| 1 | %% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1472687293036463200 |
| 2 | %% Please see thread to discuss a new image. |
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| 4 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | [[folder:The Arctic and Greenland]] |
| 7 | * Often depicted as if it's one large continent, similar to Antarctica, while in reality the Arctic, or "North Pole" is the name for several regions comprised of Alaska, Northern Canada, Greenland, and even the Nordic countries and Northern Russia. |
| 8 | * EskimoLand: The Arctic will mostly be inhabited by the Inuit people, still nicknamed as "Eskimo" in many countries. Usually they will still be portrayed as if modern age and technology never set in. They will all wear parkas, carve trinkets, and permanently live in igloos, while in reality igloos were temporary shelters, not actual houses. When they travel they use a sled, pulled by huskies, and go fishing in a canoe while trying to harpoon every animal in their vicinity. When not eating fish, they will consume whale blubber or cod-liver oil. |
| 9 | ** Several outdated traditions or already debunked, but permissive urban legends about these people will also be shown. For instance, they will be kissing/greeting one another by rubbing their noses against each other. They supposedly have [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow an unusually large number of words for snow, which is simply untrue]]. Whenever one of their people is terminally ill or very old they will put him or her in a canoe and sent him off unto the wild ocean to die on ice floes. |
| 10 | ** The men will usually have names like "Nuk Nuk" or "Nanook", in reference to the famous documentary ''Film/NanookOfTheNorth''. [[FauxDocumentary This documentary was heavily fictionalized]] and the name an invention: the man was actually called Allakariallak. ''Nanook''/''nanuq'' means "polar bear" |
| 11 | * The Arctic itself will often be simply one blank white landscape, full of ice and snow. No plant life is to be seen, while in reality the Arctic has lots of vegetation. |
| 12 | * Various polar animals will have a cameo: huskies, polar bears, polar foxes, lemmings, seals, walruses, whales, orcas, belugas, narwhals,... and inaccurately, penguins. [[PolarBearsAndPenguins Penguins live in Antarctica, but not the Arctic.]] Sometimes Eskimos themselves are depicted living on the South Pole, which is again wrong for the same reason. |
| 13 | * Expect a reference to the fact that there is no sun for months, yet "aurora borealis" ("northern lights") can be seen in the sky, no matter what time of the year it is. As a result, the Inuit will go to sleep "for several months" in their igloo, as if they are physically able to have a winter sleep like animals do. |
| 14 | * And, of course, the Arctic is SantaClaus' permanent residence! |
| 15 | [[/folder]] |
| 16 | |
| 17 | [[folder:Canada]] |
| 18 | * See MooseAndMapleSyrup for the main page about stereotypical portrayals of Canada. |
| 19 | * Canada: The Bob & Doug [=McKenzie=] sketches from ''Series/{{SCTV}}'' cemented the idea that all Canadians say "eh?" as a VerbalTic. Another Canadian linguistic stereotype is the word "aboot" instead of "about". |
| 20 | ** Canadians, much like the British, are often portrayed as being [[ApologizesALot exceptionally polite]]. The phrase "Welcome to Canada. It's nice up here, [[VerbalTic eh?]]" pretty much defines this stereotype. |
| 21 | ** In many countries frequented by American tourists, the advice "pretend you're Canadian" is often given. |
| 22 | ** Canadians also tend to be portrayed as a lot less jingoistic than Americans. Quebec separatism may be mentioned, but Western separatism might as well not exist. |
| 23 | *** In regards to Western separatism, it's mainly centered in Alberta, which is often called [[EverythingIsBigInTexas the Texas of Canada]]. The stereotype of Alberta is that everybody there are right-wing cowboys and oil industry workers who drive big pickup trucks and are constantly complaining about how "the East" (read: Ontario and Quebec, or the federal government) ignores them. |
| 24 | * Outside North America, people often confuse Canadians with Americans, or when they speak French, with Frenchmen. To many foreigners the overabundance of the USA in the news media is so large that it almost completely overshadows Canada's own culture, media and politics. |
| 25 | ** The fact that Canada is a bilingual community is sometimes forgotten by foreigners. Many Canadians speak both English and French fluently. In US comedy French-speaking Canadians are always portrayed as a FrenchJerk, because Americans tend to sympathize more with the English-speaking part of the population. |
| 26 | ** The most famous Canadian province in the world is Québec. Québecois tend to be portrayed by English speakers similarly to how people from the DeepSouth are portrayed in American media, as being a bunch of separatist LowerClassLout {{French Jerk}}s , and are portrayed in France as backward colonialists who aren't true Frenchmen and speak a funny-sounding but unintelligible language that has barely any resemblance to ''proper'' french. That is, of course, when English-speaking foreigners remember that Canada also has a large French-speaking population. |
| 27 | ** Don't expect any mention to be made of Quebec's rather sizable (historically even more so) English-speaking minority, unless the (unfortunately very real) ethnolinguistic tensions between the Anglophones and Francophones are the whole plot. |
| 28 | * Almost inevitably, Canadians will be depicted as being white, and if they aren't French will have an English or a Scottish family name. |
| 29 | ** The Inuit culture in Canada has received more attention and interest since the second half of the 20th century. Their Inuksuk stone statues have risen to become a cultural symbol. Similarly the totem pole has become this for the Canadian First Nations, despite most First Nations having no such tradition. (Totem poles are a creation of cultures of the northwest Pacific coast, both in Canada and the States.) |
| 30 | * The first image that pops up when many people think of Canada is a red-uniformed Mountie with a cool hat. Whenever Mounties have to catch a bandit on the run they will eventually be able to arrest him, because "the Mountie always gets his man." And if it's too far to walk, he'll always travel on horseback rather than in a police car. Basically, fictional Mounties are living about a century in the past. |
| 31 | * It's always snowing in Canada and everything is covered under a white carpet. The only change in weather are blizzards. Apart from this obvious misconception popular culture will also depict Canada as a country full of pine wood forests, mountains, lakes [[note]] The country even contains 60% percent of all the lakes in the world [[/note]], log cabins, waterfalls,... So whoever isn't a mountie will be a lumberjack, a wildlife hunter, or a camper. When people travel they will use a sled or a snowmobile. Cities? Towns? People with other jobs? What are you talking [[ForcedMeme ''aboot'']]? |
| 32 | ** If you need a typical Canadian animal, look no further than a Newfoundlander dog, a Labrador dog, the Canadian horse, the Canada goose, and the great northern loon. A beaver, bear, or a moose are also popular choices, but sometimes too generally ''North American''. Despite that, beavers have been used as a national Canadian symbol. |
| 33 | * In terms of technology, infrastructure, and lifestyles, Canada is often portrayed as being more primitive and [[CallToAgriculture close to nature]] than the "modern" United States (See above re: lumberjacks, hunters, and campers.). Socially, however, Canada is often portrayed as far more progressive and liberal than the United States, with laws supporting secularism, same-sex marriage, universal healthcare, mosaic culture, higher taxation to redistribute wealth, outlawing of capital punishment, strict gun control, etc. When foreigners ''are'' aware of this, they tend to depict Canada as either a progressive paradise or as CommieLand. American liberals often joke about moving to Canada or (if they live in a left-leaning northern state) [[DividedStatesOfAmerica seceding]] to join Canada whenever conservative politicians take power. American conservatives often joke about the celebrities who threaten to move to Canada the next time a Republican takes the White House but who never get around to doing so. In older works, this is somewhat justified as Canada was considerably more conservative politically than the US (although attitudes were shifting subtly before then) until the 1970s, when PM UsefulNotes/PierreTrudeau's controversial but [[LongRunners long-lasting]] Liberal government started to change ''absolutely everything''. Seriously; Trudeau's policies were controversial enough to kill the Liberal Party in some provinces for decades[[note]]In the 2015 federal election, which was the most recent in which the Liberals won a majority in Parliament, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, who collectively have 48 seats and were previously hurt by Trudeau's energy policy, elected a grand total of ''five'' Liberal [=MPs=], compared to 39 for the Conservatives. The most recent election in 2021 was even worse for the Liberals in that region—the Conservatives took ''44'' of the 48 seats, including all 14 in Saskatchewan, while the Liberals and NDP won ''two each''.[[/note]], but important enough for him to be named the third-greatest person in Canadian history--and that's with many people who hated him voting to keep him down. |
| 34 | * If Canada's city and suburban life are depicted in popular culture, it will be mostly UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}}, because a lot of Hollywood productions are filmed there, giving it the nickname ''Hollywood North''. The only other locations that exist in popular culture are UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}}, UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}}, Winnipeg, and Nova Scotia. Saskatchewan may get mentioned too for being [[InherentlyFunnyWords a funny location name]], especially the city of [[HehHehYouSaidX Regina]], for the same reason (it's pronounced with a hard "I", rhyming with [[CountryMatters the word for a woman's privates]]). The only monuments that will be shown are the CN Tower and [=SkyDome=], both in Toronto. |
| 35 | ** Ontario is best known for the UsefulNotes/NiagaraFalls, which also cross the US border and reach into a part of [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState upstate New York]]. The waterfall is famous in popular culture for having daredevils crawl inside barrels and jump off the falls afterwards. |
| 36 | * The maple leaf makes Canada's flag one of the most recognizable in the world. As a result, it has become a national symbol. |
| 37 | * Canadian national dishes are maple syrup, Kraft dinner (macaroni and cheese), poutine, butter tarts, and Canadian bacon. Except in Canada, it's called back bacon, or if covered in cornmeal, peameal bacon. [[InsistentTerminology Cue the confusion.]][[note]]Originally, "peameal" bacon was in fact covered with ground peas, but peas have long since been replaced by cornmeal.[[/note]] |
| 38 | * CanadianEqualsHockeyFan: Another popular stereotype is that everyone plays hockey and/or curling. A third and fourth national sport, ''lacrosse'' and ''Canadian football'', are fairly obscure in other countries. |
| 39 | * Historically, Canada is best remembered for the Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1899), where, as all fans of the Donald Duck comics know, Uncle Scrooge [=McDuck=] amassed his first fortune. The town is also known for the narrative poem ''Literature/{{The Shooting of Dan McGrew}}''. |
| 40 | ** During the 1960s and 1970s, Canada was also known for harboring many young Americans who dodged the draft. |
| 41 | * CanadianMusic has a strong association with CountryMusic and FolkMusic, with famous examples such as Music/HankSnow, Music/LeonardCohen and Music/JoniMitchell. Some Canadian rock, pop, and R&B acts like Music/PaulAnka, Music/NeilYoung, Music/{{Rush|Band}}, Music/CelineDion, Music/JustinBieber, Music/{{Drake}}, and Music/TheWeeknd have reached iconic status, but are still often [[MistakenNationality mistaken for being American]] by some foreigners. |
| 42 | * And cinephiles know the movie production and distribution company Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada. |
| 43 | ** Outside of the NFB, [[MadeInCountryX Canadian film and television is ridiculed as cheap, dull, and mediocre]], soulessly churned out for the sole purpose of fulfilling government mandates. |
| 44 | * When it comes to (fighting) video game characters, probably the most stereotypical portrayal of Canadians are the lumberjack-turned-wrestler Wolf Hawkfield from ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' and Sasquatch from ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'', who is meant to represent the "Canadian version" of the infamous [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Bigfoot]]. Otherwise, Canadian fighters tend to avert most Canadian stereotypes that you probably wouldn't know that they are Canadian in the first place. Some popular characters, such as ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters''[='=] Maxima, ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive''[='s=] Rig, and ''Franchise/StreetFighter'''s Abigail are only linked by the fact that they are big muscular guys. (Though at least Abigail has some hints at his Canadian nationality in his moveset) |
| 45 | [[/folder]] |
| 46 | |
| 47 | [[folder:Mexico]] |
| 48 | * First of all, calling Mexico "Central American" or even more egregiously "South American" is not really what most geographers would agree with. If one draws the boundary between Central and North America at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (in Southern Mexico), only 12% of Mexico's surface area is in Central America. Its largest centers of economic activity and population and the regions associated with most stereotypes (except Spring Break in Cancún, maybe) are all north of that dividing line. |
| 49 | * Mexico is usually reduced to 19th century stereotypes. All men wear large sombreros, colorful ponchos or serapes and have [[MagnificentMoustachesOfMexico long thick black moustaches]]. They may be charros, desperados or {{Bandito}}s riding around on horses who will refer to you as either a "gringo" ("stranger"), "amigo" ("friend") or "señor/señorita" ("sir, "lady"). Every few minutes there's a "revolución" or an execution by firesquad going on. While one dictator is replaced by another tyrant groups of guerrilleros prepare the local defenseless villagers for the next military coup. To round it all off all the gunslingers will have a MexicanStandoff. Much of this imagery is derived from ''Series/{{Zorro|1957}}'', WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales and dozens of Western movies. |
| 50 | * {{Spexico}}: Some stereotypes about Mexicans are similar to those about Spaniards. They all enjoy singing and dancing, eat foods comprised of beans and hardened corn and peppers [[FirebreathingDiner too spicy for foreigners to handle]], drink tequila and watch bull fights. Most of their time is spent taking a siesta in hammocks, against a wall or even against a cactus, if necessary. |
| 51 | * Some stereotypes of Mexicans are much like stereotypes of Americans (USA), namely being fat and lazy. |
| 52 | * Typical Mexican dishes are quesadillas, tamales, tacos, pineapple, avocado, guava, mangos, enchiladas, tabasco (which actually come from Louisiana), tequila and burritos (which actually come from California). |
| 53 | * MaskedLuchador: Apart from bull fighting Mexico is also known for a particular type of wrestling, named "Lucha Libre". One wrestler, Wrestling/ElSanto, has pratically become a FolkHero larger than life and has starred in countless local B-movies. |
| 54 | * Mexicans are often shown playing guitar serenades underneath a balcony, while singing and dancing ''jarabes, corridos'' or ''mariachi'' to the melodies of ''La Cucaracha'' and/or ''The Mexican Hat Dance''. Or they engage in piñata smashing. |
| 55 | * HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: Another stereotype is that Mexicans will spent the night around a campfire enjoying the hallucinogenic effects of peyote. Often in presence of some MagicalNativeAmerican, nearby an ancient temple. A SpiritAdvisor may appear. |
| 56 | * In the United States Mexicans are mostly seen as [[TheIllegal illegals]] who try to sneak over the border and move to the U.S. |
| 57 | * Especially in American media, Mexicans will always be depicted as ''mestizo'', even in some of the more northern areas of Mexico where whites are just as common. Any other racial diversity, including Mexicans with African, Asian, or non-Spanish European ancestry, are pretty much unheard-of in fiction.[[note]]For a real-life example of this diversity, telecom mogul Carlos Slim, who was the richest man in the world for a time in the current century and is still in the top 5 to 10, is the son of Lebanese immigrants. (The family name is a Hispanicized version of the original name of Salim.)[[/note]] Indigenous Mexicans like the Mayans and Nahuas are okay in period pieces, but seem to vanish after Cortés - oh, and the only Nahua group anyone outside of Mexico pays attention to are the Aztecs. |
| 58 | * Mexican characters are common in (fighting) video-games and are prevalently depicted as {{masked luchador}}s in all of the main series, likely because Lucha Libre is the nation's most iconic national sport. Examples come in two distinct flavours: There's the [[HeroicBuild stacked]], [[JusticeWillPrevail heroic]], [[TheFaceless mysteriously faceless]], FriendToAllChildren type, which includes King from the VideoGame/{{Tekken}} series and the Aztec inspired, eagle-masked Tizoc from VideoGame/FatalFury - both fight to help fund and support local orphanages. The other type is far closer to real life and almost the exact opposite, being depicted as ''very'' [[TheNapoleon short in stature]], [[LargeHam loud]], [[ArrogantKungFuGuy gobby]] and HotBlooded, with [[ThemeNaming examples including]] El Fuerte from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' (who's voiced like a pitched-down Speedy [=Gonzales=]), El Stingray from ''VideoGame/SaturdayNightSlamMasters'', El Blaze from ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'', and Ramon from ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'', who trades in the mask for an eyepatch. Angel, from ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' (whose favourite foods are "tequila and raw cactus slices", according to her offical bio), represents a female Mexican luchadora, albeit without the usual mask and her fighting style closely representing American and Japanese wrestling more than Lucha Libre. |
| 59 | * All Mexicans either ride donkeys or eat them. |
| 60 | * Every Mexican owns a chihuahua (toy breed of dog) as a pet dog. In Chihuahua (largest Mexican state), of course! |
| 61 | * Apart from donkeys and chihuahua dogs, you can encounter a coyote, but you'll more likely than not meet one in a peyote-induced vision. The only other fauna in Mexico is {{Chupacabra}}s. Better get used to the little alien buggers, the country is teeming with them. (Even though the myth originated in Puerto Rico.) |
| 62 | * Mexico City is the only place that exists in fiction. Acapulco, Cancún, and Puerto Vallarta might get a mention. Ditto Tijuana, but instead would be depicted more as a WretchedHive, where whorehouses, cheap tequila and donkeys are the main attractions. |
| 63 | * Mexicans tends to [[SelfDeprecation stereotype themselves in a way that could sound extremely racist or insulting]] [[NWordPrivileges if they were depicted by people from other countries]]. Even the worst stereotypes depicted in non-Mexican media, like in Hollywood, are normally ''tamer'' compared how Mexicans themselves are [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism depicted in their own films, especially the most recent ones since the 90s, whose tends to go on the cynical side]]. |
| 64 | * Due to the geographical closeness with the U.S., Mexicans are normally depicted, at least in the rest of Latin America, with the same stereotypes normally depicted [[EagleLand for Americans]], except "like to hide behind their inflated military budget" part is swapped out for "[[SmallNameBigEgo like to hide behind their oversized egos]]". Unlike with Americans, this is normally PlayedForLaughs. In a less funny version of this, Mexicans are sometimes stereotyped as being subservient to Americans, a statement normally considered a BerserkButton for Mexicans for obvious reasons. |
| 65 | * A very common negative stereotype about Mexicans, albeit more common within Mexico than outside of it, is depicting them as being [[TheScrooge greedy]], [[SlaveToPR too worried about what the people are thinking about them]], [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem having a might-makes-right mentality]], [[LoopholeAbuse trying to find a loophole for everything]], [[PatrioticFervor being overly patriotic]], and complaining about anything and anybody else, except themselves. |
| 66 | * A relatively recent negative stereotype is that the country is one big battlezone where various insanely brutal drug cartels terrorize the people with impunity, although it's usually shown as an undeserved affliction rather than any sort of the country's fault. |
| 67 | * Mexico is typically depicted as one big desert full of cacti. In reality, only Northern Mexico and parts of the center are desert. The southern half of the country is primarily jungle. |
| 68 | * Burning countries' flags either because they're against [[ForTheEvulz for no reason]]. |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | !!The United States |
| 72 | |
| 73 | See also AmericaTakesOverTheWorld, {{Eagleland}}, and OnlyInAmerica. |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:The United States in general]] |
| 76 | * Because of the extent to which the U.S. influences popular culture worldwide, many people "[[PopCulturalOsmosis know]]" about life in the U.S. through movies and television series (and sometimes even music videos) set here and are not always shy about admitting that those works are their source of information. However, those works are by definition works of fiction intended as entertainment and shaped by market forces. Views of the rest of the country that are common in New York or Los Angeles also influence many such works. As a result, many people believe things about life here that vary from slanted to flatly wrong. Also, [[Series/HouseOfCardsUS not all]] TV series on which people base their views of the U.S. are even original to the U.S. Some people have even taken to pranking on social media, on the assumption, not entirely inaccurate, that people will believe anything negative about the United States. |
| 77 | * Stereotypes of people in the US are not even consistent. For example, it appears that we all long for a dictatorship and also uncritically believe whatever Creator/AynRand said. |
| 78 | * Prevailing social views in the US are the [[WretchedHive opposite]] of those of the person raising the issue. For instance, on sexual matters, someone from a culturally liberal country may say that the US is to the right of Iran, while someone from a culturally conservative country may say the Folsom Street Fair is typical of daily life in the US. Similarly, the US has either too much or too little freedom of speech, depending on what the observer considers to be the right amount of free speech in any given context. |
| 79 | * To many people (and not only Americans themselves), the United States are seen as the most important place in the world. Whenever the continent "America" is mentioned, people are usually solely referring to the United States, which often irks other countries in North, Central and Latin America[[note]]Except Canada, where the people generally try to avoid seeming American at all[[/note]]. If you can [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream become rich and famous in the U.S., then you have really made it]]. For many Americans, the idea of becoming rich, famous, and successful is almost an obsession. From becoming the "prom king and queen", to making it big in Hollywood, over becoming a billionaire to even entering the White House. Americans always see everything "big!", are in constant competition with others, and feel that "time is money". It comes to no surprise that fast food was invented in the U.S.A. |
| 80 | ** EverythingIsBigInTexas might as well generally be called ''Everything Is Big in America'': houses, cars, steaks, hamburgers, beers, guns, movies, parades, advertising boards, skyscrapers, movies, religious devotion, drug use, celebrities, the presidential elections... it all has to be huge, grand and larger than life. To foreigners this often comes across as having no sense of humility or moderation. Everything, from the wage slips to the food servings to the ferocity with which people defend their ideals and views, seems much more exaggerated in America than it needs to be. Though, there is a geographical explanation for this: after Russia, Canada, and China, the U.S.A. is the largest country in the world in terms of geographic area. This is already something that's difficult to imagine when you're living in a smaller country. Americans think "big" because they can! There is so much space in the U.S.A., compared to the more crowded and suburbanized countries in, for instance, Europe. Taking a commercial flight to visit another town or state within the same country is very normal; even between cities in the same ''state'' is not unknown, though mostly just in UsefulNotes/{{California}}, UsefulNotes/{{Texas}},[[note]]Houston or Dallas to El Paso is about the same as Paris to Vienna, though hardly as scenic.[[/note]] UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}},[[note]]whose state capital of Juneau can only be reached by plane or boat[[/note]] or UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}}.[[note]]Flying is the fastest and most practical means of travel between islands.[[/note]] |
| 81 | ** Despite this, [[Main/TheWhiteHouse The White House]] is one of the smallest official residences of a head of state or government in the entire world and many depictions of its interior in film and television turn it into a [[BiggerOnTheInside TARDIS]] by the size of its interior. In fact, most White House staffers will lament Hollywood's depictions not being true as they wish their office space was that spacious. The famous Press Briefing Room is notoriously cramped, as any one in the press pool will tell you. The space expansion in film and live action typically upscale for both convenience of film equipment and because RealityIsUnrealistic. |
| 82 | ** A well-known European joke has a European guide show some American tourists around in the city. One American isn't particularly impressed, though. He keeps complaining about the small size of all the monuments compared to those in the U.S.A. Near the end of the tour, the European guide really gets fed up with this. Then the American notices another building and once again boasts: "Look at that! In the U.S.A., that pathetic small building would be much bigger!" To which the guide replies: "That wouldn't surprise me, because that's a mental institution." |
| 83 | ** PatrioticFervor: American patriotism is also something that raises eyebrows in other countries: school children being forced to salute the American flag every morning and memorize the pledge of allegiance, people rising in unison to sing along with the national anthem whenever it's played, controversy over flag etiquette and [[BurningTheFlag burning flags]], etc. Though other countries are not immune to nationalistic pride, American patriotism feels very creepy in foreign eyes. With "foreign" more often than not meaning European. |
| 84 | *** Self-deprecating comedy also doesn't seem as common in the USA as in other countries. Whenever someone pokes fun at the good ol' USA, he always has to reassure the audience that he really likes the country in the end. Similarly many foreigners have had situations where they make a joke at their own (country's) expense and Americans in their company take pity on them rather than laugh along. Almost as if they assume the person lacks confidence. Most American comedy, both stand-up as well as sitcoms and comedies, seem more at ease insulting others, usually targeting physical features. This goes from the [[YourMom Your Momma jokes]] to the traditional [[TheRoast roasting events]]. Laughing with America or criticizing the core idea of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream is a touchy subject in the USA. A majority can still feel very offended, even if the satire or criticism was done by an American. |
| 85 | * HawaiianShirtedTourist: Americans are generally painted as being completely ignorant of the rest of the world. American tourists may visit other countries, but are more interested in shopping and souvenirs than authentic culture, and are always rude and condescending to "the natives". They want every city to be “spectacular” or have “spectacular, amazing events” going on. Anything that’s small and low-key is instantly considered boring. Much of their disappointment stems from the fact that they base their idea of one particular country or city on what they’ve seen in Hollywood movies and TV shows. |
| 86 | * Positive stereotypes about the United States are generally that people see it as a "land of opportunities". The pioneer spirit is still strong and people have the feeling that even "an average guy or gal" can make it there. Foreigners also have the impression that, because of this, everybody in the U.S.A. is incredibly wealthy. Unfortunately, this is ''not'' the case. |
| 87 | ** This also explains why white Americans are often depicted as filthy rich, cigar-smoking businessmen with too much money to spend. If you have to believe a lot of foreign fiction, all American business people work in skyscrapers. Stories about Hollywood stars living in mansions with a swimming pool and a private jet also contribute to this idea. As do American TV soaps, sitcoms, and films [[FriendsRentControl where the characters usually live in very spacious houses with many modern amenities]]. |
| 88 | * Another positive image about the U.S.A. is that other countries look up to it (or, at the very least, used to). The United States was the first colony to become independent and introduce the first foundation of a modern democratic constitution. This was an inspiration for many other countries who became independent in the centuries after. The American constitution guarantees liberties and freedom of speech that go further than most other countries, even democratic ones. Thus, the U.S.A. became "the land of the free", symbolized by the Art/StatueOfLiberty, which welcomed all immigrants who fled from persecution in their home country. |
| 89 | * Americans are often seen as people who vocally try to defend their own rights, according to what they claim is in the Constitution. Usually in combination with some BadassBoast, PrecisionFStrike and/or degrading comment: "Hey listen up, pal...!" This is also in part where the idea of both their stereotypical cocksure machoism and arrogance hail from. |
| 90 | ** America is infamous for its many frivolous lawsuits. A common stereotype is that Americans will seize every opportunity to sue a company or other person for a ridiculous amount of money, because "the law is the law". |
| 91 | ** The Grim Reaper complains in Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife: |
| 92 | --> ''Shut up! Shut up, you American. You always talk, you Americans, you talk and you talk and say 'Let me tell you something' and 'I just wanna say this' ''. |
| 93 | * Another image many foreigners have of Americans is that they are extremely extroverted, yet appear to be very genteel. They will act very friendly and enthusiastic, smile, say hello and goodbye ("Oh, hiiiiiii!", "Have a nice day!",...), show involvement in what you say ("Oh rrrrrreallly?", "Oh my goooooood!"), but it comes across as if they don't mean it half of the time. |
| 94 | * DividedStatesOfAmerica: [[UsefulNotes/AmericanPoliticalSystem The United States have a unique political system]] in the sense that there are -- in contrast to other modern democracies -- only two major and significant political parties: The Democrats, perceived as left-wing and liberal/progressive, and the Republicans, perceived as right-wing and conservative.[[note]]International perception of the party ideologies vary by countries and isn't helped by the big-tent nature of the Democratic Party. Western countries see this distinction as laughable because, by their political standards, the American left-wing is closer to the center and the American right to the far-right. Conversely, the Democratic Party are seen as progressive or even far-left by Asian countries and more socially liberal by Latin American standards.[[/note]] However, foreigners tend to oversee that even within both parties there are people whose views are more leftist and/or rightist despite their party's public image. Some people outside the USA aren't even aware that there are ''other'' parties besides the Democrats and Republicans in the USA. It's just that they lack the financial backing to make their campaign and candidates equally noticed. They do get invited to political debates sometimes, but mostly as filler material for the journalists. The situation is especially problematic during the presidential elections, where only one candidate of each party can be voted in. By lack of a significant third party many Americans don't bother to vote, which wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't for the fact that the entire world is affected by their voting decisions. Since World War II, America's influence on world politics and economy has been so dominant that many people across the world always hope that the American people vote wisely instead of going for the most superficial or politically extreme candidate. This also explains why the US presidential elections attract more attention from the foreign press than any other country. |
| 95 | * A stereotype about Americans that has gotten under a lot of strain since the second half of the 20th century is that of the "heroic American". During the 19th and early 20th century, Americans were depicted as cowboys who save the day, a stereotype fed by Creator/BuffaloBill, Creator/JohnWayne, Creator/RoyRogers, and Creator/ClintEastwood. Powerful comic book superheroes like ComicBook/{{Superman}}, ComicBook/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Popeye}}, and ComicBook/SpiderMan also fueled this image, fighting for [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} "truth, justice, and the American way."]] Especially older generations tend to see Americans as noble, self-reliant individuals who take no nonsense, grab matters into their own hands, act quick and efficient, and save everyone. This is also the idea most Americans (like to) have about themselves. Even some of their politicians, who see the world as a place divided in ''good'' (our side) and ''evil'' (the other side). |
| 96 | ** Americans helped Europe win two world wars, but its citzens usually forget that the US collaborated with other countries to defeat the Axis. Many war movies and documentaries paint [[AmericaWonWorldWarII the wrong impression that America won these wars singlehandedly]]. After World War II, the United States were generally seen as liberators by all the countries that had been suppressed by the Nazis or Japanese: AmericaSavesTheDay. This led to an internationally positive view of the U.S. where many people across the world gladly embraced American products like Coca Cola, chewing gum, large cars, and Hollywood films. As the Truman doctrine was introduced, the American government started sending troops to every major international conflict, thus coining the nickname "the policeman of the world". By the 1960s, at the height of UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, American's foreign policy was criticized by other countries. In later decades, America's involvement in many wars, rebellions, and other conflicts became controversial, usually because it seemed to be a greater benefit to their own government and multinationals than the actual countries themselves. To this day, America's heroic image has remained polarized. A considerable number of people across the globe hate the USA solely based on the actions of their government, their powerful multinational corporations, and their aggressive marketing campaigns. (See AmericaSavesTheDay, AmericaTakesOverTheWorld, UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks and AmericaWonWorldWarII), though at the same time they still use American products and enjoy American films and TV series. Also, the USA isn't the only (Western) country with internationally powerful multinationals and governments who sponsor dictatorships and engage in wars. |
| 97 | ** Thanks to the numerous [[TheWildWest Wild West]] legends and movie westerns, the country is still seen as AmericansAreCowboys. If a character in foreign fiction is depicted as being American, he is either a cowboy or at least wearing a cowboy hat. |
| 98 | ** UsefulNotes/AmericanGunPolitics: Even though the U.S. isn't the only country where carrying firearms is legal, the image of the "gun-obsessed American" is more common than with other nationalities. Many American citizens appear to be extensions of cowboys who will proudly [[CrazyPrepared sometimes carry a gun everywhere they go, even if there is no danger about]]. This "gun obsession" may have also been popularized by numerous westerns and violent Hollywood action movies where the cool ones always have [[PhallicWeapon large guns]]. Similar to a typical Hollywood scenario, American real-life crime fighting is often presented as if you just have to hunt and shoot down "the bad guy" and every problem is solved. |
| 99 | ** Mass shootings: The United States is well-known for being the only advanced country in the world to experience mass shootings on a weekly basis, with at least a few major ones a year. Some major shootings, such as the Columbine High School massacre (1999), the Virginia Tech massacre (2007), the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre (2012), the Orlando nightclub massacre (2016), Las Vegas concert massacre (2017), and the church shooting of Sutherland Springs, TX (2017) make the news all over the world and make the United States look like an incredibly dangerous country as a result. |
| 100 | *** These major shootings always spark huge debates over whether or not the United States should enact more stringent legislation regarding the sale of guns. In foreign media many people have the impression that all American gun owners are mostly conservative trigger-happy Republican rednecks, obsessed with the 2nd Amendment (which gives the right to bear arms) and are firmly terrified of any gun control. In reality, even liberal-minded and otherwise not-that-macho Americans may own a gun or more for self-defense, hunting, or just target shooting in clubs. It has been claimed that a majority of Americans are actually in favor of stricter gun laws, even though, once again, concrete measures still seem a long way from ever getting passed in Congress. |
| 101 | * Many other countries portray Americans as having a sort of InferioritySuperiorityComplex, as despite the apparent confidence they convey in trying to dictate international affairs, they often seen as people who are utterly ''terrified'' of pretty much anything. Historically, they have been frightened of religious persecution, Native Americans, African Americans, Asians, Jews, Muslims, [[RedScare communists]], their own government, hippies, rock/metal music, Satanism, and terrorists. In order to protect themselves from invisible threats, they will carry a gun everywhere they go and arm their homes into small fortresses. As the documentary ''Film/BowlingForColumbine'' suggested, many American TV shows and films scare their viewers so much that they will buy and do anything to feel safe. Some of the stuff American citizens are frightened about are fears you would associate with a primitive Third World country or not a Western industrialized democracy: Satan, going to Hell, socialism, atheism, sex, and human nudity[[note]][[NationalGeographicNudity Ok, so maybe that last one is not usually associated with Third World Countries]][[/note]] |
| 102 | ** UsefulNotes/AmericanChurches: Outside the USA, many people have the impression that all Americans are devoutly obsessed with God and Jesus and will do anything to force their conservative ideals on others. The amount of cults and/or spin-offs of Christianity in the USA is amazing, from Mormonism over Scientology to Christian Science. Even the national pledge of allegiance is held to "one nation under God" and the US president will frequently conclude his speeches with the phrase "May God bless America." Compared to other Western countries, a large amount of Americans frequently visit their local religious community, pray, believe every word in their religious books literally, and get scared or angry when confronted with someone who merely suggests that Church and State should remain separate. Despite having some TruthInTelevision, many foreign news casts and documentaries have a tendency to focus on the most extreme pious, intolerant, corrupt, money grabbing, near insane God fearing fundamentalists instead of the average, moderate, non-judgmental churchgoers. Historically, the United States didn't have a health care system like other democratic Western nations have, so being part of a religious community often used to be the only way to get aid from your local neighborhood during sour times. |
| 103 | ** OnlyInAmerica: In foreign eyes, Americans seem to have very odd, almost contradictory repressive attitudes towards children, adolescents, and even adults. Owning guns is OK. Praising the military is wonderful. Watching extremely violent, bloody, and gory films is an innocent pastime. But the mere sight of a bare breast or genitalia is a gigantic BerserkButton, despite the fact that gun violence is more harmful than human nudity. Countless American films, series, and public broadcasts try to discourage people from having premarital sex. Yet, at the same time, American media desperately tries to suggest nudity and sex, but always just shy away from actually showing it. It's almost tempting fate. The subject is so often censored and avoided in the USA that whenever a glimpse of nudity or sex does appear in a film or TV series, it immediately causes excitement and/or controversy. A lot of it hardly bats an eye in Europe, where violence is the most common subject for censorship, especially regarding minors. |
| 104 | *** Another example is the legal drinking age in the USA of 21 years old compared to the age of 16 or 18 in most European countries and 18 in the neighboring Mexico. Despite being one of the biggest beer drinkers in the world who promote 'having a beer with your buddies' constantly in the media, the idea of teenagers having alcohol is just too frightening! [[note]] This isn't really from fear, it's due to the extreme reliance on private automobiles in the US versus the vastly more extensive public transportation in Europe, and a great many locales in Europe being walkable. A 16-year-old walking home stumble drunk isn't much of a danger, but one driving a car certainly is. [[/note]] |
| 105 | *** From the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "I'm a Little Bit Country": "Imagine an entire country founded on saying one thing and then doing the other." |
| 106 | *** Many Americans see nothing particularly hypocritical in not wanting nudity on network TV in the day, but do enjoy it on late night HBO. [[note]] The idea of hourly restrictions is to prevent children from seeing this content. It may well be prudish and not be effective, but it's not hypocritical. Note also that non broadcast venues like HBO can show nudity any time of day. [[/note]] Also note that the U.S. has a large porn industry and for most of the second half of the 20th century sold many issues of nudity magazines like ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}'', ''Hustler'', ''Penthouse'' and ''Screw''. Even though Americans often claim they don't have a problem with sex and nudity, their personal attitude towards the matter in the media is far more prohibiting than in Europe. It gets to the point that most American mainstream films and TV series that specifically have sex as a major topic or theme still have remarkably few actual nudity in them. |
| 107 | * Outside the U.S., a stereotypical image of the dumb, fat, lazy, ignorant, loud-mouthed, self-important, decadent, prudish, and clueless white American exists. Most of these images are based on American fast food culture which has spawned a lot of morbidly obese people. Of course, in foreign countries sitcom characters like [[{{Series/AllInTheFamily}} Archie Bunker]], [[{{Series/MarriedWithChildren}} Al Bundy]], [[{{WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons}} Homer Simpson]], and [[{{WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy}} Peter Griffin]] are often seen as representative of the typical American. |
| 108 | ** Americans only guzzle down unhealthy food, including (but not limited to) hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, burritos, deep pan pizzas, barbecue ribs, potato chips and similar crunchy snacks, fried chicken, turkey, chili, chocolate bars, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, apple pie and drink either soda, energy drinks, or beer. They only visit snack bars, all night dining restaurants and fast food chains. |
| 109 | *** It really doesn't help that Adam Richman's ''Series/ManVFood'' is widely screened outside the USA and serves to confirm the widely-held notion that a huge chunk of Americans are obese, waddling gutbuckets. Even the ''standard'' portion of whatever foodstuff Adam is sampling is vastly spilling-off-the-plate larger than a comparable eatery in, say, Britain, would serve. And Adam himself visibly gains a lot of weight over the course of the series. |
| 110 | * America is also known for the significant amount of recreational drug use prevalent in the country (far more than any other developed nation) resulting in many common stereotypes, including: drunken, giggling men celebrating St. Patrick's Day in New York, unshaven roadside hippies listening to Music/JimiHendrix while stoned out of their minds in California, drug-abusing gangsta rap and hip-hop stars, large crowds full of intoxicated teenagers and young adults dancing wildly to booming rave and club music at house parties, the shaken mental patient recounting his illuminating and/or terrifying hallucinogenic drug experiences, crowds of dazed stoners campaigning for the marijuana legalization on "4/20", cigar-chomping businessmen, celebrity alcoholics that drink and drive, beer-guzzling/cocaine-snorting heavy metal stars, crystal meth-addicted gun-brandishing Southern rednecks, and perpetually depressed emos addicted to prescription drugs and heroin. A great deal of the drug abuse prevalent in the United States is due to the extreme policies of the War on Drugs started by UsefulNotes/RichardNixon in the late 1960s (and championed further by UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan in the 1980s), which criminalized and imprisoned people for drug use rather than invest in addiction clinics or solution to the poverty conditions that led many to drugs in the first place. This "War" is now seen as a miserable failure and has caused a lot of societal damage throughout the country, especially to the poor and minorities (although some substances have been decriminalized and legalized in specific states). |
| 111 | * America’s stereotypical reputation as a country of morons - to put it bluntly - is also fed by the fact that so many news reports about insane fundamentalists, crazy conspiracy theorists, horrible accidents, failed stunts, terminally unhealthy people and stupid corrupt politicians always seem to come from the U.S. In the country itself such wacky news events seem to concentrate in [[OnlyInFlorida Florida]], California, Texas, Utah and Washington. American public schools and even universities are notorious for being far below a decent educational level and general knowledge, compared with other industrialized and well-developed countries. This stereotypical image is further fed by the fact that basically any citizen of the United States can blabber whatever he or she wants, because they are protected by the freedom of speech and know very well that it will give them enough media attention if they shout loud enough. Also adding to America's non-intelligent reputation is that since the 1950s quite some U.S. Presidents have come from bizarre backgrounds and are more televisually intriguing than anything else. These include [[UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower an army general without prior political experience]], [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy a womanizer who looked like a fashion model]], [[UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter a peanut farmer/nuclear engineer]], [[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan a Hollywood actor]], [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush a former oil tycoon/baseball team owner]] (and son of [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush a former president]]), [[UsefulNotes/BillClinton an amateur saxophonist]], and [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump a businessmen and reality TV show host without any political or military experience before he was elected]]. |
| 112 | * UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents and StockAmericanPhrases: In foreign fiction all Americans speak with a Texan accent and in a nasal brawl. They will use slang expressions like: "hi", "hey", "yeah", "O.K.", "howdy", "cool", "wow", "awesome", "gross",... and I'm like...", "goddamn", "oh my god", "jesus!", ... and words like "buddy", "pal" and "dude". Afro-Americans will speak in jive. |
| 113 | * WackyAmericansHaveWackyNames: Outside the US, particularly from a UK/AUS point of view, there are names that are thought of as being quintessentially American-esque. Suitably macho, jock names likes "Chad", "Todd", "Brad", etc. for boys, and cutesy names like "Tiffany", "Candy", or "Britney" for girls are great examples, and if Americans are spoofed in media produced outside the US, you can bet a name like the above will be selected. If you tell someone from outside of America that your name is 'Randy', expect raised eyebrows (especially in Britain[[note]]"randy" is synonymous with "horny" in British English[[/note]]). Americans are also known for sometimes having rather an [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude ''interesting'' taste in names]], often striving for something "unique" rather than traditional -- one only has to watch American talk shows to see guests with names like "Jaxxon", "Sharpay", and "Sharadiant". Even dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist conservatives like UsefulNotes/SarahPalin exhibit a penchant for rather strange names, with her children -- Bristol, Piper, ''Track'', Willow, and ''Trig''... |
| 114 | ** In foreign fiction, all American men will be called Joe, Hank, Al, Barney, Chuck, Billy, Jim, Bob, Buck, Tex, Donald, Larry, Randy or Jack. They will preferably be TheAllAmericanBoy. |
| 115 | *** American women generally come in four flavors: A FatSlob like their male counterpart, a young DumbBlonde who's extremely [[ReallyGetsAround slutty]], [[SpoiledBrat bossy]] and [[AttentionWhore always wanting attention]], a soccer mom (which usually overlaps with the first), or a docile 1950's HouseWife. |
| 116 | * AmericaTakesOverTheWorld: Thanks to Hollywood, American TV shows and the Internet virtually everybody in the world with access to modern media is familiar with many aspects of American culture, even those who never visited the country in their entire life. To name an example: the USA is the only nation in the world where foreigners may be able to name some of the states, solely because they have heard them mention so often in films and TV series (try to do the same for Australia, Canada, France, England or China and all you get is a blank stare.) Naturally the global dominance of America's aggressive marketing has also caused criticism in other countries. Numerous foreigners fear that American corporations destroy all the authentic and picturesque traditions of their own cultures. Many children and teenagers across the world have picked up American ''slang'' expressions like "O.K.", "yeah", "oh my god!" and "cool" in their own everyday speech, even if they don't speak English! They all gladly embrace American popular culture, merchandising, and consumerism, and [[CulturalCringe dismiss their own country's traditions as ''uncool'' or uninteresting]]. In some countries like France and Germany, there is even a tendency to ''protect'' their own language by dubbing all American series and films on TV and forcing radio stations to play a majority of music in their own native tongue. |
| 117 | ** To snobbish people, the USA seems to lack any actual art or sophistication and is centuries behind the cultural traditions of other continents. But how could it be otherwise, they say, if more government spending is used for the military and college sports than the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanEducationalSystem American public school system?]]. Everything ''made in U.S.A.'' seems to be campy, decadent, unoriginal, dumbed down, overcommercialized kitsch [[MerchandiseDriven only created to serve the ''almighty American dollar]]''. This image is particularly influenced by the power of huge multinationals like Creator/{{Disney}}, [[CocaPepsiInc Coca Cola, Pepsi]], UsefulNotes/McDonalds, General Motors, Creator/{{MTV}}, UsefulNotes/{{Microsoft|Windows}}, and Creator/{{Apple}} who appear to be everywhere. [[HorribleHollywood Hollywood]] and [[ItCameFromBeverlyHills Beverly Hills]] dominate movie and TV screens and give us dumb and shallow blockbuster movies, campy soap operas and sitcoms with laugh tracks. All American pop music is bland, watered down and appeals to cheap emotions only, without any authentic appeal or artistic vision. The USA seems to have no philosophical or literary tradition of any note, except infantile superhero comics. Literature fans still wait for the UsefulNotes/GreatAmericanNovel to be written. Their culinary tradition is downgraded by their tendency for fast food and soft drinks. If snobbish foreigners really want to point out what makes America's idea of culture so different they tend to point at stuff like [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas, the Magazine/{{Playboy}} mansion, pink limousines, shallow beauty contests, and phony award shows. In reality, of course, not all Americans enjoy this stuff. The USA is not even the only country with multinationals or shoddy unsophisticated stuff, and there are enough Americans who have made and endorsed art, education and technology of a more sophisticated and less commercialized nature. Many American film classics are internationally respected for being great works of art. {{Jazz}} is widely seen as the truest and most unique American art form and one could argue that even country, blues, rock, soul and hiphop have something authentic and original in their roots. The UsefulNotes/GreatAmericanNovel may not have been written yet, but there have been some strong contenders for that title up to this point. |
| 118 | ** From ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", when the family visits an American themed restaurant in Japan: |
| 119 | --->'''Waiter:''' Don't ask me; I don't know anything! I'm product of American education system. I also build poor-quality cars and inferior-style electronics.\ |
| 120 | '''Homer:''' [cackles] Oh, they got our number! |
| 121 | ** Foreign audiences associate American media with big-budget spectacle. Consider the fact that Hollywood is the only place in the world where millions of dollars are used to make films and TV shows about sensational topics. And mostly because they can export it to the rest of the world, even if fails to make a profit in the U.S. During the first half of the 20th century, westerns were their most successful international export product. Since the second half of that century, it's mostly blockbuster action movies with long fight sequences, spectacular explosions, and gratuitous bullet rains. |
| 122 | ** UsefulNotes/AmericanTelevisionStations: Though most people in the world watch a lot of television, Americans tend to be stereotyped as obsessive TV watchers more often than other countries. Possibly because so many films and TV series are made in the U.S.A., but also because there are so many different channels. It seems as if there's so many airtime to fill that producers just throw in any soap opera, drama, comedy, talk show, movie, reality show, animated series, or religious show they can cobble together. Only to have them interrupted by long commercial breaks every seven minutes. The amount of re-runs is staggering and has caused many Americans to know a lot of films and TV episodes by heart. |
| 123 | ** American news programs also come across as very biased and sensationalist propaganda tools for either the government or the political party in the opposition. |
| 124 | ** Similarly, the tendency towards {{Americanization}} also irks many people across the world. Stories of foreign origin are often changed to appeal to an American audience. This in itself isn't that strange -- other countries may do it, too -- but when the United States does it it usually goes too far. The setting of a foreign story is completely changed to a typical American town so that American audiences won't feel too alienated. Characters will be replaced by typical American everyday men and women who speak in hip slang. If some of the foreign elements are kept they are often reduced to being stereotypes, like, for instance, a FunnyForeigner whose English and strange, exotic manners are obviously out of place compared to our all-American protagonists. In general, the entire tone of the adaptation feels very dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. Subtle touches, authentic atmosphere, meaningful dialogue, controversial elements, political, cultural, and historical references are all removed, because producers assume that most Americans will be unable to understand or handle it. A complex plot will be simplified and the trailers for American audiences will focus more on low-brow comedy, explosions and violent action sequences. What non-Americans tend to oversee is that not all American audiences are in favor of these "Americanized" watered down versions. |
| 125 | *** This is actually done to appeal to overseas audiences as much as domestic ones, as in recent years blockbuster films have done tremendous business in foreign countries, in some cases blockbuster films actually do better overseas then in the U.S. The line of thought seems to be that generalizing something to be based in the USA rather than elsewhere may appeal to everybody, rather than alienate others. Of course, this often backfires too. |
| 126 | ** America, and especially Los Angeles, are also infamous for loving and celebrating pop culture beyond belief. Theme parks, [[Film/MidnightMovie midnight movies]], [[DriveInTheater drive-ins]], TV marathons based on a particular film genre, fan clubs, [[CultClassic cult classics]], [[FanConvention geeky fan conventions]],... all originated in the US. Americans really enjoy everything that's campy and bizarre, no matter how dumb, shallow, bad, or lousy it might be. People gather around with friends to watch their favorite films or TV episodes for the zillionth time. They will dress up as their favorite fictional characters for Halloween. Hosts of horror movie themed TV shows will present the film of the week in costume. Fans will buy or trade issues or rare bootlegs to add to their proud collection. T-shirts and posters are created around certain artists, characters or quotes. Other countries have started following this phenomenon in recent times, but still the sheer fun and excitement built around celebrating certain franchises, films, TV series, cartoons, comic strips, video games, Internet series, or musical artists can only be experienced full in the US. The only downside of this behavior is that some people have the impression that Americans live too much in these fake ''made in Hollywood'' fantasies and base their entire world view on that. |
| 127 | ** The USA also has a close association with comic strips and animated cartoons. Despite not being the inventor of these media they did popularize and commercialize it globally. The USA has a broad variety in comic book genres, but still {{Superhero}} comics are often regarded as the most ''typical'' American. ''Typical'' in the sense that these superheroes are well known across the globe, but more thanks to movie adaptations than the actual comics, and thus only seem extremely popular in the USA itself. Foreigners will often mock superhero stories for being nothing more than naïve, childish and formulaic tales about some [[TheCape caped]] crusader with ominous superpowers, gained from some absurd incident during his youth. The character will typically be running or flying around in a PaperThinDisguise and beating up ridiculous supervillains, while shouting badass lines. As usual he will triumph in the end, because, after all, he has superpowers, so how could he be beaten? Especially in Europe readers can't relate to these ''heroic'' characters and prefer their own, more down-to-earth comic strips series about everyday people. This also explains why American comic strips and cartoons about identifiable ordinary [[TheWoobie pitiful losers]], such as ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' have always been far more successful in Europe. |
| 128 | * In (fighting) videogames, American fighters (generally) come in one of two flavours, adhering to the distinct types presented by the {{Eagleland}} trope. |
| 129 | ** Type 1 examples will often positively portray the [[AllAmericanFace all-American hero]], and include [[PatrioticFervor patriotic]], military powerhouse Guile of ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' Fame, who [[WearingAFlagOnYourHead has the Stars & Stripes tattooed to both shoulders]], as well as the HotBlooded, cheerfully friendly Terry Bogard from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters''. Felicia from ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' and Tina Armstrong from ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' also (arguably) represent Type 1, being friendly, caring sorts who wants nothing more than to [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream make it big on Broadway or Hollywood (repectively)]]. ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' has a Type 1 representative with Galford, a McNinja that fights for justice and an overall good guy. |
| 130 | ** Type 2 examples are also numerous, the most obvious being Rufus of ''Street Fighter'' fame, who is morbidly obese, [[ArrogantKungFuGuy arrogant]], very dim, [[TheMunchausen talks absolute crap]] and has moves with sci-fi names (Galactic Tornado, Space Opera Symphony). Poison, also of ''Street Fighter'' (originally ''VideoGame/FinalFight'') fame is very much Type 2, and is presented as overtly sexual, sleazy, sassy, and obsessed with money. In ''VideoGame/RivalSchools'', one of the teams is made up of three American exchange students who sum up Type 2 almost completely; There's Roy, an arrogant, [[AbsoluteXenophobe xenophobic]] {{Jerkass}}, Tiffany an ''outrageously'' costumed, [[DumbIsGood ditzy]] cheerleader complete with ValleyGirl expressions and pneumatic boobs, and finally Boman -- a [[MoralGuardians preacher]] in training. ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' has a Type 2 representative with Earthquake, a fat McNinja bandit that robs trains for money, and an overall bad guy. |
| 131 | ** A good Mixed Flavour Type example is Ken Masters of ''Street Fighter'' fame, who is definitely cocky and brash, but is also an honourable person and shown to deeply care about his friends and family. Two other examples from the ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' series are Paul Phoenix and Bob Richards. Paul may be arrogant, loud, and PlayedForLaughs, but deep down he is a good guy with a big motivation to become the Strongest in the Universe. Bob, like Rufus, is morbidly obese, but unlike Rufus, is a kind and respectable fighter who often fights crime in his hometown. |
| 132 | * When playing sports: all Americans will be playing UsefulNotes/{{baseball}}, UsefulNotes/{{American football}}, or UsefulNotes/{{basketball}}, usually with some cheerleaders jumping on the side. All these sports originated in the United States and remain far more popular than soccer, which is universally beloved in almost every country, except in the U.S., where many of the world's most iconic soccer players are almost obscure. |
| 133 | * Some animals that are seen as "typical" American (despite the fact that many also live in Canada and/or only in certain parts of the USA) are the bald eagle, cougars (aka mountain lions), grizzly bears, American black bears, beavers, coyotes, bobcats, moose, reindeer (aka caribou), alligators, raccoons, striped skunks, opossums, muskrats, Gila monsters, rattlesnakes, bison (aka buffalo), turkeys, and groundhogs. |
| 134 | * If you have to emphasize that you're in the United States, don't forget to reference the following clichés: the bald eagle, apple pie, baseball, basketball, American football, a ticker-tape parade, a gun show, corn, (Thanksgiving) turkeys, skyscrapers, prairies, coyotes, canyons, the Star Spangled Banner, [[RushmoreRefacement Mount Rushmore]], The White House, the Art/StatueOfLiberty, the Hollywood sign, rockets, {{jazz}}, {{blues}}, {{bluegrass}}, {{gospel music}}, {{country music}}, Music/FrankSinatra, RockNRoll, Music/ElvisPresley, HipHop, a fast food chain (preferably UsefulNotes/McDonalds), Coca Cola, [[AbsurdlyLongLimousine large cars]] driving over deserted roads, hamburgers, hot dogs, cowboys, Native Americans, and WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse. |
| 135 | [[/folder]] |
| 136 | |
| 137 | [[folder:African Americans]] |
| 138 | * The oldest stereotypes depict them as slaves, working in cotton fields and singing mournful hymns. If the work Is set a bit later during the era of Reconstruction or Jim Crow, they are still portrayed in subservient positions, working either as country bumpkin sharecroppers, or as servants, butlers, cooks, shoe shiners, or [[{{Mammy}} ''Mammy'' maids]]. They enjoy eating watermelons and/or chickens, listening to loud up-beat music, and playing dice games. [[ValuesDissonance Typical for those times]] they are depicted as being lazy, dumb, superstitious, primitive, and overly submissive ("Yes suh, no ma'm") to their white superiors. If a black character is joyful or content wit their plight, he is usually an [[UncleTomFoolery Uncle Tom]] or [[Film/SongOfTheSouth Uncle Remus]] type of character. Additionally, during the pre-civil rights era, African Americans were often depicted as virile and hypersexual beings who couldn't control their libido and [[WhereDaWhiteWomenAt would lust after their white counterparts]]. |
| 139 | ** Most of these stereotypes still exist in some form or another today but are usually deployed exclusively for the sake of parody or RefugeInAudacity. When these offensive characteristics are PlayedStraight in modern works, it usually results in immediate outrage. |
| 140 | * Modern stereotypes of African Americans can depict them as jazz musicians, [[GospelMusic gospel]] or {{Doowop}} choir singers, fiery baptist preachers with loud and [[PunctuatedForEmphasis punctuated speech]], basketball or American football players, boxers, dancers, computer geeks with big old glasses, [[NWordPrivileges N-word dropping]] stand-up comics, rappers, R&B heartthrobs, soul singers with big afros, [[GangBangers gang members]], drug dealers, convicts, pimps, bums, and prostitutes. They always [[JiveTurkey talk in slang]], and are usually [[SoulBrotha cool]], [[SassyBlackWoman sassy]], or[[ScaryBlackMan scary]], often a mix of all three. |
| 141 | * Due to a variety of historical reasons, Black stereotypes tend to vary heavily based on gender. On the more negative end, Black males are often depicted as products of broken homes, with [[HairTriggerTemper extremely poor tempers]] and criminal aptitudes. They are seen as frivolous and arrogant, obsessed with collecting the latest shoes and chains. They regularly drop out of their [[SuckySchool poorly funded and maintained high schools]], are [[ReallyGetsAround hyper-promiscuous]] and unfaithful, and are always paying out child support to one of their numerous baby mothers. Black women are portrayed as weave-wearing welfare queens, stressed out or neglectful baby mamas, obnoxious hoodrats, or ill-tempered shrews with giant-sized chips on their shoulders, and they are sometimes portrayed as more 'masculine' and less lady-like than their non-Black counterparts. On the more positive end, Black men are often stereotyped as the [[SoulBrotha epitome of 'coolness']]. They're laid-back, flashy, and effortlessly charismatic, equipped with natural athleticism, style, and [[BlackIsBiggerInBed sex appeal]]. These kinds of depictions generally play on the stereotypical insecurities of white American males, who since the end of the civil rights movement, have often viewed black men as their cooler counterparts. Black women, on the other hand, are often depicted as either smart, no-nonsense take-charge ladies who aren't afraid to put people in their place, or as kind and nurturing maternal figures chock full of compassion and [[MagicalNegro down-to-earth wisdom]]. However, just like their male counterparts, they can also be depicted as a source of insecurity for non-Black women, being held up on a pedestal as 'Superwomen'. After all, according to stereotypes, not only are Black women more assertive and capable, but they also boast [[BuxomBeautyStandard much curvier figures]] than their non-Black counterparts, and due to the benefits of melanin, don't seem to age as quickly. |
| 142 | * In fighting games and beat-em-ups, African-American characters are almost always male and tend to fulfill the roles of [[BlackBoxerStereotype imposing boxers]] or streetwise bruisers and are usually [[BadassNormal Badass Normals]] of some kind who possess [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower CharlesAtlasSuperpowers]]. They also generally tend to lack the more fanciful backgrounds of their non-black peers, as being a [[ScaryBlackMan big black guy]] is seen as more than enough of a gimmick to sell the character to the audience. This tendency is much more exaggerated in video games from Japan, where minimal exposure to African-Americans has enhanced stereotypes of their supposed toughness. Examples include Balrog from ''Street Fighter'', Bruce Irvin from ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'', Jax from ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', and T.J. Combo from ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct''. On the odd chance that the character in question is a woman, she often plays the role [[MsFanservice of eye candy]], sporting highly revealing outfits that emphasize her voluptuous frame. Examples include Master Raven from ''Tekken'' and Kimberly Jackson from ''Street Fighter''. |
| 143 | * A similar rule used to pervade the world of Professional Wrestling, where for many years simply being 'a black guy who wrestles' and hailed 'from the streets' was seen as more than enough of a backstory. However since the early 2010's this has begun to change, and many prominent contemporary black wrestlers possess actual gimmicks. |
| 144 | * Throughout most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the USA was depicted in foreign popular culture as a place where all white men were racists and/or members of the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan who oppressed or lynched black people. Often the American president himself would be depicted as a white "nigger-hating" asshole. In more recent times, this idea has died out, save for news stories about white PoliceBrutality against black people and getting away with it without legally being persecuted, and starting in the 2010s, protests always happening because of it. Foreigners still have the impression it's tough to be black in the USA, but it doesn't seem as awful as it was before TheSixties. |
| 145 | ** A more surprising notion for people outside the USA is that Afro-Americans are still a minority in the United States. They only make up about 14% of the general population! From watching American films and TV series one gets the impression that there are about as many Afro-Americans as white people in the USA. (This has a sliver of truth to it though, since American TV shows are more likely to be set in major cities, and in many American cities it is entirely possible to see as many black faces as white ones over the course of a day. In most suburban and rural areas, not so much.) |
| 146 | * In works with a multi-racial cast, especially in the case of family media and comedies, chances are the African-American characters will be presented as comparatively cool, calm, and level-headed, a sort of racial take on CloserToEarth. If that is the case, you may expect them to sarcastically comment something along the lines of 'white people' in response to the zany antics of the other characters. |
| 147 | [[/folder]] |
| 148 | |
| 149 | [[folder:Native Americans]] |
| 150 | * Historically, they have been called "Indians", a word that is still used outside the U.S.A. In the United States themselves, the word is no longer considered politically correct and they are referred to as "Native Americans" or "American Indians". (Obviously, Native Americans themselves have various individual preferences, but usually, either of these terms is least likely to cause offense.) |
| 151 | * In previous centuries, TheSavageIndian was a common stereotype, fed by the 18th and 19th century Western idea that they were basically violent and primitive savages who just needed to be wiped from the country they lived in for centuries. Creator/BuffaloBill's Wild West shows and countless westerns have also cemented this image inside people's heads. The standard script depicts them as follows: When TheNativesAreRestless, they will start pounding a large drum and dig up their tomahawks. After mounting their mustangs, they attack every stagecoach, covered wagon, or fortress in the neighborhood. They shoot arrows or throw tomahawks at their victims all while ululating by putting one hand in front of their mouth (something real life Native American tribes never did, but was introduced by Creator/BuffaloBill's shows). When they capture "palefaces", they either scalp them right away or take them to their TipisAndTotempoles village first. There they will tie them up against their totem pole and dance around the pole afterwards. When that is over and done with, they will take turns in throwing tomahawks at their tied up prisoner to test his courage. After that, they will [[FlayingAlive scalp him or flay him alive]]. |
| 152 | ** However, most of the time they are shown being far more incompetent. They have a tendency to drive too close to the white settlers only to be easily shot off their horses or fortress walls to die in dramatic poses. Even when they sneak up an unsuspecting victim, they will still blow it by ululating loudly before they can actually kill him. Usually, the white men will hand them some "firewater", which the Natives will consume in great quantities, rendering them drunk afterwards. |
| 153 | ** BrownFace: Another racist stereotype is the image of the "redskin". In comics, cartoons, and illustrations, Native Americans will all have a dark red skin. In the years before political correctness came in, even Caucasian actors have portrayed Native Americans by painting their own skin red. |
| 154 | * All Native Americans speak TontoTalk in a deep voice, while mentioning words and phrases like "How", "Ugh", "Um", "white men", "pale face", "brother", "ancestors", "many moons ago", "Big Chief", "pale face speak double talk",...at least once a sentence. They all have names where a state of character is combined with the name of an animal, plant, or something other nature-related. For instance: Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse,... The only tribes that seem to exist in popular culture are Apache, Cherokee, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Blackfoot, and Sioux. |
| 155 | * A more positive depiction of Native Americans that became the norm since the 1960s is the NobleSavage or MagicalNativeAmerican, all of them {{badass|Native}}. They will be PerfectPacifistPeople who prefer smoking the PeacePipe and signing peace treaties with white men. Unfortunately, they are usually the victim of the white man's greed and colonialism. Often they live in such harmony with nature that they only kill as many buffaloes they need and not a single one more. Usually will provide the foolish white man with a GreenAesop about nature and the danger of destroying the environment. This image has become so strong that they are often used in environmental messages, like the CryingIndian. |
| 156 | * Other stereotypical images are Indian women carrying their papoose ("child") in a bag on their back, [[IndianMaiden indian maidens]] and TheChiefsDaughter falling in love with a white prisoner, thus saving his life. When Native Americans make friends, they perform a BloodOath. All communication is done by sending smoke signals to one another. When they travel, it's usually by horse or canoe. |
| 157 | * In popular culture, Native Americans are virtually a historical artifact. Stories set in the modern age hardly show them, except as proprietors of {{Native American casino}}s. Those who aren't are poor, live in reservations, and are either alcoholics, diabetics, or both. |
| 158 | ** In horror movies, the TwistEnding explanation why the house was haunted is usually because it was built on an ancient IndianBurialGround. |
| 159 | * Native American characters also show up a good deal in beat 'em ups, and are almost without exception presented as being [[InHarmonyWithNature nature-loving]], [[MagicalNativeAmerican spiritual]], calm, and dressed in [[BraidsBeadsAndBuckSkins the archetypal attire]]. Examples include the towering Thunder Hawk of ''Street [=Fighter=]'', Michelle and Julia from ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'', and Nightwolf from ''Franchise/MortalKombat''. |
| 160 | * When multiple Native Americans appear in a single piece of fiction set in the modern day, you'll likely see these two stock characters: a noble and friendly traditionalist who will gladly tell old legends to the (presumably outsider) protagonist, and a bitter cynic who treats the customs of his or her own people with derision. Usually, in the end the doubter rediscovers his/her roots. The traditionalist is commonly old and male, but sometimes there is an inversion, and it is a youngster throwback to the Old Ways who shows the disillusioned elders that they have strayed. |
| 161 | [[/folder]] |
| 162 | |
| 163 | !!!Regions |
| 164 | |
| 165 | [[folder:American West]] |
| 166 | * UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}}: (see ''The Arctic'' at the top of the page) |
| 167 | * UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}}: Pretty girls with [[HulaAndLuaus long black hair, coconut bras, and grass skirts who enjoy hula dancing and put flower garlands]] ("leis") over every tourist's shoulders. The island has a very relaxed atmosphere with parties ("luaus") and people drinking soft drinks while wearing [[HawaiianShirtedTourist Hawaiian shirts]], surfing, and playing the ukelele. There are also a lot of pineapples, Tiki statues, and pigs roasted at the beaches. And, of course, the word "Aloha" most be mentioned or sung at least once!. |
| 168 | * UsefulNotes/{{California}}: A state where liberal-thinking people live in the sun, near the beach. California also has a strange universal attraction for people outside the state to either visit or move to the place. In the 19th century, the "gold rush" motivated many fortune seekers to move here. During the 1960s, all hippies wanted to travel to San Francisco. Every child in the world wants to visit Anaheim because of Disneyland and every aspiring actor and director dreams of making it big in Hollywood. |
| 169 | ** UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco is best known for its streetcars, Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica Pyramid, [[Franchise/StarTrek Star Fleet Headquarters]], wineries, Silicon Valley, earthquakes, Chinese people, homosexuals, and hippies. |
| 170 | ** HorribleHollywood and ItCameFromBeverlyHills: UsefulNotes/LosAngeles is universally famous for Hollywood, palm trees on both sides of the road, Beverly Hills, and its Silicon Valley.[[note]]The last example shows how many people only think they understand the geography of the US, since, as noted above, Silicon Valley is much closer to San Francisco.[[/note]] In popular culture, it will always seem as if everyone is busy making movies there. Indeed, many film crews just make their pictures in Los Angeles, with the result that even if it's not explicitly stated as ''being'' in Hollywood the ''Anytown, USA'' will still be recognizably L.A. You have the successful A-movie stars who are just as rich as they are arrogant and narcissistic. They all live in huge secluded mansions with a private chauffeur, jet, tennis court, and swimming pool. There they lead a decadent lifestyle full of expensive parties with drug-induced orgies. Either they have a HappyMarriageCharade for the press and public or add their umpteenth divorce on the list. Their only genuine ambition is winning an(other) Oscar and getting even richer. Especially those who have been in show business too long seem to have lost all sense of realism or normality. When they appear in public they wear sunglasses and [[SuchAPhony try to put on a charade]] by keeping a [[StepfordSmiler fixated fake smile at all times]] and [[MirthlessLaughter laugh in an equally fake way about the most mundane things]]. Older actors and actresses will reminisce about their glory days, yet are lucky if they get a bit part in a new movie nowadays because they are [[WhiteDwarfStarlet old, ugly, and almost forgotten]]. Virtually all of them have had some MagicPlasticSurgery at one point, which may lead to a NightmareFace. The rest of the city is populated with aspiring unknowns who dream of becoming a Hollywood star, yet are still obscure losers who struggle to make ends meet. At best they will end up in a low-budget porn movie or B-movie with bad special effects. A sleazy CorruptCorporateExecutive will exploit naïve actresses by showing them his CastingCouch. He won't have a dime for a creative, original script, but is happy to pump millions of dollars into a bland, dumb, [[HollywoodStyle unrealistic blockbuster full of clichés and platitudes that nevertheless provide audiences with lots of A-list celebrity stars and a satisfying happy end]]. If someone's script is accepted, it will still be victim of ExecutiveMeddling. |
| 171 | ** The San Fernando Valley is best known as a heaven for surfers. It's full of dumb bikini-clad blondes (ValleyGirl) or equally brainless surfer dudes who all speak a specific slang ("Whoa, that's like, totally radical, dude!") made universally popular by MTV's ''Spring Breaks''. |
| 172 | ** Apart from that Los Angeles is also infamous for police helicopters flying everywhere, police corruption scandals, gang violence, earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires and huge riots that put whole neighborhoods on fire. The irony that the ''fake'' illusions of Hollywood are made here is not lost on foreigners. |
| 173 | * UsefulNotes/{{Oregon}} has an UnknownRival relationship with California. Apart from the standard Californian stereotypes, Oregonians stereotype Californians as rich, snobby carpetbaggers who can't drive properly and raise property taxes. Interestingly, the two states have roughly the same values politically, both being reliable blue states in any presidential election. Oregon would probably argue that it has the ''real'' environmentalists while California only has the slick poseur versions. [[Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian Splitters!]] |
| 174 | ** Californians are also stereotyped as having property in the Bend area. (... Although, to be fair, the region is also a popular vacation spot for Oregonians and Washingtonians.) |
| 175 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Portland}} is full of hipsters and [[Series/{{Portlandia}} is perpetually stuck in the 1990s.]] |
| 176 | * UsefulNotes/{{Washington}} (state): Known for being full of hippies, environmentalists and pretentious hipsters. |
| 177 | ** Washington is also well-known for rain, even though roughly half the state is desert. In addition, Seattle is actually drier than many other American cities in terms of measured rainfall (most of the rain comes down as light showers rather than large storms). The Olympic Coast, however, plays the stereotype completely straight, being drenched in over 120 inches of rain a year and being cloudy a good chunk of the year; there's a reason ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' is set here. |
| 178 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}}, Washington is known for computers, the Space Needle and the ''grunge'' movement. |
| 179 | * UsefulNotes/NewMexico is lucky to be considered part of the Union at all, most of the time it's kind of off to the side and gets awkward looks from everyone else. |
| 180 | ** TruthInTelevision: The state's tourist magazine runs a monthly column called "One of Our Fifty Is Missing", for readers to report real-world encounters with others who honestly don't know that New Mexico is a state, leading for example to requests to show a New Mexico passport, etc. One of these was an experience recounted by a ''former governor of New Mexico''. Another example that appeared in the ''Los Angeles Times'' in 1996 recounted a New Mexico resident who tried to buy tickets to that year's Summer Olympics in Atlanta and was told to contact ''Mexico's'' Olympic committee. |
| 181 | ** New Mexico is further known for being a former testing ground for atomic bombs and a military top secret base [[AlienAutopsy where the government hides extraterrestrial aliens ever since the 1947 Roswell incident.]] In reality, the only aliens the local authorities fight are illegal immigrants from over the Mexican border. |
| 182 | ** Also well known for Albuquerque, where WesternAnimation/BugsBunny [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes should have made a left turn]] and where [[Series/BreakingBad Walter White]] ran a drug empire. |
| 183 | * UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} is TheWildWest. It's extremely hot and sunny here, [[Film/MrsDoubtfire enough to melt a snow cone in Phoenix]]. All rural (much of the landscape really is, but in terms of the population, in reality, Arizona is one of the more populous states in the union, has the highest percentage of the people living in cities with over 100,000 people of any state, and its capital, Phoenix, is one of the ten American cities with a population of over a million) and the population consists of outlaws, {{cowboy cop}}s, and bartenders. Anybody who tries to enter from [[SouthOfTheBorder the south]] will be shot on sight. Half of the locations are all known for their national parks (Grand Canyon National Park, Petrified Forest, many Indian reservation camps,...) or their {{Western}} connotations, like Yuma, Tombstone and the O.K. Corral. Arizona is also nicknamed "The Copper State", because copper is the predominant mineral. Historically it is furthermore well known as the last of the lower 48 states to join the United States. It's also known as the state where UsefulNotes/JohnMcCain was a senator. |
| 184 | * UsefulNotes/{{Utah}}: See UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}}, because nobody knows or mentions anything else about this state besides its Salt Lake or, for older people, The Osmonds. Basically, Utah is stereotyped as some kind of weird Mormon theocracy and a ''de facto'' foreign country on U.S. soil. Polygamy, which the Mormon church endorsed until 1890, is a case of NeverLiveItDown. Also known for Monument Valley, an iconic symbol of TheWildWest. |
| 185 | -->'''''Series/ThirtyRock''[='s=] Jack Donaghy''': "I thought by now you'd be someplace that U.S. law couldn't touch you, like Bali or Utah." |
| 186 | * UsefulNotes/{{Colorado}} has something of a duality. On the one hand, there's Colorado Springs, aka the Vatican City of Protestant fundamentalism where everyone owns a gun and lives in the mountains. On the other, there's Boulder and the ski towns, home of the GranolaGirl, the NewAgeRetroHippie and, for the latter, rich celebrities making a second home, all of them snowboarding and [[TheStoner getting high]]. And if you're from UsefulNotes/{{Denver}} or (especially) its suburbs, you're either a wannabe BadassLongcoat who's thinking about shooting up [[UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} a high school]] or the movie theater or a supermarket, or ducking and covering to get away. Eastern Colorado, of course, does not exist, consigned to the same void of nonexistence as the western slope or anything south of Colorado Springs. It is also the state ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is set in and where the show's creators, Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone, lived. |
| 187 | ** Post-2012, when marijuana was legalized for retail sale, everyone smokes it freely and openly. |
| 188 | * UsefulNotes/{{Nevada}}: Best known for UsefulNotes/LasVegas and [[WretchedHive all the degenerate and decadent stuff that can be found there]]. Stuff that is illegal elsewhere in the USA is legal here, including gambling and prostitution [[note]]Prostitution in Nevada is not illegal at the state level, but it is in Clark County, which is the one Las Vegas is in ... [[/note]]. In popular culture the place is both portrayed as a place of fun, as well as a shallow and degrading hangover afterwards. It's known for cheap and quick weddings, {{Elvis impersonator}}s, and washed-up former stars who perform kitschy shows there for nostalgic audiences before they finally croak. Since it was founded by mobsters expect some shady businesspeople, mafiosi, drug dealers, drug users, pimps and prostitutes to appear here too. The rest of Nevada, apart from the Poor Man's Vegas in Reno and hundreds of hotels and motels, may as well be labeled [[{{Area 51}} "Here There Be Aliens"]] or "flat empty desert". |
| 189 | * Everyone in UsefulNotes/{{Idaho}} lives in a potato field, Boise, a HillbillyHorrors country akin to ''Film/{{Deliverance}}'' (where everyone is part of the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan or Aryan Nations), or a boring small town that's apparently stuck in the 90s like ''Film/NapoleonDynamite''. |
| 190 | * UsefulNotes/{{Montana}} is generally portrayed as having nothing but vegetarians/vegans, [[CrazySurvivalist survivalists]], libertarian psychos, and [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic militia nuts]]. Geography includes nothing but mountains, forests, and national parks, with towns and cities all isolated as a result. It gets incredibly cold in the winter, if not year round. Within Montana, people from Missoula are pot-smoking pansexual hippies, people from Bozeman just moved there from California/Colorado/Washington and are trying to subvert Montana's tradition of Rugged Individualism, and eastern Montana is a frozen wasteland full of Norwegian Lutherans ([[TakeThat in other words, North Dakota]]). Oh yeah, and Series/{{Hannah Montana}} lives here, as well. |
| 191 | ** Another popular stereotype is Montana having an ''extremely'' low population density; except for a few cities here and there, it's miles and miles and ''miles'' of empty rolling plains. |
| 192 | * There are, of course, no stereotypes of people from UsefulNotes/{{Wyoming}} since no one lives there. Well, maybe there are [[Film/BrokebackMountain cowboys in the mountains]] but that's about it. The only reference in popular culture will be Yellowstone National Park where geysers, bears, rangers, redwoods ([[MisplacedWildlife never mind]] that true redwoods are only found in California) and forest fires are everywhere. |
| 193 | -->'''[[WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends Garfield]]''': [[EskimosArentReal There's no such place as Wyoming]]. Think about it. Have you ever met anyone from Wyoming? |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:American Midwest]] |
| 197 | * Apparently, a lot of people think that UsefulNotes/NorthDakota is a frozen wasteland with less than five people and not one of them has seen an ATM before. At least our banks aren't failing. North Dakotans also have a reputation as [[TheAlcoholic heavy drinkers]], which is largely TruthInTelevision (as of this edit, we have the highest per capita alcohol consumption rate in the nation). Rowdy oil roustabouts who couldn't find work back home live here. Many of the stereotypes traditionally associated with Minnesota also apply to North Dakota. |
| 198 | * South Dakota is famous for Mount Rushmore... and features nothing else. (Except ''possibly'' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Drug Wall Drug]].) It doesn't matter how you drive into the state; it'll always be the first thing you come across. The rest of it is pine trees, highways, and wasteland. In truth, eastern South Dakota has the overflow crowd of Norwegian Lutherans, for a lot of it. |
| 199 | * Kansas is apparently where rationality, science, and fun are all burned alive for witchcraft. It used to be just that big flat area people hurried through to get to the Rockies. The rest of the world knows it for the song ''Kansas City'' and the black-and-white scenes of ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''. Comic book fans know it as the residence of [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]]. |
| 200 | * Missouri is known for its poverty, crime, heavy meth use, and for being a miserable conservative hellhole due to its name often being mispronounced as "misery" (it's pronounced "mih-ZURE-ree" with emphasis on middle syllable). It's mostly remembered for ''Literature/AdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'' and ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer''. If you live in an adjacent state (other than possibly Arkansas), you think the southern part (south of I-44 if you're generous, south of I-70 if you're not) is populated mainly by hillbillies; if you're from further away, you probably think that about the whole state. |
| 201 | * UsefulNotes/{{Minnesota}}: Minnesotans are seen either as hicks with snow instead of rusted-out cars, or pleasant, blonde suburbanites always willing to help you, if you don't want to (see MinnesotaNice). Either way, likely to be depicted as socially conservative but politically liberal, closer to earth GoodOldBoy types, all of whom are Lutheran and Swedish. [[http://www.surfminnesota.net/olelena.html See Ole and Lena.]] At the start of the 2020's, it also became the place where the George Floyd protests started. |
| 202 | ** Another popular stereotype is that Minnesotan winters are the coldest, harshest, most brutal winters in the nation, freezing the entire state solid. |
| 203 | * Iowans are obsessed with corn, with fields of it stretching for miles in every direction, no matter where you are. Expect to see plenty of tractors and whistling farmers. Oh, and [[MonsterClown John Wayne Gacy]]. |
| 204 | ** Des Moines, Iowa: The reason why Creator/BillBryson left town and came to England, making a rep as a famous travel writer, journalist, and occasional TV presenter. Without actually saying so, he implies the cloying crushing boredom of his home town and native state was the biggest single prompt to him to get up and go as far away as possible. |
| 205 | * [[CornyNebraska Nebraskans]] still drive covered wagons, live on farms, and raise corn and cows. They are also rabid [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball Cornhusker]] fans, loving the team even more than their own families. Oh, and [[OfferVoidInNebraska advertising offers are void here]]. |
| 206 | * Depending on what part of UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}} you're from, you're either [[GangBangers a violent gangbanger]] (UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}/Flint/Pontiac area), a tree hugger (Grand Rapids), a rich snobby Jew (West Bloomfield), a rich snobby WASP (the rest of Oakland County, save Pontiac, which see above, plus Macomb County and Grosse Pointe), a rich snobby foodie tree hugger (Ann Arbor), a stern Calvinist fundamentalist (Holland and the rest of West Michigan), an [[Series/AllInTheFamily Archie Bunker]]-type white UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Republican who lost your job on the line (Monroe County, Downriver, much of Lansing area), or a hick who does nothing other than hunt (anywhere north of the Saginaw-Muskegon line). And don't forget da Yoopers: still a hunting hick, but with a cool accent and pasties, ya? |
| 207 | ** Detroit is best known for the following things: its status as the Motor City, where America's cars and trucks were made, ''Franchise/RoboCop'', the birthplace of Creator/{{Motown}}, deep-dish pizza, Little Caesars, and its massive depopulation (down to around 672,000 people within city limits, from a peak of over 1.8 million in the fifties). |
| 208 | * Illinois: People are apparently either stuck-up, hypocritical, politically corrupt snobs with a [[UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} Chicaaagaa]] drawl ("Daaaaa Bears"), or they're murderous gangsters, like the Sicilian Mafia ruled by UsefulNotes/AlCapone during the 1920's or young, black delinquents of the present made infamous by the DrillMusic scene. During the heydays of UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan, it was internationally known for the Chicago Bulls basketball team. Expect Downstate Illinois to be written off as farm country or (more frequently) ignored completely). And they'll advertise the fact that UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln lived in Springfield, Illinois before his presidency constantly... |
| 209 | * "Hi, we're visiting UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}!" "[[NothingExcitingEverHappensHere ...Why?]]" This especially applies to UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}}. In other words, Ohio is known for being one of the most tediously neutral states in the U.S., filled with livable but mostly uninteresting and often miserable cities. It is sometimes confused with Iowa because of their similar vowel-heavy names. |
| 210 | ** For some reason [[note]]probably the ludicrously high number of presidents who have lived in the state compared to its size[[/note]] suburban Ohio is considered one of the default locations for an [[EverytownAmerica all-American traditionalist small town]], just like its neighbor Indiana. |
| 211 | * Indiana: The Three Kinds of Indiana: hicks who could've been from Alabama if they weren't wearing snowboots and a winter coat; whitebread EverytownAmerica-ish suburbanites (particularly around Indianapolis and the Chicagoland region); and Inner City Indiana, for which the exemplar is Gary, Indiana, AKA the Armpit of America, where the chemical factories and steel mills release a putrid perfume for all to smell and where the cops will beat the crap out of you, cite you for marijuana possession... and proceed to smoke it right in your face. But to the rest of the world, Indiana is associated with Franchise/IndianaJones' first name and the Indianapolis 500 race. Most recently the state passed law which grants business owners the right of conscience to refuse to serve customers whose lifestyles and opinions offend them especially those who object to gay marriage. It caused a national outrage with many businesses cutting ties to the state and making it so that the Indiana government went back to revise the language in the law. The law ultimately didn't do any lasting damage, as UsefulNotes/MikePence, the governor who signed it, later became Vice President. |
| 212 | * UsefulNotes/{{Wisconsin}}: [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Beer, cheese, beer cheese]], bratwursts, cows, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment beer]], cranberries, beer, the Brewers, the Badgers, [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague the Packers]] (treated as a publicly-owned state religion), and (if you're really with it) Summerfest[[note]]The largest music festival in the entire world[[/note]]. That's it. Oh, and Germans. LOTS of Germans. [[OverlyLongGag And beer.]] Oh yaaah, and all dose women who come from Wisconsin in the media will always be a middle-aged housewife who speaks wit' a Scandahoovian accent, don'chaknow? Oh You'betcha! UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}}, its largest city, is known for its breweries and where infamous serial killer and rapist Jeffery Dahmer lived. |
| 213 | ** Minnesota may have the stereotype of being frozen solid during the winter, but compiled weather data reveals that Madison and Milwaukee rank as the 1st and 4th coldest major cities in the entire country. 2 and 3 are respectively Anchorage, Alaska, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. IT IS FREEZING COLD HERE! |
| 214 | [[/folder]] |
| 215 | |
| 216 | [[folder:American South]] |
| 217 | * The most important thing to remember about the American South is that it is a uniform mass. All parts of it, from small towns in the deep South to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, are [[Film/RememberTheTitans identical and interchangeable]]. |
| 218 | * It is also important to remember the boundaries of the American South, which, according to some TV shows, take in the entire country except the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. |
| 219 | * DeepSouth: The American South is often depicted as the most rural part of the USA. There are supposedly no cities with modern facilities, just miles of farmland or steep, backwoods, forested mountainsides with here and there a tiny rural town. Either that or cotton fields. The Mississippi River is usually not very far off too and a river boat may pass by, if you're not attacked by an alligator or surprised by TheGreatFlood. Typical animals in these regions are skunks and opossums. Everybody here either lives on a farm, in a trailer or in a wooden house with a front porch. All people live InHarmonyWithNature and enjoy the simple life, still stuck in the days of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar and/or TheGreatDepression. |
| 220 | * If the American South is portrayed in a positive light it will be because of a CallToAgriculture. The region will be portrayed as a romanticized area where you can enjoy the simple life in and on a farm or a mansion with a plantation. There are lots of opportunities go out fishing, walk in the woods or drive in a pick-up truck past the cotton fields and listen to local {{jazz}}, {{blues}}, Cajun, zydeco, {{bluegrass}}, {{folk music}} and/or {{country music}} artists. These images are cultivated in stories like ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer'', ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'', [[Film/SongOfTheSouth The Uncle Remus]] stories, ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'', ''ComicStrip/LilAbner'', ''ComicStrip/{{Pogo}}'', ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'', ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'', ''Film/ForrestGump'', ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' and virtually all Americana folk music from the 19th century until halfway the 1950s. You may even encounter [[SouthernFriedGenius an intelligent redneck]] here. |
| 221 | * TheSavageSouth, SouthernGothic and LovecraftCountry: If the South is portrayed in a negative light it will be a setting for crime and horror stories. There may be an abandoned HauntedHouse (''Literature/TheAmityvilleHorror'') where some axe and/or chainsaw murder took place (''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre'', ''Literature/InColdBlood''). Something may be lurking in the swamp (''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'') or local villagers are out to get you in some other way (''Film/{{Deliverance}}'', ''Film/{{The Hills Have Eyes|2006}}''). Even in the less fantastical works the South is the place where people will have to use all their wits, faith and will power to fight against a hostile population or the entire local legal system for that matter (''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'', ''Theatre/InheritTheWind'', ''Theatre/TheCrucible'', ''Film/InTheHeatOfTheNight'',''Film/CoolHandLuke'',...). It's also popularly associated with bankrobbers, con-artists or escaped [[WorkingOnTheChainGang chain gang]] criminals on the run (''Film/BonnieAndClyde'', ''Film/PaperMoon'', ''Film/{{Dillinger|1973}}'', ''Film/TheDefiantOnes'', ''Film/IAmAFugitiveFromAChainGang'',...) |
| 222 | * Typically, all white people are stereotyped as [[HalfWittedHillbilly primitive, slow-witted and uneducated gap toothed slack-jawed yokel]] ''[[HalfWittedHillbilly rednecks]]'' [[HalfWittedHillbilly and]] ''[[HalfWittedHillbilly hillbillies]]''. They all [[HayseedName have double names (''Billy Bob'', ''Mary Lou'') or biblical names (''Ezechiel'', ''Jebediah'')]] and are very religious Christians. All of them are Republican voting [[GoodOlBoy good ol' boys]] who don't believe in the evolution theory, yet see [[FlyingSaucer UFOs]] everywhere. Everybody is still frustrated that they lost the Civil War, yet confident that ''The South Will Rise Again''. They hang out the Confederate Flag, deny the Afro-American Civil Rights Movement ever happened and wish slavery was still in effect. Some of them are ugly and stupid as a result of inbreeding and [[KissingCousins fancy their cousins]]. |
| 223 | * There are several types of Southern white stereotypes: |
| 224 | ** 1) The dirt poor farmer (''Pa'') who lives together with a disciplinary ApronMatron (''Ma''), a SouthernBelle daughter [[PapaBear whom he'll protect at all times]] and only give away in a ShotgunWedding. He might have a grandmother who smokes a corncob pipe and has a shotgun. Inbreeding is rampant with KissingCousins and all, which has contributed to their ugly looks and stupidity. They will do nothing besides sit around in a rocking chair all day, chew and spit tobacco, drink HillbillyMoonshiner liquor from a jug, play banjo and stare menacingly at every stranger passing by with the words: "We don't like what y'r doin' here, strangyur". Whenever they feel threatened- or if something ''moves'' in their vicinity - they will reach out for their handgun and shoot. Or they just call out for an ''old-fashioned lynching''. Sometimes they [[FeudingFamilies may have a centuries old feud with some other family]]. If they enlist in the army they'll be a SouthernFriedPrivate. |
| 225 | ** 2) The [[SmallTownTyrant corrupt, racist, xenophobic, pot bellied sheriff]] in SinisterShades who supposedly obeys the law, yet informs everybody: ''We do things our own way here.'' This typically involves having no trials or one where a SimpleCountryLawyer and/or a HangingJudge who will invariably chose the side of the sheriff and sentence you to heavy fines or a lynching by hanging. All his prisoners are typically WorkingOnTheChainGang alongside the road. |
| 226 | ** 3) The even more SmallTownTyrant FatSweatySouthernerInAWhiteSuit who lives on a plantation. He is constantly dabbing himself with a handkerchief or uses a fan for the same purpose. Typically he smokes a cigar, uses a cane and/or [[IOwnThisTown controls the local town]]. He has put all his brothers and cousins in high governmental positions. At night he is a closet UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan member (and/or even a [[ThoseWackyNazis neo-Nazi]] in more modern works). Can be a charming and sophisticated, yet arrogant and untrustworthy SouthernGentleman too. |
| 227 | ** 4) A fire-and-brimstone preacher who is staunchly conservative, judgmental and intolerant. He believes every word in the Bible literally, denounces the evolution theory and will engage in exorcisms, magical healings, river baptisms and stuff that is a mix between fraud and superstition. Is either Baptist or Pentecostal and will be supported by MoralGuardians and frightened locals. |
| 228 | * Of course, there are black people in the South too. In [[DeadHorseTrope outdated popular culture]] they are still treated as second-rate citizens, work in conditions that are suspiciously close to slavery and will frequently be lynched by Ku Klux Klan members. Stereotypes still in fashion to this day portray black Southerners as loud preachers who [[PunctuatedForEmphasis punctuate their speech]] and engage in GospelMusic singing. Or they'll be [[Music/RobertJohnson blues guitarists who went to the crossroads to sell their soul to the devil in exchange for their talent]]. Or {{jazz}} artists playing in a local brass band. |
| 229 | * Louisiana is a subset of the Georgia/Alabama/Mississippi ''Film/{{Deliverance}}'' country, except everybody speaks French patois and may be a RaginCajun. And there's [[TheBigEasy New Orleans]]. New Orleans is drunk and debauched (or was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina) and will mostly be filled with Mardi Gras, jazz bands, violent gangbangers who live in impoverished ghettos, and voodoo-practicing {{Witch Doctor}}s. Occasionally, a traditional Mississippi River boat will pass by. Expect hurricanes or floods to regularly destroy everything in its vicinity. Alligators inhabit every lake. |
| 230 | * People from UsefulNotes/{{Tennessee}} are either hillbillies who play banjos and [[KissingCousins sleep with their cousins]], typical fat DeepSouth rednecks, or in the case of Memphis, murderous inner-city thugs who will beat you up, steal your wallet, and stab or shoot you to death if they think you might have more than $5 on you. The hillbillies are all on meth or painkillers, the rednecks are all drunk, and the gangstas guzzle codeine cough syrup by the quart. The exceptions are UsefulNotes/{{Nashville}}, which is populated entirely with country musicians, and Memphis, with blues musicians plus the Graceland mansion, which is filled with Music/{{Elvis|Presley}} freaks. |
| 231 | * West Virginia is considered an acceptable target even by the most politically correct people out there. According to the rest of America, West Virginians are all uneducated, white trash, racist, dirt poor, toothless, shoeless, gun-toting hillbillies who eat raccoons and have moonshine running through their veins. The state pastimes include hunting squirrels and having sex with their [[BrotherSisterIncest cousins]], then letting their inbred offspring drive when they're two years old. |
| 232 | * UsefulNotes/{{Texas}}: Howdy Y'all! Everyone in Texas is a gun-toting, horse-riding cowboy who eats nothing but gigantic steaks and huge bowls of chili, drinks nothing but gigantic servings of beer (Shiner, Lone Star, or Budweiser if you have it), whiskey, and tequila, and drives a gigantic pickup truck. Texans all wear big cowboy hats, carry lassos, and attend rodeos every evening, where they'll square dance, gamble, ride a mechanical bull and eventually start a shootout. |
| 233 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Houston}} is home to the Space Center, [[Film/{{Apollo13}} where a problem might be informed]] and San Antonio is historically remembered for [[RememberTheAlamo the Alamo]]. TV watchers worldwide also know it for oil-bearing ranches, as depicted in ''Series/{{Dallas}}'', the same city where UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy was assassinated. |
| 234 | ** EverythingIsBigInTexas: Texas is associated with gigantic beers, steaks, pickup trucks, cowboy hats and guns. Even the stories that people tell here are so exaggerated that they have earned a special name: ''[[TallTale tall tales]]''. The most famous ''tall tale'' character Myth/PaulBunyan is even a giant! |
| 235 | * Mississippi: Everyone who lives in Mississippi is poor, morbidly obese with a heart condition, and lives in an old-fashioned one-floor house next to the Mississippi River. Also, since Mississippi is America's most devoutly religious state, Mississippians will be portrayed as crazy Baptist fundamentalists. |
| 236 | * UsefulNotes/{{Oklahoma|USA}}: Texas's dumb little brother. Everyone who lives Oklahoma is either a proud [[MagicalNativeAmerican Native American living in a teepee]], a [[HalfWittedHillbilly dumb-as-rocks, meth- or opioid-addicted hillbilly]] living in a trailer wondering why the "ternaders" always blow his house away, the RightWingMilitiaFanatic, the SouthernFriedPrivate, or a SmallTownTyrant oil baron or rancher. The entire state is made up of flat, featureless prairie, with no trees or hills to speak of, and has a climate that is either boiling hot or freezing cold depending on the time of the day or year. Bison herds can be found anywhere with open space. Tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, and even acts of domestic terrorism are daily occurrences. Common pastimes include watching [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball college football]], shopping at UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}}, having sex with your sister, and making fun of Texas and/or Kansas. Residents will kindly tell out-of-staters to leave and never come back. The government rivals most third world dictatorships in terms of brazen corruption. [[BerserkButton Whatever you do, don't call it Midwestern]]. The rest of the world knows it for the eponymous musical ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}'' |
| 237 | * UsefulNotes/{{Florida}} is stereotyped as one big sun-drenched tourist destination where there's a giant theme park in every city, enormous, overcrowded beach resorts across the coastline and alligators roaming the streets. It's home to Disney World, Universal Studios, Cape Canaveral, Miami Beach, Palm Beach, The Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, Key West and more. It's almost as if you can't live in Florida without being surrounded by attractions. Also, in the popular imagination, North Florida is the deep South, while South Florida is populated entirely by Northeastern retirees and Cuban escapees. |
| 238 | ** OnlyInFlorida and OnlyInMiami: The people who live in Florida are stereotyped as some of the dumbest, weirdest and most insane people in the world. They're depicted as extremely dim-witted surfer dudes, drunk college students, ditzy beach babes in bikinis, hippie nudists, reality TV stars, cultists, conspiracy theorists, gun-loving libertarian maniacs, crazy old retired people, neo-Confederates and deranged criminals who commit extremely strange crimes. Florida is so well-known for its sheer number of inexplicably ridiculous incidents that it's resulted in the the creation of a character in popular culture, the notorious "Florida Man" due to the frequent usage of this term in news headlines in reference to people responsible for bizarre occurrences in the state. Fittingly, the only U.S. President from Florida is also by far the weirdest one: UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump. And he didn't make Florida his legal residence until midway through his presidency, when he was well in his seventies. |
| 239 | * Kentucky is known for bluegrass musicians, tobacco, horse racing, bourbon, college basketball, Fort Knox, the annual Kentucky Derby horse race and of course, its famous [[UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken fried chicken]]. |
| 240 | * UsefulNotes/{{Virginia}} overall is seen (by those who are even aware that Virginia and West Virginia are separate states) as the reddest of the red states, inhabited solely by Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, George Allen,[[note]]Not the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeagueNonPlayerFigures Hall of Fame NFL coach]], but rather his son, a former governor and US Senator.[[/note]] Ken Cuccinelli, and Eugene Delgaudio. As soon as the locations for Amazon's [=HQ2=] were announced, newspaper comment sections filled up with wildly inaccurate speculation about what the affected part of Virginia is like. This also plays into the divide between Northern Virginia and the rest of the state. |
| 241 | ** Northern Virginia itself is stereotyped as being full of rich yuppies who all work for the government or are lobbyists. The wealthy part is somewhat TruthInTelevision as Northern Virginian counties have some of the highest average incomes on the country, as well as incredibly high costs of living, though the yuppie part is more up for debate. Northern Virginians are also known as being Northeast wannabes, probably due to the high amount of northeastern transplants in northern Virginia. The news media also portray Northern Virginia as [[DamnedByFaintPraise more business-friendly than Maryland or the District]]. |
| 242 | ** Virginia as a whole has shifted considerably in recent years, voting Democrat in the past three Presidential elections and in the 2019 elections for both houses of the General Assembly, with its western neighbor taking the "reddest of red" mantle. This is at least partially due to the increasing dominance of state politics by three large Northern Virginia counties and to demographic changes in those counties. However, stereotypes take a long time to die. And just when you thought Virginia was permanently turning blue, the 2021 elections saw the GOP flip all three major statewide offices (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general) and the House of Delegates (lower house). |
| 243 | * Delaware: (in monotone) "[[Film/WaynesWorld Hi. We're from... Delaware.]]" |
| 244 | ** "[[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers Delaware. That's a state, but most Americans don't even know that, unless they live there.]]" |
| 245 | ** Delaware is best known as America's ''First State''. They were the first ones to sign the constitution that made them part of the USA. It is also the state of incorporation for about twice as many publicly traded corporations as the rest of the country combined, prompting journalists who don't understand corporate law to ask why so much corporate attention is focused on Delaware. |
| 246 | * Depending on what show you're watching, UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC is populated entirely by either (1) [[Series/TheWestWing high-ranking]] administration officials and [[Series/HouseOfCardsUS corrupt national politicians]] or, (2) [[Series/{{NCIS}} military]] [[Series/{{JAG}} service members]] and [[Series/TheXFiles federal government workers]], or (3) shameless corporate lobbyists on K Street and various corrupt defense contractors or, (4) the [[Series/MurphyBrown News Media]] (5) [[Series/TheDistrict MPD officers, drug kingpins]], and corrupt municipal politicians. Either way, it is obligatory for depictions of local geography to be [[HollywoodAtlas horribly wrong]], everything is the [[WretchedHive exact opposite]] of whatever the writer considers to be good and just, and a Georgetown hostess with a hairstyle that is several decades out of date often makes an appearance. Also, versions (1) through (4) of D.C. have absolutely no long-term residents. |
| 247 | ** The city has spawned its own literary genre, the Washington novel, which purports to show Official Washington as it actually is (according to the author). Some critics dismiss the Washington novel as a subgenre of the AirportNovel |
| 248 | ** [[EiffelTowerEffect No matter where you go, you can always see]] the Capitol, TheWhiteHouse, UsefulNotes/ThePentagon, or the Washington Monument. And the Lincoln Monument will make a cameo as well. Other architectural cameos will be made by the Smithsonian Institution. |
| 249 | *** [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent The American President]] is a stereotype in itself. When actual presidents aren't directly referenced themselves a ''standard'' version of the American President will be used. Democratic Presidents will be portrayed as an {{Expy}} of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy. Republican Presidents are usually portrayed as an {{Expy}} of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon and/or UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan. Invariably they all look up to UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln. In American fiction the President will always be a good, decent man who cares about his people. He may have some flaws, but they only make him human and don't diminish his heroic stature. In foreign fiction the portrayals tend to be more cynical and show him as either a [[PresidentEvil bumbling imbecilic fool, a closet racist or a corrupt, war mongering lunatic]]. Or he is just a puppet in hands of his Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the CIA or the FBI. In either way he will be involved in all kinds of [[GovernmentConspiracy shady conspiracy theories]] which plan the overthrow of foreign regimes that disobey Washington's orders by organizing new wars to please the American gun lobby. All the President wants to do is push the red button and [[NukeEm nuke the world to smithereens]]. Typically all his government meetings take place in the Oval Office or the Pentagon and without any interference or approval from the House of Congress. Apart from political and economical mayhem he may also have extra-marital affairs with his secretaries or other women, as made (in)famous by UsefulNotes/BillClinton. In America itself negative portrayals of the American President occur more in direct satirical attacks of a specific real life president, usually from the viewpoint of people from the opposite political ideology. |
| 250 | * UsefulNotes/{{Georgia|USA}} will almost always be treated as a backwards hick town that is extremely white and extremely intolerant (see the ''Series/ThirtyRock'' episode "Stone Mountain"). The sole exception is its capital, UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}, which is 54% black (and they're all hip-hop artists), home to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention[[note]]the initialism is inherited from its original name of Communicable Disease Center[[/note]]), two major universities, the world's busiest airport, and some of the largest medical and industrial facilities in the country, and actually has the 3rd highest population of LGBT people in the U.S. (behind San Francisco and Seattle). It's known as the hometown of Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, and UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr, and also where UsefulNotes/TedTurner founded Creator/{{TBS}} and CNN. But at least since Music/RayCharles, it is "always on our mind". |
| 251 | * Alabama is best known for being the state where cowboys ride "with a banjo on their knee", the song "Sweet Home Alabama" by Music/LynyrdSkynyrd, the home and namesake of a [[Music/{{Alabama}} hugely popular country band]], and the home state of ''Film/ForrestGump''. On a more negative note, it's also the home state of the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan (even though none of the Klan's many incarnations were founded there) and many furious race riots in the past, plus its politics regarding abortion and gay marriage. Also famous for the city of Montgomery, where Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat to a racist white man notably set off the Montgomery Bus Boycott. |
| 252 | * UsefulNotes/NorthCarolina. Best known for the export of cotton and tobacco. Cape Hatteras is known as "the graveyard of the Atlantic" because of the huge amount of ships that sank there.[[note]]Necessity being the mother of invention, this is why NC's coasts are speckled with lighthouses -- to warn sailors away from rocky coasts in nighttime, against which many a ship has crashed.[[/note]] Cape Fear is infamous because of the thriller ''Film/CapeFear'', and Kitty Hawk is remembered as the area where UsefulNotes/{{the Wright Brothers}} made their first flight. Also, the Northeastern transplants of the Research Triangle Park near the capital tend to get the stinkeye from the rest of the state, spawning at least one [[FunWithAcronyms backronym]] for one of the cities that makes it up: "Concentrated/Central/Containment Area for Relocated Yankees".[[note]]It was actually named for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Fenton_Cary an Ohio prohibitionist]] who the town's founder admired.[[/note]] |
| 253 | * UsefulNotes/SouthCarolina: Charleston is known for inspiring the dance style "Charleston". On a negative note, white South Carolinians (the entire population, according to the stereotype) are often stereotyped as ''the'' most reactionary people in the world. |
| 254 | ** Since it was the first state to secede from the Union during the American Civil War, and produced two of the most notorious racist senators of the Jim Crow era (Ben Tillman and Strom Thurmond, though the latter's racism tempered considerably in his old age), white South Carolinians are the most likely Southerners to be depicted as racist Neo-Confederates. The state itself still apparently accepts the Confederate dollar during purchase and there is a Confederate flag waving on every other building in sight. If you watch the national news, you might have heard the phrase "South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum"; that phrase was coined by its [[RebelliousRebel anti-secessionist attorney general]] James L. Petigru in '''[[OlderThanTheyThink 1860]]'''. |
| 255 | * Arkansas: Home of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who were initially unable to attend the city's Central High School due to their color. Other than that, it's best known for UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}} and UsefulNotes/BillClinton. |
| 256 | * Maryland: Maryland is where government employees who work in DC live or retire to (always Maryland, never Virginia.... the closer they are to the conspiracy, the better) and is full of nothing but Catholics (it was founded as the only Catholic colony and is home to the oldest Archdiocese in the United States). Baltimore is usually seen as a run-down town where you'll be shot and where ''Series/TheWire'' is set. Marylanders all over are obsessed with [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball Orioles baseball]], [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Ravens football]], and eating blue crabs with Old Bay. Generally it's where the government hides top secret things related to aliens and conspiracies when they want to keep it closer than Nevada and New Mexico. The Eastern Shore (east of the Chesapeake Bay) and Western Maryland (north of West Virginia) never get mentioned. Also, Maryland is known for Maryland fried chicken (to everyone except Marylanders, most of whom have never heard of it). |
| 257 | ** In the news media, it's different. Maryland consists only of Baltimore and certain suburbs, and possibly Annapolis as the state capital and home to the US Naval Academy. It's obligatory to suffix any place name in Maryland with "near Baltimore", whether or not that's true, unless the town's name begins with B, in which case the name is simply changed to Baltimore. Also, the news media used to hold up Baltimore as the shining success story of progressive urban policy; when that turned out not to be true, it became the city where progressive urban policy had [[{{Retcon}} never been tried]] because of Maryland's anti-urban, deep red political climate; in actuality, it's a very blue state with its population made up almost entirely of the Baltimore and D.C. areas and with a legislature that tends to be generous to Baltimore. In July 2019, when Donald Trump criticized Baltimore, the city as portrayed in the news media, which tend to favor Democrats, changed overnight from a hellhole for which Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, deserved all of the blame to a paradise for which Hogan deserved none of the credit. |
| 258 | ** Insofar as the news media do recognize the existence of places in Maryland outside the Baltimore metropolitan area, Montgomery County used to be Exhibit A for the idea that Washington-area fat cats live off the sweat of the rest of the nation. Given demographic changes, this baton has been passed to various Northern Virginia counties and cities. |
| 259 | ** Other stereotypes about the state that are more common in and around it are: |
| 260 | *** Everyone there DrivesLikeCrazy, and probably doesn't even know what their turn signals are for. |
| 261 | *** The state is filled with grouchy workaholic commuters who are permanently burned-out from working long hours only to spend all their time off driving home in the Beltway gridlock and do it all again the next day, comparable in connotation to angrier GermanicDepressives (perhaps rather fitting, given the long history of German immigration to central Maryland, particularly in Frederick and Montgomery counties). |
| 262 | *** Western Maryland is essentially just Diet West Virginia. |
| 263 | *** Prince George's County is essentially just Diet Baltimore or Diet D.C. (see above). In fact, it is sometimes called Ward 9, implying that it is an extension of D.C., which has eight wards. |
| 264 | *** That [[SigilSpam everyone in the state is unhealthily obsessed with its flag]]. |
| 265 | *** Somewhat less prevalently, that the state is [[CloudCuckooLand filled with people who just generally aren't wrapped too tight.]] |
| 266 | [[/folder]] |
| 267 | |
| 268 | [[folder:American Northeast]] |
| 269 | * [[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]] is full of {{corrupt politician}}s, organized crime, industrial pollution, ill-behaved Italians, StepfordSuburbia, {{emo teen}}s, ''Series/TheSopranos'', and ''Series/JerseyShore''. It also has Vegas East--better known as Atlantic City. (Don't forget what's left of your wallet when you leave.) |
| 270 | * [[BigApplesauce New Yorkers]] are stereotyped as loud, rude, self-absorbed businesspeople who are constantly late for work, always on their cell phone and hate being interrupted or accidentally bumped into ("Hey, I'm walkin' here, pal!"). They are known for their love of coffee, bagels and New York-style pizza (which is better than Chicago-style, and they'll make sure to tell you this). They are also known for their extremely liberal and left-wing views and how they believe that New York is the best place on Earth for all of humanity, welcoming immigrants with open arms and always boasting about how many immigrants the city has. |
| 271 | ** In Hollywood films and TV series, UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity is always the most prominent target for [[Film/KingKong giant monster attacks]], BrooklynRage, [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} ghosts that need to be busted]], [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles turtles living in sewers]], alien invasions, environmental disasters, or science fiction wars. In fact: if a story has to take place somewhere other than EverytownAmerica, it will always be New York City. Despite being something of TheBigRottenApple in popular culture... |
| 272 | ** When in New York, make sure that you show the Art/StatueOfLiberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Broadway, Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, Times Square, the UN Headquarters, Brooklyn Bridge, Film/KingKong or many Jewish actors or comedians like Creator/WoodyAllen. Play "New York, New York" by Music/FrankSinatra on the soundtrack. Mention at least once it's "the city that never sleeps." Whenever the Statue of Liberty is shown, it's often in a historical setting with immigrants arriving by ship in the harbor. And of course skyscrapers can be seen everywhere. |
| 273 | ** New York City has five boroughs, namely the Bronx (where HipHop was born, the Yankees play, and the Bronx Zoo can be visited), Brooklyn (historically an immigrant neighborhood, full of BrooklynRage, and also where the Dodgers played before they skedaddled to LA), Manhattan (cultural and economic heart of town, exemplified by Times Square, Wall Street and cultural icons like the Empire State Building, Broadway, Central Park, and several museums), Queens (which is like Brooklyn, but bigger, with fewer hipsters and more Mets fans) and Staten Island (which would be welcomed into New Jersey if it were even one iota less repulsive). |
| 274 | ** Harlem is basically seen as a neighborhood where everybody is African American. In popular culture it is either depicted as a place where you will get robbed or shot, or where African-American gangs are holding rap and break dance competitions. |
| 275 | ** Irish Americans are also thought of with much ignorance-fueled suspicion in Great Britain as a bunch of ignorant dolts with a chip on their shoulder about UsefulNotes/TheIrishQuestion whose dollars in donation to NORAID subsidized the IRA armed campaign for [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles nearly thirty years]] and kept them in bombs and bullets. |
| 276 | ** However, Irish American contribution to the IRA (in particular for families of dead or imprisoned IRA members) was actually really tiny ($3.6 million raised by NORAID from 1970 to 1991) compared to the legitimate and criminal activities undertaken by IRA members and sympathizers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The IRA generated so much revenue from its activities in Ireland (British intelligence in the 1980s estimated the IRA revenue to be at $3-7 million per year) that it enabled them to purchase enough weapons for the time being. |
| 277 | * UsefulNotes/RhodeIsland has the worst drivers in America, [[MustHaveCaffeine coffee addicts]] (Dunkin' Donuts to be exact), cannot give directions, think a 45-minute drive is a daylong trip, and have the most corrupt government that you'd ever see... it'd make [[Series/TheSopranos Tony Soprano]] stand in awe. They also have an inferiority complex with Massachusetts, especially pertaining to their big colleges (RI's Brown and MA's Harvard). Too bad Massachusetts already has its own inferiority complex for New York and [[UnknownRival hasn't really noticed.]] Rhode Island is basically the New Jersey of the New England states. And it's also the state where the fictional city of [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Quahog]] is in. |
| 278 | * UsefulNotes/{{Pennsylvania}} is known as the hometown of religious groups like Quakers and the UsefulNotes/{{Amish}}. Apart from that they have a strong link with their historical past: |
| 279 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} is famous being the hometown of Boston-born Creator/BenjaminFranklin, the cracked Liberty Bell, Philadelphia {{Soul}} and the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art [[Film/{{Rocky}} where Rocky made his famous victorious pose]]. Philadelphians are known for being cheesesteak and pretzel eaters. A negative stereotype (mostly held by [[UnknownRival New Jerseyans]]) is that Philadelphians are the most obnoxious people on the face of the Earth. Especially when it comes to their sports fans. Double especially if it's the Eagles -- you know, [[NeverLiveItDown the ones who booed Santa Claus]]. |
| 280 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} is known for its many bridges and steel buildings. It also has a lot of Polish immigrants and is known by football fans as the home place of the Steelers. |
| 281 | ** Gettysburg is known for the 1863 battle and UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln's famous Gettysburg Address speech. |
| 282 | ** Punxsutawney is known for the annual Groundhog Day celebration. [[Film/GroundhogDay Don't attend if you're a cynical, self-centered news reporter, or you might end up trapped in a never-ending time loop]]. |
| 283 | ** Another stereotype is that Pennsylvania consists of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and most of the rest of it is either Amish Country or rural Hicksville, especially the big area in the middle, or as many people call it, "Pennsyltucky". |
| 284 | ** Northeastern Pennsylvania is historically known for its industry, especially coal mining and, more recently, [[Series/TheOfficeUS the Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company]]. |
| 285 | * UsefulNotes/{{Maine}}: We have lobsters, moose, lighthouses, and beaches, some of which are more rock than sand. For the most part, Maine exists as one big tourist attraction, and the idea that it still exists in the winter is an idea limited solely to skiers and natives. For the rest of New England, Maine is Yankee redneck country. And if you see even the slightest thing out of the ordinary... [[Creator/StephenKing run. Run as far away as quickly as your legs can take you.]] |
| 286 | ** There's also trees. Lots and lots and ''lots'' of trees. It's called the "Pine Tree State" for a reason. The state flower is even the pine cone, ''which isn't even a flower''. |
| 287 | * UsefulNotes/{{Massachusetts}}: Full of rich, pretentious [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]] [[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Harvard]] graduates who hate Yale University, or loud, obnoxious, drunken [[UsefulNotes/TheIrishDiaspora Irish-Americans]]... and sometimes both. Have a bit of an inferiority complex with New York, especially pertaining to sports teams. Dislikes EVERYBODY ELSE ON THE LIST (except the Irish or British, depending on social class), occasionally giving an exception to other New Englanders. The MIT nerd is sometimes seen. The Boston Brahmins are often seen as being socially liberal, as they crusaded against slavery, drinking, and segregation, in addition to being the first state to legalize gay marriage. This is seen as genuine care, while California is thought of holding these views superficially (along with everything else). |
| 288 | ** Massachusetts is also well-known for its historical events. From the Mayflower landing near Plymouth Rock in 1620, to the [[SalemIsWitchCountry Salem witch trials]], the 1775 Battle of Lexington which sparked the US War of Independence and the 1776 Boston Tea Party. |
| 289 | ** Boston is known as the birthplace of Creator/BenjaminFranklin and known for the 1770 Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's midnight ride and the annual Boston Marathon. |
| 290 | ** Rural Massachusetts is LovecraftCountry, if it's portrayed at all. |
| 291 | ** If you're in Massachusetts, Western Mass is either where you go to college or is another plane of existence. If you live in any of the surrounding states, it either doesn't exist or is where all the farmer's markets are. |
| 292 | * UsefulNotes/{{Vermont}}: Either cheese and maple syrup or the Oregon of the east. Take your pick. Also, apparently the ''"moonlight in/on Vermont"'' is quite a sight, according to some songs. Oh, and everyone owns guns. |
| 293 | * Connecticut: Had you actually bothered to learn that [[NothingExcitingEverHappensHere Connecticut is a real place on the map]], you would probably think of its people as rich, snobby Rockefeller Republican Yalies who hate Harvard. Preppy style clothing is frighteningly common, especially among the baby boomer generation. The only entertainment available here is the local library, college sports (''especially'' [=UConn=] men's ''and'' women's basketball), and the nearest mall. |
| 294 | * New Hampshire: Libertarians who sell alcohol at highway rest stops (in stores ''operated by the state'', no less) and don't require you to wear your seat belt while in a car. ''Live free or die'' [[note]]Their state motto.[[/note]], indeed. Traditionally also the first state to held primary elections every four years in the process of choosing the delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions which choose the party nominees for the presidential elections. They also used to be known for a rock formation that appeared to be the jagged profile of a human face when viewed from the north: ''The Old Man of the Mountain'', but it collapsed in 2003 due to centuries of freezing and thawing. Also where everyone from Massachusetts with some money moves to. |
| 295 | ** The Lakes Region and the White Mountains are where you go for the weekend if you're from Massachusetts. |
| 296 | ** The Seacoast is where you go for the weekend if you're from New Hampshire or eastern Quebec. |
| 297 | ** If you're from New Hampshire, Manchester (or "Manchvegas" if you live in NH) is a drug-infested den of iniquity and hell on earth. If you're from anywhere else, it's a pretty mundane city with limited but relatively decent nightlife options, along with some surrounding bedroom communities that aren't bad places to move to. |
| 298 | ** Nashua is New Hampshire's unconscious expression of its own inferiority complex with Massachusetts manifested via awful urban planning and vapid suburban sprawl, and the areas near Merrimack and Tyngsborough in particular can best be summed up as "alternating rows of chain restaurants and office parks with a few strip malls added for good measure". |
| 299 | ** If you're from Massachusetts, Portsmouth is where you move if you're a young professional who doesn't want to live in the Boston area. If you're from New Hampshire, Portsmouth is that place that used to be cool before the yuppies started to move there to escape Boston rents and turned it into a cesspool of featureless, grotesquely overpriced luxury condos and obnoxious trendy gastropubs with $16 appetizers. |
| 300 | [[/folder]] |
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