Movie based opinions

[Xue Sheng]

Believe it or not there is a question in here, although I am willing to admit my little demented mind may be the only one that thinks about such things.

I was watching an old John Wayne movie the other day, Donovan’s Reef, and for some reason I remembered when I first meant my wife what her view of the majority of Americans was.

It was based on movies, mostly movies newer than Donovan’s Reef. This lead her to conclude that most Americans where heavy drinkers, violent and many did drugs and all jumped from bed to bed and had multiple affairs and multiple divorces and were never faithful to a spouse. This applied to American men and women alike.

And not only was this her view but all of her families, all of her friends and just about everyone else that she talked to in North China that had never been to the US. It took me a while to convince her that these where just movies and mostly fictional, but she based this on the fact that many of the movies in China are based on real events, except for those that are obviously based on mythology. SO she believed, as do many Chinese apparently, that most of our movies were factual or fact based.

I also new people here that base their view of China on movies as well and they are equally wrong so this is not just a Chinese thing.

Now I began to wonder if the rest of the world based their view of the USA on movies and also how that view must have changed from the days of John Wayne movies until now.

I did once here that in either WW I and/or WW II that many of the Europeans expected a bunch of cowboys to show up and they were rather shocked when the US army showed up not in Cowboy regalia with six guns in holsters.

Now I was wondering, since there are many on MT that are not from the US, do you or have you ever based your view of the USA on the movies and was that a correct, incorrect or close view?

This could go for anyone that had a movie based opinion of any country by the way.

 

[MA-Caver]

It used to be a running gag throughout many films and tv shows. Probably most notably was M*A*S*H where poor Korean farmers/nationals would want to be like those stars they seen on film, the impression that they got about the way of life 10,000 miles away is based on what they saw on the screen.
It's easy to do that especially if you watch a lot of films from a certain country.
There's a good example of that (probably self parody on American films watched by foreigners) in "The Hunt For Red October" with the scene of the American Submarine commander (and crew) meets the Soviet Submarine crew for the first time, the American Captain is wearing his .45 sidearm in his belt holster, and Sean Connery whispers to his first mate which translated to saying the American Capitan thinks he's a cowboy. Also earlier in the film is referred to as a "buckaroo".

It's easy to forget that sometimes liberties with the truth are taken by the filmmakers to better their story telling and that whats happening on the screen or how actors are talking are not exactly how folks really do it. But there are exceptions. Take the brilliant Cohen Brother's film "Fargo" for example. Yah! That's how folks talk over dere! Yah.
While some filmmakers want to go for the gritty realism and show how things really were they rarely do, there's always some embellishment to heighten the tension, to up the ante or play out the joke/gag.

Personally I've learned a long time ago never judge a book by it's cover. What I see on film or read in a book depending upon the film/book is with the understanding that it's either fiction or non. With films, unless it's a documentary (and even with THOSE you got to be careful and take it with a grain or two) it's not going to be quite exactly what you see if you go "over there" for real. But with (modern) foreign films you can bet it'll be pretty closer than American made.

 

[girlbug2]

I was surprised that people could take Hollywood films for realism, but I shouldn't have been, considering that I had a similar reaction to portrayals of the French in movies. I was convinced that French people were rude, snooty and promiscuous until my French neighbor moved in next door several years ago -- she absolutely demolished those stereotypes.

In any case, I'm glad you convinced your wife that movies are bunk.

 

[Steel Tiger]

I have to say I have not based an opinion of anyone on movies, but I have often wondered if the people making movies really give any thought to what sort of image they are presenting.

I think that the most notable genre for this is the WWII genre. During the war films were made that were aimed directly at the population of those making the films, British films for the British, American films for Americans, so as to bolster morale and encourage participation.

After the war films were about the collective effort needed to win. In The Longest Day it is made clear that all the allied forces were contributing to the operation. John Wayne's character even goes so far as to point out that the US were relative newcomers to the war. Later, however, you find that American films begin to give the impression that the US fought the war alone, and this remained something of the standard until Saving Private Ryan.

What does this do for people of those other nations involved in the war? Well it makes them resent this very lopsided portrait of the war effort. It makes the US seem arrogant, and unfortunately this tends to then colour how any product of the US is viewed.

 

[mook jong man]

When i was young i thought all Americans were like the brady bunch, everybody lived in big houses and had a maid.