The USA

As I get used to living here I find that I have less and less to say about my everyday life, not because it’s uninteresting, but simply because the cultural differences which were so notable to me upon arrival now seem to me wholly unremarkable.

Perhaps what would be interesting is to talk about the French perception of America. Of course, there are as many opinions here as there are people, but one thing I’ve noticed almost universally among the teenagers here is the glamor which is attached to the US. Since, as Americans, we can be fairly critical of our own country, I expected to receive even more criticism from a country which has been on the receiving end of such stellar exports as MacDonald’s and reality TV. However, I’ve found in general that Hollywood and the American media have done their job; the vast majority of TV shows, movies, and music are American. I think it is as a result of this that there has been no small number of French teenagers who have used the phrase “la rêve américaine” to describe how they feel about the U.S.

I find the usage of this phrase extremely interesting since it captures perfectly the difference of perspective between living in the U.S. and viewing it from the outside. For us, or for me at least, “the American dream” evokes images of a self-made American, possibly an immigrant, who has managed to achieved white-picket bliss armed only with determination and grit. Here however, “the American dream” evokes an image of prosperity, but viewed more distantly. Attached to it are the images of movie stars and the spacious lifestyles seen in sitcoms; it is an abstract idea of the wealth and glamor as seen on TV. As one of my classmates said of going abroad, “England, well, it’s England. It’s right there. But the United State,s I mean… it’s the United States!“ .

That said, I have also fielded a large number of questions about our obesity and gasoline usage, so clearly not all aspects of American culture glitter like Hollywood.

Actually, the prevalence of American pop culture has created an interesting dilemma for me, since I have never been a real follower of American pop culture. I find that many of my classmates know a great deal more than I do about Lady Gaga lyrics and Desperate Housewives plotlines.

This is not to say that all of the French are falling over themselves to adopt American culture. Rather, American culture has marketing power, particularly with people my age. (And especially the state of California.)It’s similar to how most shampoos in the US sport French names, since France has a marketable connotation of sophistication to us.  

Though I find it interesting to try think about the French view of American culture, I clearly can’t give a definitive description. Beyond the surface stereotypes, both good and bad, there is also the understanding that the US is just another country and culture, with some differences with also just full of ordinary people. Perhaps this is the view which comes out strongest when you are face to face with someone from another country, at least it’s the view that I come around to again and again whenever I talk to someone (be they from France, Taiwan, Iceland, Australia, Romania, New York, Costa Rica…)