Why is there a lot of anti-Englishness in America?

Question

In a lot of hollywood films, english people are mostly bad guys who are made out to be evil, horrible, greedy and cunning, and all the bad teeth jokes, mocking the queen english accent, Also during the football world cup last year some sections of the american media labled England fans "horrible hooligans", Are the English really that disliked over there?

Answer 1

cos thats what we are really like when we leve the bowler hat and unbrella at home !

Answer 2

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Someone is giving you bad information. The Hollywood films that portray the English as bad guys are a very, very small percentage. Most Americans absolutely love the English, especially the Queen's accent. The ones who don't are usually not of UK origin...and usually from a country England once considered a 'colony'.

Over 40,000,000 Americans are part Irish...think about the different Irish groups that don't seem to like the English, and there is definitely some of that...I know from personal experience.

Some people who are a little too obsessed with history, can't seem to get over the Revolutionary War...they need to get a life.

Some English are a bit snobby, uppity, condescending, but I don't believe that is most English people. Most Americans love the English, and many, many don't even know about their English ancestry because it was not a good thing to be English just after that war of independence.

♪♫ The old married couple analogy is also a good one. ♪♫
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Answer 3

Not by me!! I love the English. In fact I watch BBC America more than any channel. I think Hollywood may be jealous since there is actual creativity in England. Hollywood seems to be redoing old movies a lot lately. Also, nothing can beat the Britcom. They are all just too funny. I don't know why they refer to the English fans as horrible hooligans––all our media needs to do is see how fans in this country react when a team wins a big championship. They riot as if something horrible had taken place. I don't think the English are disliked––the media and Hollywood are jealous.

Answer 4

Disagree! Whenever I have been over to USA whether East coast, Gulf or West coast,. I have found the Americans like me because they like Brits. A very common comment is "I do love your English accent". When I go elsewhere in the world the opposite seems often to be true, and Brits are generally regarded as lazy, ignorant ill mannered louts with little sense, and/or as fools who can be easily parted with their money and thoroughly deserve to be... Not so in US.

Obviously our football supporters have a worldwide reputation for hooliganism and this is no more nor no less in the US than anywhere else, but they are not typical of Brits in general. As for movies,while occasionally somebody with a British accent may be portrayed as a villain, many others are portrayed in different ways. Films like "Where Eagles Dare" tend to reflect the spirit of cooperation and are thoroughly enjoyed over there as they are here and they seem to like Bond movies better than Rambo? So overall think the questioner is totally misguided in his impressions.

Answer 5

I don't think they are really anti British more than the British are anti American. The instances you mentioned represent only a small part of some people's opinions, or for commercial reasons like Hollywood films. Haven't you seen them still featuring the Chinese as men with pigtails & women with bound feet? All these were put in just to make the picture more colorful. Like a rabbit wears clothes & can talk too, etc.

Answer 6

I would assume it is for the same reasons that the Scottish, Irish, French and most of the developing nations dislike the English - history.

As for stereotyping in films, it is racist to make all the black guys baddies (films pre-1990's) and we like the Russians now (films pre-1990's) so apart from Arabs (pronounced Ay-rabs) and Koreans who else are Americans scared of?

FYI the English football fans are horrible hooligans - everybody in the world knows that!

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Answer 7

The reason why English people are portrayed as villains is because of the fact that the English accent is articulate and they want to portray the villains as professional to some extent.

Also it's not just the English who are portrayed as villains, it depends on the time politically, the English being villains may be stem back to the American war of independence, or if Russians are played as bad guys it might be due to cold war memories...

It depends really...I don't think it's spiteful anti-Englishness

Answer 8

I just thought ever body hated the English, cos in every nations history book the British army where there raping and pillaging.

Answer 9

Just like in the UK, only a few really dislike the British. Most Americans like the British, or don't mind them.

Answer 10

Yeah but the image portrayed over here of them is dumb hick arrogant whooping gay appartment living New Yorkers. Courtesy of our media.
So it evens out. Any American i speak to doesn't think that way about us, just as most Brits dont think the above statement is true.

Answer 11

Look at it the other way round - we English don't like the American's that much - particularly judging by people's comments about them on YA.