What do the French think of Americans?

Published 4:23 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

Just like not everybody in the United States has the same opinion, not everybody shares the same opinion in France – especially when it comes to opinions about America.

I think that there are two main opinions the French have about America and Americans. The first is an “anti-American” feeling. The people who fall into this category don’t agree with U.S. political policies and don’t like our unhealthy lifestyle and culture of consumerism. The second is the vision of the “American dream.” All they can say is, “Wow.”

The people who are more “anti-American” tend not to agree with a few things. At this moment, the biggest complaint is about President George W. Bush. The French really didn’t understand why we went to war in Iraq or why Americans elected Bush for the second time. They also don’t understand America’s agenda in Iraq.

Another problem they have with Americans is our pollution. They feel that we pollute a lot and aren’t doing anything to stop it. They also have a bad imagine of American people as unhealthy slobs. They think that we eat way too much and refer to McDonald’s as the symbol of our poor diets. They imagine us sitting on the couch in front of the TV eating fatty foods then going outside and washing our big cars.

However, while these people may not agree with our politics and don’t like certain things about our culture, they are never rude to me just because I am American. These same people might like other things about our culture. They buy American products, listen to American music and watch American films.

Often a bad image of America comes from our films. For example, the movie “Bring it On,” with the competition cheerleaders was renamed “American Girls” here in France. I love this movie and understand that this film doesn’t depict all American girls, but do the French understand this? That is how they imagine Americans: their points of reference are from our films.

There are a lot of people fascinated by America. People of all ages, but mostly the teenagers through my experience, think of America as a dream. They ask me lots of questions about my drivers license (they can’t drive until they are 18) and if I have ever been to California (They love the OC). When I presented Mount Si and American high schools to my class at school in a PowerPoint presentation of pictures, the students were amazed. Every aspect was wonderful in their eyes. One girl told me that it looked like the movie “Grease.”

Most of the teenagers in France find America wonderful and only have positive things to say. One classmate told me that he only listens to American music. “God Bless America,” he told me. People do feel that there are positive things about America apart from high school and music. For example, they think that our liberal system of government is great and you might remember Pauline Monet; the exchange student from France who attended Mount Si last year. She has told me that her year in America was the best year of her life.

Before leaving for France, some people asked me why I was going, “Don’t you know that the French hate us Americans?” Well, that is not true at all, even the people who “hate” certain things about our culture and government do not “hate” Americans and do not take it out on me. I am not the reason that Bush was re-elected and we are at war in the Middle East, I am not the reason that obesity is a problem in the United States and the French recognize this difference. Nobody has been rude or mean to me because I am American, in fact most of the time I get the complete opposite reaction.