Funny Foreigner: Difference between revisions

The '''Funny Foreigner''' is a [[Cyclic Trope]]. In the 19th and early 20th Centuries, it seems like at least half of all the English-language comedy in existence consisted of this trope (vaudeville, British music-hall performers...) Gradually, it become a [[Discredited Trope]] due to changing sensibilities. Then it became so rare that it seemed daring and forbidden, and thus became popular again. This can lead to the trope being discredited for some generations and not for others.

 

 

In [[Speculative Fiction]], they might be visitors from a [[Innocent Aliens|completely different world]], which has the advantage of avoiding [[Unfortunate Implications]] and offense to real-world foreigners ([[Space Jews|most of the time]]). If the character is an otherworldly being (relative to the rest of the cast), then the trope is [[Amusing Alien]].

 

 

 

{{examples}}

* A variation from ''[[Patlabor]]'' had a mechanic daydream about a trip to America. In this case, he was [[An Innocent Abroad]], with the American setting made entirely of Japanese stereotypes of America. Do not watch while drinking - you'll spit-take all over your TV set. Oddly, one of the main characters is Hawaiian.

* The Principal in ''[[Ranma ½]]'' is introduced as a wacky American from Hawaii. At the end of the episode, it turns out he's a Japanese guy (not to mention Kuno's father) who had moved to the States and gone native.

* The Englishman Mister "Pief" (Peeve?) from a story by [[Wilhelm Busch]] who walks around while always looking through a telescope.

 

* Bob and Doug McKenzie, who in ''[[Strange Brew]]'' go out of their way to demonstrate just how foreign Canadians are...

** And then there's the movie ''Men With Brooms''...

* Frank Eggelhoffer in ''[[Father of the Bride]]''. His assistant Howard Weinstein also qualifies.

 

** Twoflower, however, is classic funny foreigner on vacation.

* Kung Fu Tzu in [[Michael Moorcock]]'s novel ''The Chinese Agent'' is an exaggerated [[Fu Manchu]] knockoff. Much [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* Mister Bobo, the old man in the upstairs flat in [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Coraline (novel)|Coraline]]'', described as being "Romanian or Slovenian or Livonian, or one of those countries" by Miss Spink. The film version gives him the slightly more believable name Bobinsky and makes him an even more obvious example of this trope.

* ''[[Animorphs]]'' has Ax, the Andalite (alien) ignorant of human cultures and customs, often reacting hilariously to new scenarios he encounters.

 

* Borat from ''[[Da Ali G Show]]'', pretty much the very embodiment of this trope, is supposedly from Kazakhstan. While that is a real country (in Central Asia, to be exact), it's probably not that [[Ruritania|ridiculously backwater]].

** Bruno, hailing from Austria, also qualifies.

* Mohfaz the Depressed Persian Tow Truck Man from ''[[Mad TV]]'' is your basic [[Deadpan Snarker]] plus poor English ("they are...how do you say...hala....A-holes. Always A-holes.")

* Science fiction example: the two Benzite aliens from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (played by the same actor) were essentially generic stage foreigners painted blue.

* Borderline case: Manuel the Barcelonan waiter from ''[[Fawlty Towers]].'' Most of the humor revolves around him being just plain stupid, instead of weird and foreign, and his poor English consists not of mangling the language, but of incomprehensibly asking "Que?" every few sentences. (When the show was broadcast in Spain, the Spanish producers made him an Italian.)

* While certainly not the first Funny Foreigner on American TV, [[José Jiménez]] (portrayed by [[Bill Dana]]) was one of the most famous, and arguably most beloved. He was certainly a [[Trope Codifier]], and was one of the few Funny Foreigners to actually be [[Spin-Off|spun off]] into their own show (''[[The Bill Dana Show]]'', 1963-1965).

 

* The inhabitants of the fictional country Elbonia in ''[[Dilbert]]'' exist specifically to play this role; Scott Adams said he wanted foreigners he could deride and abuse without being criticized, so he made up his own, based, in his words, on a perception of how Americans view any country without cable. The concept of an entire country of idiots also amused him.

** Of course, Adams also portrays the U.S. itself as being a country composed (almost) entirely of idiots. The only real difference is in the ''kind'' of idiocy involved.

* Mac Manc Mcmanx from ''[[Get Fuzzy]]''.

 

* This shows up a ''lot'' in pro wrestling, often with [[Unfortunate Implications]]. One of the more well-known examples in the US is hapless, [[Engrish]]-speaking ''Smackdown!'' wrestler Funaki.

** INDEED.

** And, of course, Santino Marella.

* The Japanese promotion Dragon Gate did a legitimately hilarious version, though: constant losers Raimu Mishima and Taku Iwasa took a sabbatical to refine their craft in the US. They returned as full-fledged residents of [[Eagle Land]] Type 2: their hair bleached blonde and their wrestling attire [[Wearing a Flag on Your Head|consisting entirely of reds, whites, and blues.]] They took the names Michael and Daniel and used loads of [[Gratuitous English]] in their promos and theme songs, all while using the sort of cheating tactics that are more common in US wrestling than its Japanese counterpart. They proceeded to go on a huge winning streak - winning ''every match'' by disqualification. The result was [[Refuge in Audacity|pretty hilarious.]]

** Kenzo Suzuki deserves special mention here, debuted as Funny Foreigner trying to play an [[All-American Face]] after promos that made him seem like an ''evil'' one. The fact that he didn't speak a word of English, and his wife had to translate everything he said, didn't deter him from this plan in the slightest. Didn't even turn face but remained cheerful.

 

* The title character, and several other characters, on the '40s radio sitcom ''Life with Luigi''.

* Mr. Kitzel in ''The Jack Benny Show''

* The Brungundians in ''The Navy Lark''

 

* In a one-act play of ''[[The Thirty-Nine Steps]]'', pretty much every character was one of these. Especially Annabella, who has a ''ridiculous'' German accent.

{{quote|"The ''bleends''! Close the ''bleends''!}}

* Greek tycoon Kriakos in ''On A Clear Day You Can See Forever''.

 

* Played with in ''[[Fahrenheit (2005 video game)|Fahrenheit]]'' (known as ''Indigo Prophecy'' in the States), when one of the detectives goes to a book shop to find out if there's anything useful to be determined from an old book that was left at the scene of a murder. The owner is a little old Chinese man in stereotypical little-old-Chinese-man dress and with a high-pitched, English-mangling accent, who asks you to find a book for him while there because he's forgotten where he's placed everything. This turns out to be a [[Obfuscating Stupidity|test]] to mess with customers because he doesn't like selling to stupid people, and once you pass it he straightens up, gaining a few inches of height, and turns out to have a deep Bronx accent with a voice like he's been smoking since he was born.

* ''[[Punch-Out!!]] Wii''... oh where to begin... Quicker to name which boxers AREN'T an example of this trope, who are [[Ambiguously Gay|Disco Kid]] and [[Scary Black Man|Mr. Sandman]] - and those two are pretty goofy as it is. Everyone else is a Funny Foreigner. From [[Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys|Glass Joe]] to [[Germanic Depressives|Von Kaiser]] to [[Wild Samoan|King Hippo]] to [[Canada, Eh?|Bear Hugger]] to [[Toros Y Flamenco|Don Flamenco]] to [[Sim Sim Salabim|Great Tiger]] to [[Oireland|Aran Ryan]] to [[Husky Russkie|Soda Popinski]], ''Punch-Out'''s boxers span the entire [[Hollywood Atlas]]!

* Horst Fedders from ''[[Freddi Fish]] 3: The Case of the Stolen Conch Shell'', mostly due to Freddi's [[Translation Train Wreck|foreign language phrase book.]]

 

* Boku De Mai Tai from ''[[Carried By the Wind]]''.

* ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' once had a pair of "rogue Canadian scientists," dressed in heavy winter gear, one of whom said "eh!" a lot and the other spoke French.

* The Finn-lander Konsta from ''[[Plus EV]]''.

 

* Many of the original ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' shorts have stock foreigners, including Christopher Columbus as a manic stage Italian ("The world-a, it's-a-round!"). The two most famous of these are Mexican mouse Speedy Gonzales, a perfectly competent hero who speaks in [[Gratuitous Spanish]], and French skunk Pepe Le Pew, a [[Stalker with a Crush]] who speaks in [[Everything Sounds Sexier in French|romantic French]].

* Rolf from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'', who comes up with odd traditions (many of which involve fish) and sayings ("Do not burn the candle at both ends, as it leads to the life of a hairdresser") from his home country in nearly every episode.

* Someone from ''Witch'' pretended to be French and fluent in Russian. Irma actually was so saw through this deception.

* Sanjay on ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]'' is an Indian boy who talks with such a weird voice that it attracts cats. Most of the jokes involving him center on the fact that [[Ho Yay|he's way too into Timmy]].

** "Hot coco. Mmmmmmmm."

* From ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'':

** Recurring villain Heinrech von Marzipon, your typical chubby German kid. A villain, yes, but [[Laughably Evil]].

** Moosk from "Operation: N.E.C.K.T.I.E." was an overly-friendly [[Husky Russkie]].

 

** He even goes to a speech therapist to keep his accent.

* And let's not forget Yakov Smirnoff. [[In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You|In Soviet Russia, Yakov Smirnoff forgets you.]]

*** To quote the man himself: "It is true I speak on one side of my mouth. [[Take That|I am not a Tory, I don't speak on both sides of my mouth.]]

* This is the origin of the word "barbarian". To the ancient Romans, anyone who didn't speak Latin was a silly person who went around saying "bar bar bar" all day.

** This gives an interesting new spin on the name Barbara - either way, Barbie loses.

* Interestingly, there is a Chinese term which is essentially equivalent to the Roman term "Barbarian". There are several ethnic groups who are called the [[wikipedia:Miao people|Miao]], although the most common are the Hmong. Although spelled differently than the English word, it's no coincidence that the word sounds like "meow"- the idea is that those groups' languages were being compared by the Chinese to animal noises (specifically the way a cat sounds).

* [[Canada, Eh?|Canadians]] and Europeans, particularly in the United States.

* Polish tourists tend to be seen as these throughout Europe, mainly thanks to unusual customs like wearing socks with sandals or clapping on planes.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:National Stereotyping Tropes]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]