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Anecdotally I've found this to be true when discussing the US with European friends I have. They think our schooling looks exactly like the sitcoms (e.g. Boy Me

Anecdotally I've found this to be true when discussing the US with European friends I have. They think our schooling looks exactly like the sitcoms (e.g. Boy Meets World, Fresh Prince). They also seem to think we're all partially cowboys or at least like John McClane in Die Hard. They also take every bit of media coming from the major networks as absolute truth and tend to believe things that are really quite rare here happen on a constant basis.

chrisco255 5y ago
To be fair everyone makes this mistake with every culture they are familiar with yet not experienced enough to understand the variety and nuance. We go with the stereotypes because there's some truth to it. For example, there is still to this day a big cowboy subculture in America, it's just not everyone. And no not everyone in West Philadelphia born and raised shoots bball after school but quite a few do.
philwelch 5y ago
> They also take every bit of media coming from the major networks as absolute truth and tend to believe things that are really quite rare here happen on a constant basis. To be fair, Americans also believe this.
- CountDrewku 5y ago
  Yes but Americans don't receive an influx of media from other countries. Conversely, American media is everywhere and has saturated the globe, so I think the stereotypes of Americans are far more common. I don't really have any European stereotypes other than broad generalizations like Belgian people like chocolate and Germans like beer.
  - philwelch 5y ago
    I meant that Americans believe, based on media reporting, that “things that are really quite rare here happen on a constant basis”. In other words, not only does American media give foreigners misconceptions about life in America, it also gives Americans those very same misconceptions about their own country.
    - CountDrewku 5y ago
      Ohhhh ok, then yes I agree with your observation. Media thrives on sensationalism so things that are rare get biased reporting which skews perspectives.
hyperman1 5y ago
It is sometimes hard to filter reality from fiction, when tv is the input. You have schools preparing for mass shootings and banks giving guns when opening an account. You have swat teams demolishing a home because someone breaks in. Tell me again how you're not all partially cowboys. I have no idea how many guns an average American sees when walking around (excluding cops and soldiers), but I'd think at least 1 a year. In all euro countrys I've been to, my answer is 0.

chrisco255 5y ago

To be fair everyone makes this mistake with every culture they are familiar with yet not experienced enough to understand the variety and nuance. We go with the stereotypes because there's some truth to it. For example, there is still to this day a big cowboy subculture in America, it's just not everyone. And no not everyone in West Philadelphia born and raised shoots bball after school but quite a few do.

philwelch 5y ago

> They also take every bit of media coming from the major networks as absolute truth and tend to believe things that are really quite rare here happen on a constant basis. To be fair, Americans also believe this.

CountDrewku 5y ago
Yes but Americans don't receive an influx of media from other countries. Conversely, American media is everywhere and has saturated the globe, so I think the stereotypes of Americans are far more common. I don't really have any European stereotypes other than broad generalizations like Belgian people like chocolate and Germans like beer.
- philwelch 5y ago
  I meant that Americans believe, based on media reporting, that “things that are really quite rare here happen on a constant basis”. In other words, not only does American media give foreigners misconceptions about life in America, it also gives Americans those very same misconceptions about their own country.
  - CountDrewku 5y ago
    Ohhhh ok, then yes I agree with your observation. Media thrives on sensationalism so things that are rare get biased reporting which skews perspectives.

hyperman1 5y ago

It is sometimes hard to filter reality from fiction, when tv is the input. You have schools preparing for mass shootings and banks giving guns when opening an account. You have swat teams demolishing a home because someone breaks in. Tell me again how you're not all partially cowboys. I have no idea how many guns an average American sees when walking around (excluding cops and soldiers), but I'd think at least 1 a year. In all euro countrys I've been to, my answer is 0.