Eagle Land: Difference between revisions

'''Flavor 1: America, Fuck Yeah!'''

 

 

[[File:American-gun-family_6449.jpg|frame|Flavor #2]]

'''Flavor 2: Yeah, Fuck America!'''

 

 

'''Mixed Flavor'''

* [[Indianapolis]]

* [[Injun Country]]

* [[Joisey]]: If Hollywood (more specifically ''[[Jersey Shore]]'') is to be believed, ''everyone'' in New Jersey is apparently of Italian descent, speaks with a nasally accent, uses insane amounts of hair gel, goes to nightclubs, and spends their summers doing nothing but tanning at the shore. And New Jersey's citizens, especially the tourism industry, are not very happy about it.

* [[Lovecraft Country]]

* [[The Other Rainforest]]

* [[Wild Wilderness]]

 

=== Flavor 1 ===

 

== Anime & Manga ==

* [[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.

* Carrie from ''[[Bamboo Blade]]'' is depicted as a somewhat stereotypical American type 2. She is obnoxious and in-your-face, extremely arrogant, and generally disregards the traditional rules of Kendo in favor of practices she thinks are more cool. However, by the end of the anime series, she and her rival Miya-Miya do seem to have a grudging respect for one another.

*** Latter does so speaking absolutely horrid and, at the same time, absolutely ''[[Crowning Moment of Funny|hilarious]]'' Engrish.

*** The Americans in Getter Robo Go are not the nicest people. They are grateful for Getter's help but won't share parts due Japan's past history of not assisting allies, specifically when Japan needed oil during the Gulf War and not helping. American pilot Schwartz takes the cake and is a total racist that hates everything non-white. He does start to realize he was wrong and his co-pilot was always stopping from picking on the Japanese.

* Kaiji Kawaguchi's ''[[The Silent Service]]'' flaunts a [[Anvilicious|very strong]] Japanese nationalist (and anti-U.S.) message through this flavor; a submarine jointly developed by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and US Navy (and crewed by JMSDF sailors) goes rogue, declaring itself an independent nation--then proceeds to sink multiple U.S. warships. A flavor-defining moment: the U.S. government draws up plans for a full-scale invasion of Japan ... over a single ''rogue'' submarine.

* The manga version of ''[[Bokurano]]'' portrays America this way, even though Americans themselves are very rarely shown. Characters usually speak with disgust about the United States, saying that the country is stuck thinking it's the world's sole superpower, and worrying that the U.S. may invade Japan, using the manga's events as a pretext. In fact, the U.S. never actually does anything antagonistic in the manga.

* The movie based on [[Terry Pratchett]]'s novel ''[[Discworld|The Colour of Magic]]'' has the character Twoflower as a completely oblivious American tourist complete with straw hat, Hawaiian print shirt, and camera. This is different from the book, however, as Twoflower is from the Agaetean empire and is the local equivalent of a [[Japanese Tourist]].

* A montage in ''Godzilla: Final Wars'' shows daily life in various world cities being interrupted by ''daikaiju'' attacks. Apparently, daily life in New York consists of pimps pulling guns on cops in the middle of the street. Also, the two American main characters are a quite possibly insane [[Badass Normal]] (emphasis on the "[[Badass]]") and a self-important [[Nietzsche Wannabe]], neither of whom, despite living in Tokyo, [[Gratuitous English|ever say one word in Japanese]]. Kazama only really spoke English in like two parts of the movie: during the Ebirah fight and the "Watch it, X Man!" line.

* In the German film ''Kein Bund F?rs Leben'' the Americans (especially the commander) are mostly type 2 but with a subversion: The German soldiers are worse!

* The American president in ''Love Actually'' fits neatly into the second category, a combination of Bill Clinton (a sleazy womanizer) and George W. Bush (bullying behavior and accent). When England's prime minister (played by Hugh Grant, of course) tells him off, it is portrayed as his defining moment as a leader. It should be noted that the President here is played by Billy Bob Thornton, of ''Sling Blade'' and Angelina Jolie-marrying fame.

** Both that, however...

* One of the teams in the video game ''[[Rival Schools (Video Game)|Rival Schools: United by Fate]]'' is three American exchange students; an arrogant bully (Roy), a ditzy cheerleader (Tiffany), and a preacher in training (Boman). Of these three, Roy and Tiffany (''especially'' Roy) exhibit Flavor #2. All three are cast as villains, though, due to {{spoiler|a case of [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] after getting kidnapped by the villains of the game}}. By the end, all three become better people by interacting with the more cultured and honorable Japanese students. Roy and Tiffany bring their newfound tolerance back home, while Boman stays in Japan to bridge the difference between the two nations. {{spoiler|Roy actually becomes the President of the United States some decades later, with Tiffany as his wife and First Lady.}}

* Though you only see him for a minute in ''[[Golden Eye Wii (Video Game)|Golden Eye Wii]]'', Sky Briggs is an unabashed Flavor 2 Eaglelander -- he greets you with a friendly drawl, walks with a swaggering mosey, and confidently boasts that his "boys" are ready to face any threat with their [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|superior firepower]].

* In ''[[World of Warcraft]] Cataclysm'', the new Goblin race are basically this, in spite of not even coming from America. A group of greedy industrialists with a 'money makes right' attitude, they exhibit shocking ignorance about the rest of the world, a mercantile ruthlessness that would be shocking if it weren't [[Played for Laughs]], the kind of taste in clothes that you'd expect from Paris Hilton, and an absolute belief that if you weren't born a goblin, you're not as good as they are. They're basically every negative stereotype of America, from trailer trash to Hollywood excess to robber barons, all rolled into one.

 

== Other ==

* 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."

* Type 2 is parodied in an article of ''The Onion'' [http://www.theonion.com/articles/report-china-to-overtake-us-as-worlds-biggest-assh,17277/ "China To Overtake US As World's Biggest Asshole by 2020"] suggesting that China's growing economic and military strength will make it the future equivalent to Type 2 America.

== Anime & Manga ==

* [[Moe Anthropomorphism|America]] from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' is a more benign [[Boisterous Bruiser|blend of both flavors]]; his geography is terrible, he's loud, pushy, [[The Ditz|clueless]], addicted to cheeseburgers and various sweets, and he's an [[Attention Whore]] (he calls himself the "World's Hero")—but he's also friendly and good natured, to the point of being a literal [[Friend to All Living Things]] and a serious [[Love Freak]]. Considering some of the other "America-tan" characters to come out of Japan (e.g. Meriken), Axis Powers Hetalia's take on America is actually pretty positive.

* Besides the aforementioned Leonard Apollo, Americans were portrayed rather variously here in ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'', from nice people like [[The Messiah|Patrick]] [[Worthy Opponent|"Panther"]] [[Ascended Fanboy|Spencer]], [[Dumb Muscle|Homer]] [[Gentle Giant|Fitzgerald]], [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold|Leonard]] [[Grumpy Bear|Apollo]], to people like [[Jerk Jock|Donald]] [[Social Darwinist|Oberman]].

** It's also sort of subverted in Billy Horide, the coach of the Seibu Wild Gunmen, who, despite being Japanese as far as anyone can tell, is loud, rude, pushy, loves shooting guns and even runs his offense in a fast, high-powered manner. He's almost sort of a weird Japanese Texas-otaku.

* ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' - especially the manga - has some combination of both types 1 and 2, but surprisingly a lot of the former. The FBI are among the first to pursue Kira in the first arc; in the second arc the SPK are established and funded by the US government, and in the manga president David Hoope {{spoiler|kills himself when he believes Mello is going to manipulate him into launching a nuclear weapon}}. On the other hand, Hoope's successor is a panicky coward who cuts off ties with the SPK and announces that the United States will no longer pursue Kira. The English dub (recorded in Canada) even gives him a [[Take That|Bush-like faux-Southern accent]].

* In ''[[Full Metal Panic]]'', the third novel (and thus the final story arc of the original anime) has an American submarine captain who's obsessed with hunting down the mysterious "ghost submarine" (the Tuatha De Danaan) because he's convinced it's part of a Japanese plot, at one point attempting to rouse his men by saying "Remember Pearl Harbor!" However, the rest of the crew is portrayed as level-headed, competent sailors who are frustrated with their skipper's [[Moby Dick|Ahab]] act and either ignore him, or try to stop him when he tries to go too far.

** His mobile suit deserves mention, too. If Gundam Maxter's design is any indication, the Japanese believe that all Americans are surfing, football-playing boxer cowboys. And it'd be terrible to disappoint them. In canon, you get the impression Chibodee drew up the design himself and just combined a bunch of things he thinks are cool.

* Duo Maxwell from ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' isn't from America proper, but rather [http://www.gundamofficial.com/www_ac/gw/characters/char_duo.html a space colony that belongs to America]. Either way, he can be seen as a combination of both types, being boisterous, flirtatious, and a bit eager to [[Shinigami|reap first]] and ask questions later, but is also a genuinely nice and friendly guy who's dedicated to his friends and the cause of bringing peace. Being American doesn't really influence his character apart from being the [[Token White]] in the [[Five Token Band]]; a lot of his more outgoing traits come simply because he's [[The Lancer]] to Heero, who is very much [[The Stoic]]. That said, Duo is [[Ensemble Darkhorse|insanely popular]], being '''the''' most popular character among Western viewers, and a close second in Japan (behind, of course, Heero).

** an angry German immigrant who is disenchanted after the loss of his American dream (Arnold Igashov),

** two ultra-pretty and super close brothers raised in the Bronx and rescued from [[Break the Cutie|their abusive household]] (Tom and Terry Griffy),

** a huge bully specialized in lots of sports but seriously lacking sportsmanship (Bobby Marx), and

** the son of one of Nanjiroh's old rivals, who acts ''very'' violent and angsty because of [[Parental Abandonment|his own convoluted backstory]] (Kevin Smith).

** In an interesting example (at least of reader reactions), during ''[[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]]'' reporter Sally Floyd accused Cap of being out of touch with modern America. While it was apparently supposed to be taken seriously, her examples of "modern America" involved ''[[American Idol]]'', [[My Space]], and [[NASCAR]] so most (American) readers took it as an insulting Type 2 stereotype and began to hate her.

** [[The Ultimates|Ultimate Captain America]] is quite a bit less idealistic--he's a mixture of type 1 and type 2.

* The above quote is parodied in ''[[Nextwave]]'', where [[Action Girl|Elsa Bloodstone]], fighting a Captain America-imitation while wearing a European Union shirt, refuses to 'lay there and get used to being the victim'. [http://blog.pucp.edu.pe/media/2855/20100308-Elsaincolor.png.jpg "Victim? Do you think this letter on my chest stands for America?"] (Type 2, obviously, but the entire book takes [[Refuge in Audacity]] and is [[Played for Laughs]].)

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Despite the previous seasons leaning more towards Flavor 2, as of Series 6 (along with ''[[Torchwood Miracle Day (TV)|Torchwood Miracle Day]]'') ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|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 US President in the ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' episode "Last of the Time Lords" is a subversion of Flavor 2; he acts like one and will say so himself, but at heart he was a Flavor 1, albeit misguided.

* [[Steven Moffat]] does seem to be trying to take a step back from Russel T. Davies' Flavor 2 stereotype into more of a hybrid Flavor 3 on ''Doctor Who,'' but on ''Sherlock,'' he didn't have quite so much luck. He decided to switch the New Jersey native Irene Adler to British, but since that gave us [http://deecrowseer.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sherlocks2lp01.jpg Lara Pulver as a badass dominatrix,] there weren't many complaints about that. However, this had the unfortunate side effect of making the only American characters in the series were the operatives (CIA I believe). The only one who had any substantial characterization screamed Flavor 2, threatening to kill Watson to make Sherlock open a safe and beating up Mrs. Hudson (whose age isn't given, but her actress is in her mid-70s) to make her reveal the location of a piece of evidence. No one really cried when he "fell" out the window (multiple times.)

* In ''[[Call of Duty]]: [[Modern Warfare]] 2'', the CIA sets up an undercover agent to infiltrate Makarov's rogue Ultranationalist splinter faction that eventually {{spoiler|participates in a terrorist attack in an airport, and then summarily executed by the knowing Makarov to set up a Russian invasion of America}}. To make it worse, the whole thing, along with the associated civilian casualties, then turns out to be {{spoiler|a set-up by Lt. Gen. Shepherd of the US Army to restore the American patriotism, and various very unpleasant measures including killing allied special ops operatives were done to keep the secret}}. However, throughout both games, the US grunts are shown to be courageous, moral, disciplined, dedicated and professional soldiers who often happen to [[Iron Woobie|be at the wrong place at the wrong time]]. And having seen the [[Despair Event Horizon|catastrophe]] that broke {{spoiler|Shepherd}} in the first game, you can't help but sympathize for his intentions a little.

* ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'': the Engineer is Type 1, the Scout and Soldier are Type 2.

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Eagle Land]]