This is America!

Dan Shane danshane at bellsouth.net
Wed Aug 4 17:47:50 CEST 2004


OLAF WRITES:

> Hm ... OK. I hope that you understand that it is very hard 
> for a Scandinavian (at least for this particular one) to 
> understand that. To me, what you're saying almost sounds like 
> Americans don't have free human minds, but are just a bunch 
> of zombies who walk around without purpose, watch some TV and 
> eat the food they see advertised there, vote for whoever 
> spends most money on their election campaign and read 
> whatever comic they know for sure wouldn't be appropriate for 
> their children. 

AND I RESPOND:

By George, he's got it!

> And ... whenever I talk to an American (on 
> this list or anywhere else), I get a stronger feeling that 
> Americans are NOT like that, but free individuals, able to 
> think individually like everybody else in the world.

That's because you are communicating with the tiny minority of US residents
who recognize that there is a world beyond the borders of our country, and
that there is nothing wrong with freedom of thought.  The vast majority of
US citizens believe in being different, but only as long as they are
different in exactly the same way all other Americans are.  In other words,
they only THINK they are individuals.  In reality they are automatons
directly under the influence of the advertising and marketing industries.

Most Americans will take the easiest route available to get through life.
Thinking for one's self is way too hard for most of us; it is much simpler
to be spoon fed and told how we should dress, eat, and talk, especially if
what we are being told doesn't require us to sacrifice anything but money.
As Steve Martin expressed so eloquently when introducing an exceptionally
healthy looking celebrity on the Academy Awards presentation: "I'd do
anything to look like this guy, except of course, eat right and exercise."

Why do you think most Americans will never see a foreign film?  Do you know
how hard it is to read subtitles and still pay attention to movement on the
movie screen?  Why will people in this country pay $10 per ticket to see a
movie they already know will be bad, but are scared stiff to watch a film
that critics unanimously praise?

Why do movies that feature car chases and explosions and meaningless
dialogue continue to overshadow those that actually tell a story?  Watching
things blow up real good is easy; paying attention to storylines that don't
radio ahead the ending is hard.  Witness the barrage of movie trailers that
lay out every plot twist or intended surprise that the director and
screenwriter probably hoped would remain a secret until the patron was
sitting in the theater.  If Hitchcock's PSYCHO were being marketed today you
could count on Anthony Perkins having been revealed as his own mother and
that Janet Leigh would not be alive halfway through the picture.

Which Disney character toys and clothing sell best in America?  Donald and
Mickey?  Guess again.  Ask an American the origin of Winnie-the-Pooh.  Don't
expect to hear A. A. Milne anywhere in the reply.  Americans are told what
they should like, and most Americans want to keep it that way.  And don't
forget, if anyone (like me) suggests that there is anything wrong with this
scenario we will hear the trumpet call that we are absolutely un-American
and we should leave these shores forthwith.

Dan




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