3113
Hello Summer!
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2005
- Posts
- 13,823
Maybe it's revenge for all those American movies with baddies who have British accents (like, for example, Star Wars), but in three recent, U.K. movie/television shows I watched, I noticing Americans as the baddies or, more particularly and not too surprisingly, an American president as the baddie....
1) the movie Love Actually, which has a lustful (in all respects) and bullying American President as its only bad guy.
2) The Latest Dr. Who episode: "The Sound of Drumming," (?) which, again, has a bullying president (he gets vaporized)
3) The show Jekyll which has incredibly wealthy Americans behind the big conspiracy.
Now the American President in both of the above is pretty much the same--and hardly subtle. He's an arrogant ignoramus who acts as if he knows everything and can do anything he wants and treats the British Prime Minister like a lapdog. And in both cases, the British Prime Minster (a good guy in "Love Actually" and bad guy in "Dr. Who") gives this president his just deserts for not playing well with others. Gosh. Why ever would tv and movie writers in the U.K. feel that way about the President of the U.S. and why would they wish their Prime Minister to slap the asshole down?
(Guys, I'm with ya! I wish Tony had slapped down Dubya, too!)
This is not to say that all Americans in these shows are evil. As with Star Wars--the evil leaders of the Empire might all have British accents, but so does Obi Wan Kenobi. Likewise, Love Actually has nice American women and Dr. Who as a terrific American character fighting on the side of good. What's catching my eye here is that I'm seeing Americans cast as the *evil leaders*, the folk with power and recourses who are throwing their weight around....
I'm wondering if anyone else has seen similar casting in recent, non-American movies/television. As in our "ugly American" years, I have to wonder if this is a trend and, if it is, how long it will last....
1) the movie Love Actually, which has a lustful (in all respects) and bullying American President as its only bad guy.
2) The Latest Dr. Who episode: "The Sound of Drumming," (?) which, again, has a bullying president (he gets vaporized)
3) The show Jekyll which has incredibly wealthy Americans behind the big conspiracy.
Now the American President in both of the above is pretty much the same--and hardly subtle. He's an arrogant ignoramus who acts as if he knows everything and can do anything he wants and treats the British Prime Minister like a lapdog. And in both cases, the British Prime Minster (a good guy in "Love Actually" and bad guy in "Dr. Who") gives this president his just deserts for not playing well with others. Gosh. Why ever would tv and movie writers in the U.K. feel that way about the President of the U.S. and why would they wish their Prime Minister to slap the asshole down?
(Guys, I'm with ya! I wish Tony had slapped down Dubya, too!)This is not to say that all Americans in these shows are evil. As with Star Wars--the evil leaders of the Empire might all have British accents, but so does Obi Wan Kenobi. Likewise, Love Actually has nice American women and Dr. Who as a terrific American character fighting on the side of good. What's catching my eye here is that I'm seeing Americans cast as the *evil leaders*, the folk with power and recourses who are throwing their weight around....
I'm wondering if anyone else has seen similar casting in recent, non-American movies/television. As in our "ugly American" years, I have to wonder if this is a trend and, if it is, how long it will last....
