History Main / CulturalCringe

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': The game's title is written in Japanese (Genshin) rather than Chinese (Yuan-Shen) even though the game was made in China. [[https://youtu.be/vKUOOg9CICY?t=511 According to Accented Cinema]], this is because even the [[Creator/MiHoYo Chinese developers]] are aware of China's reputation for {{Shoddy Knock Off Product}}s.

The flip side of (and often combined with) a ForeignCultureFetish. Compare InternalizedCategorism, where the character starts hating themselves for being a part of a culture perceived by others as "bad," rather than merely seeing their culture as inferior to other cultures. See also BoomerangBigot, where the character might feel anything from their ethnicity to their species is inferior, rather than feeling their country and its culture ''specifically'' is inferior, in comparison to another country and its culture. See also CulturalRebel, who may or may not suffer from this trope. Compare also CargoCult, and MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting. Compare StopBeingStereotypical, as something unique to a specific culture can end up being viewed as a stereotype by members of that culture. Contrast CulturalPosturing.

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': The game's title is written in Japanese (Genshin) rather than Chinese (Yuan-Shen) even though the game was made in China. [[https://youtu.be/vKUOOg9CICY?t=511 According to Accented Cinema]], this is because even the Chinese developers are aware of China's reputation for {{Shoddy Knock Off Product}}s.

The Cultural Cringe is an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to that of other countries. Such people will thus tend to discount a lot of their own culture and embrace another country's 'better' culture instead. In fact, it's common for people suffering from Cultural Cringe to disavow that their own country has a legitimate national culture ''at all''. There are many possible reasons for this, but one is due to it being true what they say: familiarity breeds contempt. Other cultures seem so much more exotic and interesting when you don't know much about them, and don't have to actually live with their more negative aspects day in and day out.

* ''Series/TheManInTheHighCastle'': In an AlternateHistory where Germany and Japan won World War II, Childan often disparages American culture in favor or German or Japanese culture. When a Japanese man asks him about rock & roll, Childan says he dislikes "negro music" and prefers Wagner. He also says that American idioms are stupid in comparison to the more elegant Japanese. When living in the neutral zone, the only place where American culture isn't dominated by Germany or Japan, Childan gripes about not being able to get any sushi.

* Philosophers such as Roger Scruton and Benedict Beckeld have referred to this phenomenon as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oikophobia "oikophobia"]], postulating that it is a natural consequence of civilizations becoming more peaceful and prosperous. [[https://quillette.com/2019/10/07/oikophobia-our-western-self-hatred/ Long story short]], when a society is either at war or simply 'young' in terms of socioeconomic development, the citizens will elevate their sense of national pride in order to "rise above" their neighbouring countries. Once said civilization becomes peaceful and prosperous (meaning that international conflicts have ceased and everyone's existential needs have been satisfied) however, the conflict suddenly turns inward and the individual citizens will attempt to "stand out" from each other by either implicitly or explicitly denouncing their own nation and culture. Oikophobia thus becomes a means by which individuals seek to appraise themselves as being more "enlightened" than the rest of their fellow citizens, indicating that the phenomenon is primarily the result of pride and/or vanity.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKUOOg9CICY This video essay]] by Accented Cinema discussing Chinese people's frustration with their country's reputation for cheap knockoff products, especially movies.

** ''VideoGame/DragonAge2'': [[PlayerCharacter Hawke]]'s best friend Varric Tethras is a surface dwarf whose family are exiled dwarven nobility. They were born underground and lost everything when they were banished to the surface, and miss the family glory that he never got since he was born on the surface. As a result, Varric is ''very'' vocally critical of Orzammar dwarven culture, finding them all to be rigid, haughty, stuck-up elitists who think they're better than everyone else because they "live in a hole in the ground" and that "their great-great-grandfather made a water clock or something." He often extols the virtues of surface human culture, finding it much more fun, casual, and laid-back than dwarven culture.

The Cultural Cringe is an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to that of other countries. Such people will thus tend to discount a lot of their own culture and embrace another country's 'better' culture instead. In fact, it's common for people suffering from Cultural Cringe to disavow that their own country has a legitimate national culture ''at all''. Cross-reference ''[[http://www.zompist.com/amercult.html How to recognize that you're an American]]'' and the various spin-off lists for other countries.

Australian literary critic and social commentator A. A. Phillips [[TropeNamer named]] and [[TropeCodifier codified]] the trope with his 1950 ''Meanjin''[[labelnote:†]]a Melbourne-based literary journal[[/labelnote]] essay "The Cultural Cringe", in which he observed this behavior -- specifically Australian feelings of inferiority towards Britain -- in rampant abundance among his contemporary fellow Australians. (This is also why it's a part of Australia's UsefulNotes, along with TallPoppySyndrome.) This trope is at least OlderThanRadio, though, enough so that among the people Creator/GilbertAndSullivan felt "[[Theatre/TheMikado would not be missed]]" was:

This isn't necessarily the opposite of PatrioticFervor, nor is it necessarily the same thing as BoomerangBigot. Someone with the Cringe may still love his/her country and national heritage ''despite'' its supposed inferiority. As one may put it, their own culture may suck, but it's still ''their'' culture.

The TropeNamer and TropeCodifier is Australian literary critic and social commentator A. A. Phillips, who coined the term in his 1950 ''Meanjin''[[labelnote:†]]a Melbourne-based literary journal[[/labelnote]] essay "The Cultural Cringe", in which he observed this behavior -- specifically Australian feelings of inferiority towards Britain -- in rampant abundance among his contemporary fellow Australians. (This is also why it's a part of Australia's UsefulNotes, along with TallPoppySyndrome.) This trope is at least OlderThanRadio, though, enough so that among the people Creator/GilbertAndSullivan felt "[[Theatre/TheMikado would not be missed]]" was:

The TropeNamer and TropeCodifier is Australian literary critic and social commentator A. A. Phillips, who coined the term in his 1950 essay "''A.A. Phillips on The Cultural Cringe''," where he observed this behavior -- specifically Australian feelings of inferiority towards Britain -- in rampant abundance among his contemporary fellow Australians. (This is also why it's a part of Australia's UsefulNotes, along with TallPoppySyndrome.) This trope is at least OlderThanRadio, though, enough so that among the people Creator/GilbertAndSullivan felt "[[Theatre/TheMikado would not be missed]]" was:

This isn't necessarily the opposite of PatrioticFervor, nor is it necessarily the same thing as BoomerangBigot. Someone with the Cringe may love his/her country and national heritage ''despite'' its supposed inferiority. As one may put it, their own culture may suck, but it's still ''their'' culture.

The Cultural Cringe is an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries. A person with a cultural cringe will tend to discount a lot of their own culture and embrace another country's 'better' culture instead. In fact, it's common for people suffering from Cultural Cringe to disavow that there is a national culture ''at all''. Cross-reference ''[[http://www.zompist.com/amercult.html How to recognize that you're an American]]'' and the various spin-off lists for other countries.

* ''Anime/AxisPowersHetalia''. The author makes fun of ''everybody'', his homeland included.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q49NOyJ8fNA This clip]] from ''Series/TheNewsroom'' in which an American gives America a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech (combined, in the end, with a large dose of NostalgiaFilter about how it used to be better)

** In one challenge, they have to rescue Hammond on a snowy mountaintop and Clarkson/May are given American pickup trucks. Traditionally, they have had very poor views of trucks, like in the challenge with driving cars to Louisiana and constantly mocking Hammond's Dodge truck. In this challenge, they fall in absolute love with their trucks with Clarkson remarking that they "were properly besotted" with the vehicles. Clarkson adored his Ford Velociraptor because of its insane horsepower and mentioning how even a base line vehicle is exceptionally cheap for its horsepower rating (mentioning that for the price of a Vauxhall diesel one can get a truck with a 350HP V8) and May loves his diesel Chevrolet Silverado because of its high torque at low RPMs and being a general workhorse.

* Philosophers such as Roger Scruton and Benedict Beckeld have referred to this phenomenon as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oikophobia "oikophobia"]], postulating that it is a natural consequence of civilizations becoming more peaceful and prosperous. [[https://quillette.com/2019/10/07/oikophobia-our-western-self-hatred/ Long story short]], when a society is either at war or simply 'young' in terms of socioeconomic development, the citizens will elevate their sense of national pride in order to "rise above" their neighbouring countries. Once said civilization becomes peaceful and prosperous (meaning that international conflicts have ceased and everyone's existential needs have been satisfied) however, the conflict suddenly turns inward and the individual citizens will attempt to "stand out" from each other by either implicitly or explicitly denouncing their own nation and culture. Oikophobia thus becomes a means by which individuals seek to appraise themselves as being more "enlightened" than the rest of their fellow citizens, indicating that the phenomenon is primarily the result of pride and/or vanity. And [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement that's all that we're going to say about that]].

The flip side of (and often combined with) a ForeignCultureFetish. Compare InternalizedCategorism, where the character starts hating themselves for being a part of a culture perceived by others as "bad," rather than merely seeing their culture as inferior to other cultures. See also BoomerangBigot, where the character might feel anything from their ethnicity to their species is inferior, rather than feeling their country and its culture ''specifically'' is inferior, in comparison to another country and its culture. See also CulturalRebel, who may or may not suffer from this trope. Compare also CargoCult. Compare StopBeingStereotypical, as something unique to a specific culture can end up being viewed as a stereotype by members of that culture. Contrast CulturalPosturing.

* During his stand-up special, comedian Creator/{{John Oliver}} quips that it's "impossible for me as a British citizen to go into any museum in any nation on the planet Earth without, within five minutes, starting to feel guilty."

The TropeNamer and TropeCodifier is Australian literary critic and social commentator A. A. Phillips, who coined the term in his 1950 essay "''A.A. Phillips on The Cultural Cringe''," where he observed this behavior - specifically Australian feelings of inferiority towards Britain - in rampant abundance among his contemporary fellow Australians. (This is also why it's a part of Australia's UsefulNotes, along with TallPoppySyndrome.) This trope is at least OlderThanRadio, though, enough so that among the people Creator/GilbertAndSullivan felt "[[Theatre/TheMikado would not be missed]]" was:

-->''"The idiot who praises, with enthusiastic tone / [[BornInTheWrongCentury All centuries but this]], and [[ForeignCultureFetish every country but his own]]."''

It's important to note that none of the counties in that study put themselves below 50, suggesting that even with the cringe, on average most people everywhere have a respect for their country.

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** In an interview with Creator/{{Stephen Colbert}} on ''Series/{{The Late Show With Stephen Colbert}}'', on the topic of American World power, Oliver said, "You get blamed for everything when you're number one" and most of the world's problems can be traced back to a British man drawing a line over a map.

* ''Series/TheManInTheHighCastle'': In an AlternateHistory where Germany and Japan won World War II, Childan often disparages American culture in favor or German or Japanese culture. When a Japanese man asks him about rock and roll, Childan says he dislikes "negro music" and prefers Wagner. He also says that American idioms are stupid in comparison to the more elegant Japanese. When living in the neutral zone, the only place where American culture isn't dominated by Germany or Japan, Childan gripes about not being able to get any sushi.

-->'''Clarkson:''' Children, if you are watching this at home... and you don't know [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar why this is inappropriate... ask your parents]].

-->'''Clarkson:''' You're ''American''!?
-->'''Girl:''' [[OhCrap ... Oh...]]
-->'''Clarkson''': [looks her up and down for a moment] You can't be, you're nowhere ''near'' fat enough!

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* During his stand-up special, comedian Creator/{{John Oliver}} quips that it's "impossible for me as a British citizen to go into any museum in any nation on the planet Earth without, within five minutes, starting to feel guilty."
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The Cultural Cringe is an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries. A person with a cultural cringe will tend to discount a lot of their own culture, and embrace another country's 'better' culture instead. In fact, it's common for people suffering from Cultural Cringe to disavow that there is a national culture ''at all''. Cross-reference ''[[http://www.zompist.com/amercult.html How to recognize that you're an American]]'' and the various spin-off lists for other countries.

The flip side of (and often combined with) a ForeignCultureFetish. Compare InternalizedCategorism, where the character starts hating themselves for being a part of a culture perceived by others as "bad," rather then merely seeing their culture as inferior to other cultures. See also BoomerangBigot, where the character might feel anything from their ethnicity to their species is inferior, rather than feeling their country and its culture ''specifically'' is inferior, in comparison to another country and its culture. See also CulturalRebel, who may or may not suffer from this trope. Also compare CargoCult. Compare StopBeingStereotypical, as something unique to a specific culture can end up being viewed as a stereotype by members of that culture. Contrast CulturalPosturing.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q49NOyJ8fNA This clip]] from ''Series/TheNewsroom'' in which an American gives America a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech (combined, at the end, with a large dose of NostalgiaFilter about how it used to be better)

* ''Series/Sense8'': Mahendra hates Indian food, almost gets assassinated due to his efforts to ban Hindu ceremonial rites, and is never seen wearing traditional Indian garments. One of the Hindus who has a hand in his assassination attempt says Mahendra wants India to be like America.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q49NOyJ8fNA This clip]] from ''Series/TheNewsroom'' in which an American gives America a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.