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1%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=7rp5mrt1
2
3->'''Louis Ciccone:''' Your honour, may I approach the bench?\
4'''Judge:''' You've been watching too much American TV, Mr. Ciccone. No one "approaches the bench" in a Canadian court.
5-->-- ''Series/SeeingThings''
6
7A special case of RealityIsUnrealistic, {{Eagleland}} Osmosis occurs when people outside the United States consume American pop culture and start to believe that aspects of their own society work like they do in these imported films and television shows.
8
9The most common forms of this concerns the legal system, with people expecting to be [[MirandaRights read a Miranda warning]] when they are [[ReadingYourRights read their rights]] upon arrest, expecting that police should have a search warrant in cases where they do not need one under local law, or calling a serious crime a "felony". Another one is expecting 9-1-1 to be the number for emergency services, even when the actual number is usually displayed prominently on phonebooks and phone booths. [[note]]Although many places will make it so that dialing 9-1-1 will redirect you to emergency services.[[/note]]
10
11This isn't new, or indeed limited to the United States--it's a side effect of World Power status. Elements of a major power's culture and language bleed into the popular culture of other countries. The Japanese adoption of Western customs like [[UsefulNotes/ChristmasInJapan Christmas]], Valentine's Day or [[WeddingsInJapan wedding ceremonies]] is a good example. In older tales, an astute reader will find Limey Osmosis, Frenchie Osmosis, and even Kraut Osmosis. Granted, modern mass media and the Internet certainly accelerate the effect.
12
13Compare with HollywoodProvincialism, where Southern California serves the same function to the US as a whole as the US does for the world in this trope, and compare CreatorsCultureCarryover, which is when creators assume that things work elsewhere the same way they do in their home country.
14
15----
16!!Examples:
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18[[foldercontrol]]
19
20[[folder:Advertising]]
21* Parodied in a 2006 advertisement for a digital satellite television service in Greece. A poultry thief is confronted by a policeman in what seems to be a country village. He screams at him to freeze (in English) and when he finally reaches him, he tells him to "put the cot down, slowly" (cota is the Greek word for chicken) and remarks "you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in the court of law". All this is said in English with a Greek hillbilly accent. The concept was later re-used in another hilarious variation, in the same village with an old lady and her donkey. This was PlayedForLaughs, since the company's channels would mostly feature Hollywood flicks.
22* ''Advertising/NipperAndGramophonesChristmasTales'': Despite being a campaign for the British company HMV, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhHk2-Y97-c the]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WT6Q3AH3uc three]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zUtMI-rqAE teasers]] all start with a parody of the MPAA's "green band" screen that opens many American movie trailers.
23[[/folder]]
24
25[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
26* A fictional example in ''Film/RushHour 3'': Lee and Carter hitch a ride from a Parisian taxi driver, who assumes that all Americans are violent action movie characters, and it seems that he is [[ProperlyParanoid proven right]] when Carter and Lee are chased by motorcycle-riding thugs. [[spoiler:The taxi driver gets to shoot the BigBad in the back and kill him, and becomes really excited that he felt what it was like to be "an American".]]
27* ''Film/AttackTheBlock'' has the street youths constantly refer to the police as the "Feds". Although originating from the US, this slang phrase is used very differently in the UK due to the lack of a federal system like the US employs. It's mostly found among certain youthful demographics within London regions and does indeed refer to the police. Underlining this further, one of them claims that they might get in trouble with "the FBI." Another character points out the problems with that, but struggles to recall the name of the UK equivalent, calling it "Section 6 or something" (he's thinking of [=MI6=]).
28* ''[[Film/Twelve2007 12]]'' is a Russian remake of ''Film/TwelveAngryMen'' and has the same central conceit of the RogueJuror as lone holdout for acquittal who gradually talks all the other jurors into his point of view. The only problem is that after a Russian jury has deliberated for three hours only a majority vote is required for conviction and a 6-6 tie will result in acquittal. The film shows the jury continuing to deliberate until the evening when they finally get a unanimous Not Guilty verdict.
29* ''Film/InvestigationOfACitizenAboveSuspicion'': A random young Italian communist has been arrested by the inspector's State Sec police.
30--> '''Random commie''': I want a lawyer!\
31'''Cop''': We're not in America!
32* Some of the cases of JustTrainWrong in ''The Cassandra Crossing'', a film that takes place in Europe and was shot in Europe, but that was written by Americans, are rooted in this:
33** Extreme long-distance "transcontinental" trains with both sleepers and diners running all the way through have been common in the USA for decades. In post-war Europe, however, there wasn't such a thing anymore. And the closest there was was the classic ''Orient Express'' which, however, didn't have regular coaches for its entire run.
34** Nuremberg main station is actually [[CaliforniaDoubling a freight station in Italy]], so the train stops on a platform-less track. Having a long-distance passenger express stop over regularly on tracks with no platforms whatsoever is absolutely normal in the USA outside of big cities and metropolitan areas -- but absolutely ''illegal'' in Europe.
35** And then there are the couplers that can be remote-uncoupled from some unit under the floor of the dining car. For one, this requires automatic couplers which have been standard in North America since the 19th century. At least the writers took into consideration that European railroads were way more high-tech and sophisticated than those in the USA, what with widespread electrification and all. So they thought that central coupling controls sounded credible. In reality, Europe still mostly uses manually operated, chain-like couplers that are ''way'' behind the rest of the world.
36* Invoked in-universe in New Zealand film ''Film/HuntForTheWilderpeople'', child protective services officer Paula Hall begins to read Hec and Ricky their Miranda Rights, until her rather dimwitted police officer second-in-command reminds her that not only does she have no legal ability to arrest people, but that cops in New Zealand don't use the Miranda Rights, stating that only cops only say that in American movies.
37* In the Danish movie ''Supervoksen'' (''Triple Dare'' in English releases), the 15-year-old protagonist Rebekka is nearing the end of her freshman year in high school. Her crush Adam is about to graduate (i.e. in his senior year), and the movie features his 18-year birthday party. In Denmark, you can't start high school until the year you turn 16 (i.e. after 9th grade in primary school) which means that Rebekka should be at least 16, and Adam should have turned 18 at least half a year ago (on average, they would be 17 and 19 respectively). However, their ages would be much more accurate if they were American high schoolers, so you would think the screenwriter watched some American high school movies and forgot that Danish teenagers start high school at a later age than Americans.
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Literature]]
41* In Literature/EncryptionStraffe, the Serbo-Croatian Maurizio nicknames himself Rich, developed a habit for American junk food, and swings American slangs like “chill” or “dude” around. His American friend Genie is not amused.
42* In the ''Literature/RiversOfLondon'' series, Peter gets rather annoyed when British youth refer to him or his fellow police as "the feds" or "the cops" (as opposed to "coppers"), merely because they've been watching so much American TV. Even "the filth" would at least be a ''British'' slang term. In ''What Abigail Did That Summer'', starring his teenaged cousin, Abigail's own narration refers to police as Feds all the time.
43[[/folder]]
44
45[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
46* In an episode of the 1980s Canadian comedy-drama TV series ''Seeing Things'', the main character, journalist Louis Ciccone, is in a courtroom and asks the judge if he may approach the bench. The judge responds "You watch too much American TV, Mr. Ciccone, no one approaches the bench in a Canadian court!"
47* In the ''Series/CornerGas'' episode "Hair Comes the Judge," at Wanda's first "case" a defendant addresses Wanda as "Your Honor" and asks to approach the bench. Wanda, though flattered that Lacey would call her "Your Honour," has to inform her, "But in Canada it's 'My Lord.'"
48** Although even this is somewhat wrong — "My Lord" (or "My Lady") isn't used universally, only in some superior/appeal courts (where appeals processes, jury trials, and the most severe crimes are tried). An ordinary provincial court (where at least 95% of crimes are tried) still retains "Your Honour". But most ''Canadians'' aren't even aware of this distinction... thanks again to this trope and readily available access to American media.
49* An old survey showed that many Queenslanders (and presumably other Australians) think that the emergency number is Nine One One. This happens in Mexico, too: even though the emergency phone is usually 080 or 066, some local police departments actually have arranged for 911 calls to be rerouted to emergency services.
50** So much so that ''Series/Rescue911'' included a regular segment with host Creator/WilliamShatner reminding viewers in Australia of the correct number, which is 000.
51*** The same thing happened for the UK showings, with Shatner giving the emergency number 999.
52*** And, in Brazil, his dubbing gave the partially-correct number 190 (which is exclusively a police number).
53* From the [[GermanMedia German]] SketchComedy ''Series/Switch1997'': A judge tries to overrule a lawyer's objection, but the lawyer protests that it's not possible to overrule an objection in German court. Later the defendant protests that he doesn't want the jury to be swayed by the prosecutor's language, but the judge points out that there is no jury. In German court there is only a "jury" of three professional aldermen.
54* Parodied in ''Series/TheITCrowd'' when Roy says to call 911 for an office fire and is reminded by Moss that 911 for the US and it's 999 in the UK.[[note]]Except when it's not. And except when it's 0118 999 881 999 119 7253.[[/note]] In reality, calls to 911 (as well as 112) will actually be rerouted to 999 on most (if not all) British phone networks.
55* Used in ''Series/HomeAndAway'' when Kirsty Sutherland suggests getting the coastguard to bring her grandfather back after he takes his boat out when there's a storm on the way.
56--> '''Rhys:''' We don't have coastguards, love. That's American. [[note]]The real-world Australia does have coastguards.[[/note]]
57* Parodied in the Icelandic sketch show ''Mið Ísland'' where a defense lawyer in an Icelandic courtroom addresses the judge as "yðar hátign" (or "your highness" in English, bungling even the American term) and asks permission to address the jury, only to be informed there are no juries in Iceland. He then asks whether he may approach the bench (with the judge asking "what bench?") and explains that his whole case hinges on a moving speech before a jury that includes minorities. After the judge assures him there is no jury the defense lawyer advises the defendant to admit guilt before the charges are even read.
58* ''Every British legal show ever'' shows the judge banging a gavel to quiet down the court. They don't (there's no gavel). This overlaps with TheCoconutEffect.
59** This also happens in ''Judge Rinder'',[[note]]he's actually a barrister, not a judge[[/note]] where they have the flag of the United Kingdom on display and see him using a gavel. Real British courts feature neither of these.
60* The Israeli skit show ''Ktzarim'' featured a lawyer giving a powerful speech in defense of her client, until the judge asks her what she’s doing, and explains that the people she’s addressing are not the jury because Israel doesn’t use juries.[[note]]This is a holdover from the Ottoman era that was not changed during the British Mandate because of the impracticality of having juries in a country with so few people.[[/note]] She asks in shock who the people she was addressing actually are, and he tells her they’re just spectators and friends and relatives of the people involved. She quickly proceeds to [[AmoralAttorney gather all the gifts she gave them]], and tells one man, ‘[[CastingCouch Don’t you say a single word about last night]].’
61* In the 1981 Australian TV movie ''Airhawk'', Hawk's brother is involved in a scheme with some criminals, who beat him up. Because he doesn't want the police involved, he tells the detective he doesn't want to press charges against the men who assaulted him. The detective replies curtly that [[YouWatchTooMuchX he's been watching too much American television]]; in Australia it's the State that presses charges, not the victim. (In fact, the same is true in the U.S.; but American prosecutors almost never press charges when victims don't want them to, so it's common to phrase it as if it were the victim's decision.)
62* ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace'' uses this as part of the [[StylisticSuck intentional awfulness of the show]] -- it's obvious Garth's indulged too much in American media, resulting in things like Liz having gone to "Harvard College Yale" and Rick having "fought in the 'Nam" (Britain never sent troops to Vietnam).
63* In one episode of British legal drama ''Crown Court'' a witness "pleads the Fifth" when asked about his tax returns, referring to the Fifth Amendment that in American law allows one to refuse to answer a question that might incriminate oneself. The judge is puzzled until the prosecution lawyer explains what the witness meant (the lawyer saying he knew from watching American films himself). The judge then assures the witness that Britain does have a similar law, the "Right to Silence," and the witness may decline to answer.
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:Music]]
67* Les Connards Boiteux have a song ''[[http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/55086 American Wave]]'' about this. Appropriately, its lyrics are ''pidgin''ized -- an unholy mixture of French and English.
68* Music/{{Rammstein}}'s music video for their song "Amerika" contains the line 'We're all living in America' and features people from around the world engaging in American activities such as watching tv and talking on cell phones while eating UsefulNotes/McDonalds food, while the lyrics repeat American staples.
69* Averted by Music/TheClash's "London's Burning."
70-->"London's burning dial 9-9-9"
71[[/folder]]
72
73[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
74* In the Norwegian comic strip ComicStrip/{{Pondus}}, there's a MailmanVsDog strip sequence where the neighbourhood mailman is seen wearing a full uniform with a hat, something which is not customary in the Norwegian postal service. Nor is it common for the mail carrier to go from house to house, like this one does; in Norwegian suburban neighbourhoods, the mailboxes of every household on the same street are usually situated on the same spot.
75[[/folder]]
76
77[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
78* An episode of ''Series/SpittingImage'' had a Music/BruceSpringsteen parody bemoaning this trope as "Bored with the UK of A".
79-->When my kids say "pants", do they mean jeans or knickers?
80-->Now Treets are M&Ms and a Marathon's Snickers.
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Video Games]]
84* The video game ''VideoGame/{{KGB}}'' made by French developer Cryo is mostly an impressive case of ShownTheirWork when it comes to the game's Soviet Russian setting. However, there is an odd slip-up where the Russian main character gives his estimate of an object's weight in pounds instead of kilograms.
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Western Animation]]
88* In the Danish comedy cartoon series ''Pandaerne'', the two kids in the titular family are temporarily sent to prison, and they are made to wear stereotypical orange uniforms while there. In Denmark, prisoner uniforms are not a thing, and inmates always just bring and wear their own clothes.
89* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pasila}}'' constantly parodies American legal requirements in Finland versus America.
90** Being read your rights:
91---> '''Hooligan:''' This is an illegal arrest! I wasn't read my rights!
92---> '''Lieutenant Pöysti:''' They don't read you your rights in Finland, idiot! (after which Pöysti goes on to read the hooligan his hilariously over the top "rights," including gems like "Anything that you say can be used against you in court. Some of it will turn against you by itself, some of it will be turned against you through legal maneuvering just to be irritating.")
93** Search warrants:
94---> '''Suspect:''' Do you have a search warrant?
95---> '''Pöysti:''' We don't need a search warrant! That's only done in America!
96---> '''Officer Neponen:''' *whispering* We DO need a search warrant!
97---> '''Pöysti:''' *whispering* Yeah, I know, but they always buy that America thing.
98* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' includes one of the characters saying "That's it, I'm moving to Canada," before [[LampshadeHanging realizing that he already lives in Canada]].
99[[/folder]]
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