Eagle Land: Difference between revisions

A [[Wretched Hive|wretched country]] full of [[Jerkass|ignorant assholes]] who got lucky and like to hide behind their inflated military budget. Americans come into your country either as tourists or invaders, thinking that [[It's All About Me|they own the place]] and that they rightfully deserve everything. Not only are they less intelligent ''and'' less cultured than you, but they also have the gall to look down and patronize you, while proudly waving around the little flags which they carry around ''everywhere''. They're either fat (with a diet solely consisting of fast food and TV dinners), [[Moral Guardians]], trigger-happy [[Americans Are Cowboys|cowboys]] from the [[Deep South]], or shameless anorexic [[Rich Bitch|rich bitches]] from [[Hollywood California]]. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Oh]], and they '''suck''' at [[Global Ignorance|geography]]. Always.

'''Mixed Flavor'''

----

* [[American Robot]]

* [[Big Applesauce]]

* [[Injun Country]]

* [[It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans]]

* [[Lovecraft Country]]

* [[Motor City]]

* [[The Other Rainforest]]

* [[Wild Wilderness]]

* In what has to be the pinnacle of a type 1 American in anime, or hell any medium, we have Roy Fokker from ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' who plays the role of [[Big Brother Mentor]] and [[The Lancer]], though he is a bit of [[Handsome Lech]]. However, he is ''very'' devoted to Claudia.

* ''[[G Gundam]]'''s Chibodee Crockett. Take Roy Fokker, Muhammad Ali, Stephen Colbert, and Toby Keith. Mix well, surround with hot young women, and stick in a robot football player/boxer/cowboy/surfer [[Wearing a Flag On Your Head|wearing star-spangled shorts]]. Truly [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40SMfuAfhr8 a real American].

* Within the wider [[Marvel Universe]], [[Captain America]] is one of the most respected and admired heroes for being Type 1 incarnate. (The ''[[Captain America]]'' comics themselves take a more nuanced view of the country; see "Mixed Examples" below.) [[Superman]] fills much the same role for the [[DC Universe]].

* Orvil Newton from ''[[Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines]]'' (or How I Flew From London To Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes) is a classic Type 1: loud and rough around the edges, but the most honest, fair and likable guy you'll care to meet. He even throws the race (and the astronomical prize he needs to get home again) to save another pilot in distress.

* ''[[Black Hawk Down]]'': [[The Dragon]] sarcastically claims that Americans are Type 1, who don't drink, don't smoke, and live long, healthy, uninteresting lives.

* [[Dracula (Literature)|Dracula]] has a pretty good example of type 1 in Quincey Morris. One of Lucy's three suitors, he's presented as a cowboy-type from Texas, informal but friendly and honorable. Strangely, although repeatedly described by his friends as a man of action, he doesn't engage in all that much of it {{spoiler|until he suffers a mortal wound fighting the gypsies that protect Dracula's coffin at the end and striking one of the fatal blows to kill Dracula.}}

* Subverted by Oscar Wilde in ''The Canterville Ghost''. "Americans have everything in common with us now-a-days except the Language."

* An episode of ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]'' features an American who's more eager than intelligent when it comes to learning the ways of the samurai.

* ''[[A Bit of Fry and Laurie]]'' used this trope more than once, most memorably in song form, when [[Hugh Laurie]], wearing a plaid flannel shirt and a headband (he was making fun of [[Bruce Springsteen]], obviously overlooking the fact that the song "Born in the USA" is actually condescending of America), sang a song that consisted only of the words "...America, America, America..." and "...the States, the States, the States..." and ended with [[Stephen Fry]] punching him in the stomach.

* "American Woman," originally by The Guess Who, painted the U.S. as Flavor 2. Then Lenny Kravitz [[Covered Up|covered it up]] with a funk remix and a music video with American flags, hot girls on choppers and muscle cars, and [[Heather Graham]] dancing on top of a bus. Because of that, it's today regarded as more Flavor 1 in style regardless of its lyrics. Incidentally, The Guess Who claimed ''American Woman'' was never intended to be anti-American in the first place.

* The song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1VTcJfL7RE Hollywood] by Marina and the Diamonds provides a subversion. The visuals and constant reference to the American Dream are in the patriotic, freedom-searching-immigrants, dream-granting ideal of America--but the message is negative, causing a sort of [[Stepford Smiler]] result.

* On June 5, 1973<ref>(as the U.S. was pulling out of [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]] while facing economic hardship and intense internal and external criticism)</ref>, Canadian commentator Gordon Sinclair did a piece on his daily radio series ''Let's Be Personal'' titled "[http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/Our_Culture/americans.htm The Americans]," in which Gordon emphasized how much the U.S. has done to aid other countries (with a little [[Cultural Posturing]] on America's behalf included). To say the least, it was a significant [http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/Our_Culture/americans_story.htm shot in the arm for American self-esteem]. After [[The War On Terror]] sparked a huge surge in people who view Americans through a Flavor 2 lens, the broadcast again made the rounds, this time on the Internet.

* Eagleland, the [[Trope Namer|setting]] of the ''[[Earthbound (Video Game)|Earthbound]]''/''[[MOTHER]]'' franchise and an an affectionate homage to America as viewed through the lens of [[Shigesato Itoi|a foreigner]] interpreting the place based on American media, that falls squarely in the bounds of Type 1. ''[[MOTHER]]'' actually flat-out called it "rural America". ''[[Mother 3 (Video Game)|Mother 3]]'' is an interesting example. It starts with a [[Arcadia|more rural]] version of Type 1. [[It Got Worse|This gets twisted]] into Type 2 when the villains arrive and is unrecognizable by the final chapter.

* In ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue (Video Game)|Pokémon Red and Blue]]'', their sequels, and their remakes, the Gym Leader Lt. Surge is Type 1. He appears to have the usual good sportsmanship required to be a gym leader and he is even said to be a war hero (as noted below, though, many adaptations make him a Type 2).

* The U.S. military brings you [http://www.usfj.mil/manga/ Our Alliance - A Lasting Partnership]. Starring Usa-kun, an [[Adorably Precocious Child]], who's guarding the older japanese stand-in, just ''cuz''.

** May be a subversion, in that it's made by the U.S. Military for Japanese children...

* The Big Guy from ''[[Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot (Animation)|Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot]]'' is a solid Type 1. Lines like "have to shoot carefully...each shot costs millions of taxpayer dollars" and "I pledge allegiance to only one flag!" are said with perfect sincerity. It's probably a deliberately-crafted image; Lieutenant Hunter is a soldier, and a loyal one at that, but he's not ''that'' cheesy.

* The Dydo company brings you [http://www.examiner.com/caffeine-in-national/how-japan-sees-american-coffee American Coffee].

{{quote| ''That is why this amazingly detailed can of "American Coffee" is so attractive - all the cliche glamor of an All American Can, filled with everything the iconic sleazy american lives for! Bad taste? check. Sexy stripper grls? Check! Cool classic car? Check! There is even the american flag with groovy 60's lettering!''}}

* In one of the earlier books in the manga version of ''[[Ah! My Goddess (Manga)|Ah My Goddess]]'', Keiichi races against two students from a California technical institute. They are shown as hypercompetitive, cheating, and, in the girl's case, obsessed with looks.

* [[School Shock]] presents the Americans as aggressive diplomats with their default tactic being war threats, however backing down when some kind of resistance is shown (though the resister in this case was China). At least their president has a [[Funny Afro]] and a big smile.

* ''[[Azumanga Daioh (Manga)|Azumanga Daioh]]'': When Osaka learns Chiyo plans to study abroad, she seems to think Chiyo will get shot the minute she steps off the plane.

* ''[http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics217.html Dilly Dreem]'' has a view of Americans as Type 2. When she hears that Americans will be taking over her school, she envisions the radical changes they will make, including turning the school into a New York City skyscraper, changing the school sport to baseball, and turning the local tuckshop into a soda fountain frequented by beatniks.

* In ''Adventures in the Rifle Brigade'', Private Hank the Yank (as he is listed in official documentation) is an American who hopped the pond to get a jump-start on all that "war" business, and the only American in the otherwise all-British team. An explosives expert wearing a constant grimace and who only ever says "GAWD DAMMIT!", he's a lovely collection of stereotypes (you see, he's really, really stupid and violent) that fits right in with the rest of the Brigade. To be perfectly fair, the series doesn't let the Brits off very lightly, either. Captain Hugo "Khyber" Darcy is a ridiculously exaggerated caricature of a stuffy upper class Brit; virulently prejudiced against "jerries" (and indeed, all non-British people; he claims Germany's fatal mistake in the war was ''not being Britain''), and is unshakably convinced that America is still a British colony (elsewise he would've killed Private Hank ages ago).

* ''The Best of the Best'', where the American Tae Kwon Do team goes to Korea to take on their national team at the sport they invented, is a Flavor 2 film, even though it's certainly the opposite of what the filmmakers intended. Although supposed to have an "Americans triumph over any adversity" message, consider the following:

** The American team includes a prejudiced, ignorant [[Deep South|redneck stereotype]] who continually insults their hosts' culture. In addition, they have their star Korean-American member as a symbol of assimilation into the greater American culture.

* A nice prime example of Flavor 2 from Conan Doyle, in ''two'' of his [[Sherlock Holmes]] novels, no less. Both ''A Study in Scarlet'' and ''The Valley of Fear'' suffer from the more gruesome type 2 in their respective second half. The first one deals with early mormon practicioners, all taking place in Utah. The second in the fictional Vermissa Valley, curiously being vaguely inspired by true events. Both are pretty much the same, with the narration being focused on [[Only Sane Man|two or three characters]] who're steadily developed as they run through their exploits. As for everyone else, [[Ax Crazy|well...]]

** "A Study In Scarlet"'s second half took place during the Mormon immigration, when all the Mormons were more or less literally driven out of the rest of the country and forced to move to Utah, which was apparently the only place people hated enough to actually send Mormons; and the book itself was first published only a couple of decades after. It's not outside the realm of possibility that Doyle had only ever heard of Mormons from Americans, who, this being the 1870s and 1880s, would not have nice things to say about Mormons.

* The "special relationship" between the US and UK is not universally approved-of, something which comes through in depictions of the US government (although generally not its people) modern UK shows. Take the penultimate episode of Series 3 of the new ''[[Doctor Who]]'', for example, where the [[Did Not Do the Research|President Elect]] arrives on UK soil to bullishly demand first contact with aliens take place under UN terms with the US in charge. The Prime Minister acquiesces. Prez sets up the meeting on a flying aircraft carrier, demanding his official seal in clear view during the proceedings and generally behaving like a bit of a dick. Of course, it turns out there's more going on than he realizes, and his hubris is cashed in when the PM reveals himself to be an [[Evil Genius]] and [[Magnificent Bastard]], and vaporizes him. Oh, and the [[Reset Button]] of the final episode only erased the events ''immediately '''after''' ''the President's demise.

** In the same episode there is an example that is closer to the first stereotype. A trio of Buffalo Bills supporting teens watch the President Elect getting zapped live on TV, as they don't speak they are portrayed in Letterman Jackets/a Cheerleader outfit, eating fried chicken ''and'' pizza. The fried chicken tub has a star spangled banner on it, this probably meant to simply show that they are American to UK viewers. What, no cowboy hats nor six-shooters?

* [[Kate Bush]], ''[http://gaffa.org/sensual/l_potp.html Pull Out the Pin]'' ([http://gaffa.org/dreaming/td_potp.html with comments]).

** It's actually a [[Not So Different|subversion]] considering she even says so in an interview about the song.

* Freddie Trumper, the [[Jerkass]] American chess champion in ''[[Chess (Theatre)|Chess]]''.

* When discussing the topic of English, Professor Henry Higgins had this to say.

* ''[[Dead Rising]]'' falls neatly into Type 2. The zombie outbreak was accidentally caused by the government trying to create super-cows to feed a voracious America, with the zombies themselves being described by one character as creatures that "[just] eat, and eat, and eat. Growing in number...just like you good red, white and blue Americans" (of course, he isn't much better). One of the survivors is an overweight slob who will refuse to follow you until you feed him, and later puts the entire group in danger if you don't feed him again. One of the boss fights is a family of snipers obsessed with the Second Amendment. A Black Ops team tries to cover up everything.

** The Redneck Snipers in [[Dead Rising 2|the sequel]] might be the best example: They are introduced in a cutscene which shows them sitting around, drinking beer and complaining about the liberals and the "gummint." In-game, they prioritize shooting living humans over zombies and start whooping and bragging about their "American steel" if they manage to kill a character.

* ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'': [[The Government]] isn't that bad. Even [[The Men in Black]]. But ''[http://egscomics.com/?date=2008-05-26 tourists]''...

** Of course, the writer's [[Word of God|commentary on the strip]] seems to imply that it was more of a jab at tourists in general than just American ones.

* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'': America as seen in ''The Program'' would like to see itself as Type 1, but is very much Type 2. It's basically modern culture [[Twenty Minutes in The Future]], however the main difference is that the country has turned militaristic and nationalistic, and the characters are raised to acknowledge and embrace it.

* [[Zero Punctuation|Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw]] has made his disdain and disgust for America known on more than one occasion in a few of his videos (especially in his reviews of ''[[Modern Warfare|Call of Duty: Modern Warfare]]'' and ''[[Medal of Honor|Medal of Honor: Airborne]]''. At one point, Croshaw considered "moving to that steaming shithole across the ocean" because he was sick of the Australian Media Board's aggressive censorship policies, which he then likened to traditional right-wing conservatism in the States.

* The German-language version of ''[[Cats Don't Dance (Animation)|Cats Don't Dance]]'' subtly shifts a single line of evil child star Darla Dimple's dialogue to suggest a more cutthroat and purely-for-the-money version of Hollywood:

{{quote| (original) '''Darla''': Mister Pussycat, listen to me; you don't have to be good, but you had better be...Big and Loud!...<br />

* On the opposite end of [[Moe Anthropomorphism]] depictions from Japan, there's Meriken from [[Afganisu-tan]] web series. Unlike Alfred (America) from APH, Meriken is [[Anvilicious|very much Eagleland #2]]. She's first shown on the White House lawn, [[It's All About Me|singing that the whole world was made just for her]]. The 9/11 attacks, where over 3,000 people were killed, are shown as a stray cat (representing Osama bin-Laden) biting Meriken. She goes marauding and rampaging over a helpless, terrified Afganis-tan in response, destroying her home while trying to catch the mischevious cat. Then gives Afghanis-tan a stern warning to take more responsibility for her house so this doesn't happen again.

* John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman's podcast ''The Bugle'' has "the American" (played by Rory Albanese, whom Oliver works with on ''[[The Daily Show]]''), whose entire character is Flavor 2 of this trope. For instance, when told that the American dollar is neither the strongest currency in the world nor accepted in other countries: "I don't believe you."

** This type of depiction is pretty much normal for this series. No country escapes being the butt of jokes, but most of the countries are also good at heart. (Except for Russia whose heart sometimes actually falls out of its place. But even he [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|isn't completely and consciously evil]].)

* Partial aversion: the anime series ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano]]!'' has tons of characters in Mafia-run Chicago/New York City and a runaway train running between the two. [[Genius Ditz|Some are silly]], [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|some are wimpy]], [[Ax Crazy|some are batshit insane]] and [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|the rest of them...]]

* A lot of the comic book writers from across the pond, even those that have written Marvel and DC books for years, tend to love turning our original superheroes on their ear, basically making them even more jingoistic, or just jerkasses, for shock value or to go [[Darker and Edgier]]. A handful of heroes still hold out as the fair-minded type one idealists, and ironically their scarcity makes ''them'' the more remarkable ones. [[Garth Ennis]] has a recurring interest in America, often playing off Type 1 (the national mythology of America and what the characters strive for) against Type 2 (what tends to be the reality in his strips) and the clashes thereof. Examples of this clash include Tommy Monaghan, Hitman, genuinely respecting and idolizing Superman; and the views of British/Irish immigrants and visitors to the States, all of them noticing and decrying the Type 2 parts of America while ''simultaneously'' loving the place.

* One of the recurring themes of ''[[Captain America]]'' comics is contrasting Cap's Type 1 idealism with what can often be a Type 2 reality.

* ''[[Moscow On the Hudson]]'', starring [[Robin Williams]] as a Russian immigrant, is a perfect example. The joys and freedoms of Vladimir's new country are mixed with poverty and crime, but the film ends on a hopeful note after Vladimir has established his new life.

* The protagonist of ''[[Forbidden Kingdom]]'' has aspects of both Flavor 1 and Flavor 2. He's eager and idealistic, but despite his encyclopedic knowledge of Chop Socky movies, he has no clue how to properly behave in another culture.

* Many popular British authors, especially pre-1965 or so (among them [[PG Wodehouse (Creator)|PG Wodehouse]], [[Agatha Christie (Creator)|Agatha Christie]], [[Arthur Conan Doyle (Creator)|Arthur Conan Doyle]] and [[Dick Francis]]) have real trouble rendering American characters accurately, providing a revealing look at common stereotypes of the era. The typical 'American' of these novels is described as taking things 'more free and easy', thus depicted as speaking in a sort of stylised gangland slang...which is nevertheless composed according to distinctly British grammar rules. The result can be a little jarring to say the least, especially if the character actually ''is'' a gangster, or supposed to be similarly menacing.

** They tended to lampshade and/or justify this by saying that the American character was deliberately trying to fit in and/or be more comprehensible, or had been living in England for some time, etc.

* Despite the previous seasons leaning more towards Flavor 2, as of Series 6 (along with ''[[Torchwood Miracle Day (TV)|Torchwood Miracle Day]]'') ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has tended towards a more Badass, [[Crazy Awesome]] depiction of Americans--a bit trigger happy, a bit boisterous and overconfident, but not an overtly negative portrayal (though it is clear they're still leaning on stereotypes for some characters).

** The majority of the Americans in "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon." Aside from being a little gun-happy (which is justified in the majority of them are Secret Service Agents) it's one of the better portrayals of America in recent ''Doctor Who'' seasons. According to the producers, America appears to be a place where everyone is a jovial, if slightly thick and dim-witted, patriot, and random spurts of [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|melodramatic processional music]] accompany the President everywhere.

* ''[[New Horizon]]'' has Xanadu, a mostly Flavor 1 stereotype that happens to be quite racist. Of course, this is a a faction on an alien colony in the future instead of America proper but...

* Andoran from the ''Pathfinder'' RPG.

* From developer [[SNK]] we have [[Fatal Fury|Terry]] [[The King of Fighters (Video Game)|Bogard]] who tends to be a bit of a mix. On one the one hand he's boisterous, proud and wears stereotypical American clothes. On the other hand, he's largely self-sufficient, at least partially self-taught, and is not only a good guy, but is considered one of the most important characters in the games. In the anime, he's the main character and basically shown to be the most powerful martial artist alive, who earns the admiration of his allies and the respect of his enemies. He also defeats Ares, the God of War, in a one-on-one fight.

* Paul Phoenix from ''[[Tekken]]'' is more of a mix. While he is goofy, loud, and arrogant he is generally a good guy, and is indeed and dangerous fighter, and one of the few non Mishima characters to beat both a Mishima and a Boss character (though he still lost the tournament somehow).

* Brother/Sister America from ''[[Scandinavia and The World]]'' are mostly type 2 caricatures, but done in a good-natured enough way that it can be classified as a mix.

** Their type 1 tendencies are shown [http://satwcomic.com/a-trip-into-american-culture when the Scandanavians visit America,] although they're still kind of jerks.

* Both flavors of this get parodied in the Finnish satirical animation'' [[Pasila]]''. The conversation paraphrased:

{{quote| '''Helga:''' Americans are great people!<br />

* [[Captain Obvious|America is made up of humans.]] '''[[Humans Are Flawed]].'''

* Most of the older generation in countries like Belgium and others where the Nazis conquered them and the Americans came in, kicked the Nazis out, and then LEFT without taking any land for themselves, get quite emotional about America, stating that for the first time, soldiers from another country came into theirs, fought for it as if it was their own, and asked for nothing in return. Hardcore Flavor 1...which is slowly being replaced by Flavor 2 as the generation that remembers those events is dying off, replaced by a generation more familiar with America of the Vietnam era and later.