How do Americans generally perceive Britain?

[deleted]

I can only speak for myself ,but I think when you say Britain I tend to see each country differently. England I see as the hub ,very multicultural ,particularly London & Liverpool ,but still maintaining a great 'English' tradition. Wales as a country trying to recapture it's heritage ,it seems Welsh people feel the English robbed them of their culture. Scotland seems to maintain it's identity ,and heritage while still heavily contributing to British culture as a whole. N. Ireland ,I don't know what to make of it ,it seems like it's still a country in flux (are we Irish ,are we British). As far as British multiculturalism is concerned ,yes it's one of the most diverse in Europe (a result of Empire),but still not nearly as diverse as the U.S.(a result of slavery ,and our relative youth).

BTW ,I suspect the "flag waiving" comment was not meant literally ,but more a metaphor for jingoistic nationalism. Some of us are still struggling with the myth of American exeptionalism which was a by-product of cold war propaganda. The problem with propaganda is otherwise rational thinking people tend to believe it even after it has outlived its usefulness.

My father being in the U.S. Air Force, I lived my pre-teenage years in Suffolk county during the '60s where my view of life in Britain fit exactly with what has been, much as you described, this American myth. No doubt the past 40 years has seen quite a dramatic change for which this American view of Britain, for most Americans, has not quite kept pace. This Is England offers a fine mid-point view, between 1965 and 2005, of the changing and progressively multi-cultural life in both countries.

The only thing i'd say about this is that London is about as typical of the rest of England as New York is. London isn't England by any stretch of the imagination. I live in the midlands and every time I go to London it feels like a different country. Any Americans wanting to experience England shouldn't stay in London in my opinion.

I think that as long as we continue to keep score with race then racism is alive and well. The OP lists racial statistics about Britain as if they need to prove something. Britain is in Europe, I am no more offended about Europeans in Britain as I would be about too many Chinese people in Shanghai. This is absurd to me.

As far as perception of Britain, I will say that overall I think of Britain as being safer to walk the streets at night. Maybe a slightly more educated society overall. I'm sure Britain has got some mean streets but if you take the worst neighborhoods each nation has to offer, I don't think there is any comparison at least that is the way I perceive it. London is comparable to New York as far as being a thriving mega-city but New York has a reputation for having rude people that are in a hurry all of the time but I found London to be quite friendly. Certainly more friendly than Paris. My main perception of Britain before I ever visited was that it was probably a nice place to live. Then the usual stereotypes like bland food. And it's overcast a lot but I'm from Texas so I am used to clear sunny skies nearly everyday. I am also used to hearing over-the-top stereotypes.

From what I see on American TV & especially Family Guy in particular, Brits are very posh, polite, well spoken/educated, have big/badly maintained teeth, and are all members of Gentlemen's Clubs where they sit in big leather chairs drinking Brandy & reading the papers.. This is a very outdated perception of us.. What we actually are are is closer to typical American society than we have ever been, we have so many influential cultures here we certainly are not that quaint olde worldy country that harks back to the 1940's anymore

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I am an Australian who spent three years living in the UK and I agree with you about the perception of the UK being incorrect but I think the same is true of every country. People's views of countries they haven't visited are going to be formed through tv, movies, books and hearsay and I don't think there's much we can do to stop that.

People's ideas of Australian life when I was staying in the UK didn't sit well with me either, but there's nothing much we can do about it. And I am sure that my view of America is highly inaccurate.

I think unless people travel to other countries they are just not going to know what those places are really like. Which is why I travel.
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"No time for the old in-out,love-I'm just here to check the metre" A Clockwork Orange