fun of making fun of it in these very forums. My problem with that approach is that would-be satirists tend to make absurd generalizations that are as bad as the assumptions of the Anglophiles about whom they complain. The article linked by the OP even talks about "exotic" British culture -- ironic, considering the States were Brit-colonized. People who view the citizens of any country as homogenous ought to catch a few of Mike Leigh's earlier flicks. Personally, I've found nothing to complain about in dating "the British." My best two stretches were with a hiphop singer and a former Penthouse Pet turned singer, respectively -- both literate, twisted, and anything but prim or detached.
Stereotypes are what they are, generalizations, and bad ones at that. That said some do apply quite well in American society.
The trick in journalism and satire is to avoid painting yourself into a corner: Don't contradict yourself (or limit your argument unintentionally). If you're complaining about Americans who claim stereotypical virtues for the British, then don't contradict yourself by resorting to stereotypes yourself. (An exception: Feel free to make fun of sterotypes by spewing examples so specific and arbitrary as to prove completely ridiculous.)
I think Mankz is the only person in the country who attends boarding school anymore and I'm not sure he's allowed a passport!
Actually, as an Oxford born British male, I can say that her column reads largely true. She did forget to mention however, that Britain (or 'dear old Blighty' as we call it) has changed very little since the second world war. Many of us still live in thatched cottages which have gardens surrounded by white picket fences. We enjoy cricket, saying 'what, what' allot and drinking warm beer in the village pub. By law, all public houses must have a fireplace with a faithful old English sheep dog by it. Speaking of fireplaces, erotic is sitting at home in individual chairs either side of the fireplace while the lady of the house doing a spot of embroidery and the male reading a broadsheet newspaper and grumbling occasionally. Travel is largely performed on the back of the local farmer's apple cart, with the only (and very occasional) engine sounds coming from Spitfires and Hurricanes as they patrol our skies. In fact, the only error that fine lady made was to refer to the Sun as a newspaper. Here we call it kindling. ... Soo, yeah, time for new material. Being serious, it always pisses me off when (usually) American media represents our country this way. A couple of Family Guy episodes spring to mind as a recent example, possibly reruns on TV recently. The reality is an overcrowded rock in the North Atlantic which for thousands of years has acted as a melting pot for many if not all races and creeds. I'm pretty sure that the quintessential British guy described here only exists in Hollywood.
More racist rubbish from the other side of the pond. Yes of course all british men went to boarding school and talk with a queen's english accent. Just like all of you are double the weight of the average brit and spend all your time in fat camps because of over-eating at McDonald's, right?
Duckie, sweetie, dear!, seems like they had been dating a hybrid of Coronation Street and Little Britain. Given their completely unrealistic views, I suggest that their dates were principally with a large bottle of wine and jumbo pack of cream cakes!
stereotypes are necessary in comedy, but british ones are becoming rather tired. i know exactly the family guy episode you mean. tbh though dont you think people take this sort of thing a little bit too seriously nowadays? i'm personally prepared to accept the stereotype as it gives me plenty of leeway to take the piss out of americans, muslims, jews, southerners, the irish, black people, lawyers, teachers, drummers, politicians, political activists, gays, jocks, geeks, fans of pop music, women, men and the disabled. everything is open for mocking, that way no-one can complain
Someone couldn't get laid... If you read the full blog post by that Canadian lady it's actually pretty hilarious. She tries to write a criticism of English men and actually comes of sounding like a fridged whore (expects men to make all the moves, expects men to always pay) who just couldn't get laid in a country of 65 million people.
you forgot to mention the morris men on the village green of a sunday and the fact that we also burn strangers in a big wicker figures once a year as well.
The one with the pub. I guess these stereotypes are used a lot as a base for jokes in comedy as they're a little longer lasting than, say, jokes based on media events or celebrities. Still, it would be good if they were updated now and again. Actually I was thinking about the British stereotype and how it could be put into practice in real life. I'm pretty sure the only place that it might work is Notting Hill on the tourists. Other than that, uh non. I don't know about anywhere else, but in St.Ives on a Friday night there are so many masts it's like a yacht race. If you see a lady there's no time to be backward, you have mere moments to show her your stuff before some other dude steps in. Like this totally shameless plug for FOTC: NSFW – (Language) Edit: Yep, especially down here in Cornwall where TV reception isn't so great. Meh, it's something to do on a weekend.
As with all stereo types there are core truths in there but her sweeping generalisation is based on Madonnas antics and a Canadian who dated public school boys.
