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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]^I am the OP of this thread and of course I didn't make it based on "one British person was rude to me one time".  Actually I frequent the Daily Mail, and, while of course the comment section there is notorious trash, I am shocked by the level of highly upvoted comments bashing Americans.  You don't see the reverse.  Yes, it's a British paper- but comments bashing Brits wouldn't make it to the top of any American newspaper I can think of.  Another thing- last season of Big Brother, the American contestants, with one exception, were all voted out first.  The nice ones, who did nothing to rock the vote- out.  Of course, we can talk all day about CBB being lowest common denominator- but these are platforms that have mass audiences, that truly check the pulse of a nation and the deeply ingrained beliefs.  When article after article has Brits upvoting rude remarks about Americans (and, btw- down voting any comebacks Americans give, so it's not just about a sense of humor) and the widely viewed television shows target Americans, then we have a real anti-American sentiment that isn't even attempted to be covered up.

Additionally, if you can't already tell, I watch a lot of British television and read a lot of British work and I think "rude" is exactly how I would class a lot of the behavior.  Of course there is an argument to be made for "television is not representative of a nation" but in a way it is- just as it says something about America that Carrie Underwood is the most successful American Idol of all time, etc.

Also- my personal experiences have also borne this out.  I would generally not ever try to make that kind of observation unless I had viewed it across multiple platforms, not just- oh, i met this lady once who had a British accent and she was rude.  I'm genuinely curious as to this cultural difference that I (and others) have observed[/quote]

I'm the "offended Brit" poster and I completely accept what you say about the Daily Mail comments section - it is appalling but you should know that most British people also find it appalling. I don't think it's right to say that the Daily Mail comments section checks the pulse of the nation. I think the Daily Mail in general appeals to a specific type of person (though there are many people - probably like you - who read it just to see what is going on in the celebrity world or whatever, but don't subscribe to its general philosophy) and I think the Daily Mail comment-leaver is a very specific kind of person and it bothers me that this is thought to be representative of the nation.

I think you also have to bear in mind the relative size and influence of the two countries. Many Americans don't know very much about the UK - it's a small country that has, obviously, historical ties to the US, but when you read a US newspaper you won't find very much about the UK in it (or any other country). But in the UK, America is of huge interest. Think about the women's marches all over the world including a huge one in London, after the inauguration. Almost all US tv shows are broadcast in the UK and are very popular - US culture is really prominent. Some British tv shows are shown in the US but they aren't generally on primetime and on the main networks. I think something like 50% of British people have been to America - that's huge, and means that a lot of British people have some experience of America and Americans and are very interested in American things. Tons of American celebrities feature in the Daily Mail, for example. So although American-bashing comments on the Daily Mail are hateful, I think there's a good reason why American-related things would come to the top of a British newspaper comment site, when the reverse would never be true for an American paper.

And re Celebrity Big Brother, I don't watch it so I don't really know how it works, but surely it wasn't "rude" that the Americans were voted off first? Without knowing anything about the people involved, perhaps that's just more about the cultural differences. The stereotypes work both ways - if Americans view British people as rude, I think a fairly common British stereotype of Americans is that they are naive (which can be annoying) or obnoxious/arrogant.

I hope none of this sounds argumentative - I'm genuinely very interested in this too, as as Brit living here. People react to me in different ways (mostly positive, I'm happy to say!) but not always.[/quote]

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