Most Americans I know don't really actively hate France. We just don't really care about them, other than to make jokes about them having an inadequate military and underused showers.
But I don't think I've heard a French joke since my Junior year of High School. One of my teachers loved to make jokes about the French, Canadians, and Prince Charles. The jokes were funny, though.
I was watching Whose Line one day and they did scenes from a hat about billboards heading into countries. One of the guys said, "Welcome to France. Roll up your windows."
From what I've seen, France and Britain don't get along very well either.
I don't think most Americans sit there and think, "Boy I hate the French." It's more like, "The French? (insert French joke here)"
Maybe Americans should remember who won 'their' War of Independence against the British for them - the French.
If it wasn't for France's intervention America would have lost the war, remained a British colony and the Queen would now be their head of state not Obama. Not surprising of course that the US sided with a dictatorship (France) against a democracy (Britain) in pursuit of its own aims a the time.:D
I agree the French very much helped us win the War of Independence. But I doubt we would still be a British colony now. Considering how powerful we became, I'm sure we would have broken free at some point.
We don't NOT get along with France, Sarkozy and George W Bush, and even Obama are friends, we're allies. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France, they even still have a twin statue in Paris, yeah there have been bickering like a brother and sister, but there's no deep animosity towards France in the United States. Now, if some Frenchmen despise and hold animosity for US people I don't know, but I love France, and French, when I was in Paris I felt like I was in my 2nd home.
Being American i can say the french do hate us and the allies for liberating their country during the second world war, my grandpa was a captain in the US Navy and was once in the company of the ahem coward de Gaulle and while i or my late pops would not label the french cowards, he certainly had a very low opinion of the surrender monkey that was de Gaulle.
That ignorant coward was typical of the elite of france ,uttter shite bags who ran screaming from the invasion of france like a little girl to the safety of the UK and wisely the Allied leaders kept him out of the loop. No sane person during the war trusted the french especially with issues to do with the invasion.
France has a chip on its shoulder about everyone not just us yanks. Oh and they still bloody moan about being short changed over the 'Louisiana Purchase' :rolleyes:
The bizarre stereotypical misconceptions this board pulls out of it's ars... er hat never ceases to astound me. The entire countries "hate" each other? so funny. As a proud francophile who has loved France since I was young and has lived there and visited la metropole and its territories (mostly French Polynesia) several times, "I" have never felt that France "hated" America or Americans to be exact. Of course you cannot generali(s)ze two entire countries, and you are bound to find some who do not like and some who do. I cannot imagine it would be any different from your country vis a vis France or your country vis a vis the US. N'est-ce pas?. Granted during the Bush years there were some odd tensions, but old friends usually do that to each other. I guarantee if you read routard.com forums and read the accounts of French visitors to the US, they've (from what I've been able to tell) have always been met with warm and friendly people upon a visit to the US.
(but case in point, reading sleepy hollows post above, you will always find someone with an opposite view in this great big country of ours and I wouldn't even try to tell him to think otherwise even though I disagree).
Most Americans I know don't really actively hate France. We just don't really care about them, other than to make jokes about them having an inadequate military and underused showers.
From what I've seen, France and Britain don't get along very well either.
I don't think most Americans sit there and think, "Boy I hate the French." It's more like, "The French? (insert French joke here)"
I agree to this somewhat. We don't really go on and think about "the French, or The British" and post how we feel about them or how they feel about us.
btw, I have to admit this skit by Robin Williams is funny, and sort of sums up the stereotypical American view which I imagine is held by many in this country.. (Now I didn't say all in this country.) ITS JUST COMEDY FOLKS..
Being American i can say the french do hate us and the allies for liberating their country during the second world war, my grandpa was a captain in the US Navy and was once in the company of the ahem coward de Gaulle and while i or my late pops would not label the french cowards, he certainly had a very low opinion of the surrender monkey that was de Gaulle.
That ignorant coward was typical of the elite of france ,uttter shite bags who ran screaming from the invasion of france like a little girl to the safety of the UK and wisely the Allied leaders kept him out of the loop. No sane person during the war trusted the french especially with issues to do with the invasion.
France has a chip on its shoulder about everyone not just us yanks. Oh and they still bloody moan about being short changed over the 'Louisiana Purchase' :rolleyes:
This ridiculous post says more about the Americans than it does about the French.
As a British person I hear a lot of Americans calling the French "surrender monkeys" and "cowards".
Yet I rarely hear the French stooping to such a level of childishness.
To summarise though, the French feel their culture is threatened by global American influence, and are generally quite prickly anyway.
This.
It's not just American, they are generally hostile to any foreign influence on their culture. Immigration and multiculturalism in France is a real hot potato. Look at the turnout for Le Pen.
If France dislikes America so much why did the people of France give America the Statue of Liberty to represent the friendship between the two countries established during the American Revolution.
Maybe the Statue of Liberty is a giant dormant robot just waiting for activation, it will then wreak havoc then make its way up to Canada.
i thinks its how we perceive any contradictions to america here more than a hatred ,
ok there was a riff over iraq and wmd but we are bombarded with american culture here and almost cant understand any resistance to american influences .
i dont think theres a national hatred on either side but an inability by outsiders to
accept the twos differences as equally worthy of respect .
I'm a British teenager with French ansesctory and have noticed that the Americans intensley dislike France, almost as much as the French intensley dislike the Americans. What is the root/ reason for all of this?
(and of course, I am speaking in general terms because it would have been too long and too wordy to point out that not all Americans and French people intensley dislike one and other)
This ridiculous post says more about the Americans than it does about the French.
As a British person I hear a lot of Americans calling the French "surrender monkeys" and "cowards".
Yet I rarely hear the French stooping to such a level of childishness.
It seems quite one-sided to me.
Do you really?:rolleyes:
France is a very insular nation, the elite in power are racist to the core if the Burkha proposal is anything to go by, a certain bunch were surrender monkeys who during the era of WW2 supported the nazis through the Vichy administration sending thousands of jewish people to their deaths in nazi concentration camps.
And remember this the french navy actively sided with hitler and attacked the allied naval forces, just like de Gaulle ran from France like a coward leaving good french men/woman to their fate fighting against the invasion, the french people are on the whole ok, their elected leaders are the very definition of surrender monkeys.
Hitler never wanted to attack Britain. Britain never defend themselves. Britain intervened in France to stop the war and only then did Hitler start attacking Britain.
I also doubt a Britain would dislike the French in the way some Americans do. Apart from things like food, body smells or stereotypical trivial things like that (which is like what the UK does with every country), most Britons don't really 'dislike' the French. If we hate the French, then we hate 90% of the world including Britain itself.
Honestly...i think the French have a superiority complex over EVERY country, not sure America is special in that regard.
Considering everyone dislikes the French, nationally, at least, it balances out.
I actually quite like the French, and their arrogance in small doses. I'm quite fond of the Germans too. The Latvians? Not so much.
De Gaulle never 'abandoned' the French. He wanted no part of the Vichy government, he went to Britain (forgot the thank you of course, but he was French, so...) and he did boost the morale of the resistance through his radio broadcast.
I quite admire De Gaulle's guts, he wasn't a coward. I remember watching footage of him walking through France when an assassination attempt was made. He just carried on walking as bullets flew past, didn't even flinch although everyone else was ducking for cover.
Hitler never wanted to attack Britain. Britain never defend themselves. Britain intervened in France to stop the war and only then did Hitler start attacking Britain.
I also doubt a Britain would dislike the French in the way some Americans do. Apart from things like food, body smells or stereotypical trivial things like that (which is like what the UK does with every country), most Britons don't really 'dislike' the French. If we hate the French, then we hate 90% of the world including Britain itself.
Hmmmm? Britain declared war on Germany along with the French.
Honestly...i think the French have a superiority complex over EVERY country, not sure America is special in that regard.
Considering everyone dislikes the French, nationally, at least, it balances out.
I actually quite like the French, and their arrogance in small doses. I'm quite fond of the Germans too. The Latvians? Not so much.
De Gaulle never 'abandoned' the French. He wanted no part of the Vichy government, he went to Britain (forgot the thank you of course, but he was French, so...) and he did boost the morale of the resistance through his radio broadcast.
I quite admire De Gaulle's guts, he wasn't a coward. I remember watching footage of him walking through France when an assassination attempt was made. He just carried on walking as bullets flew past, didn't even flinch although everyone else was ducking for cover.
The War? I don't hold grudges really. Plus i'm a little bit German by blood. Ethnically i'm only half Russian in fact, the rest is a mish-mash of mongrel.
What a bizarre thread. Apart from one poster, as far as I can see, no American here has claimed any real antipathy for the French. For some reason, this poster was proclaimed as speaking for Americans ("that post says a lot more about Americans than it does about the French"), and not only did no-one object to such a generalisation, but a bunch of non-Americans have continued to muse on how the Americans hate the French.
I don't hate the French at all. Very far from it. Not only because it would require a degree of ignorance and shallowness to declare "hatred" of any entire nation that I just can't muster, but because I genuinely like France a great deal indeed.
Comments
But I don't think I've heard a French joke since my Junior year of High School. One of my teachers loved to make jokes about the French, Canadians, and Prince Charles. The jokes were funny, though.
I was watching Whose Line one day and they did scenes from a hat about billboards heading into countries. One of the guys said, "Welcome to France. Roll up your windows."
From what I've seen, France and Britain don't get along very well either.
I don't think most Americans sit there and think, "Boy I hate the French." It's more like, "The French? (insert French joke here)"
I agree the French very much helped us win the War of Independence. But I doubt we would still be a British colony now. Considering how powerful we became, I'm sure we would have broken free at some point.
I think France hates us more than we hate them.
That ignorant coward was typical of the elite of france ,uttter shite bags who ran screaming from the invasion of france like a little girl to the safety of the UK and wisely the Allied leaders kept him out of the loop. No sane person during the war trusted the french especially with issues to do with the invasion.
France has a chip on its shoulder about everyone not just us yanks. Oh and they still bloody moan about being short changed over the 'Louisiana Purchase' :rolleyes:
(but case in point, reading sleepy hollows post above, you will always find someone with an opposite view in this great big country of ours and I wouldn't even try to tell him to think otherwise even though I disagree).
I agree to this somewhat. We don't really go on and think about "the French, or The British" and post how we feel about them or how they feel about us.
btw, I have to admit this skit by Robin Williams is funny, and sort of sums up the stereotypical American view which I imagine is held by many in this country.. (Now I didn't say all in this country.) ITS JUST COMEDY FOLKS..
Robin Williams - The French
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc78yPv_ztM
This ridiculous post says more about the Americans than it does about the French.
As a British person I hear a lot of Americans calling the French "surrender monkeys" and "cowards".
Yet I rarely hear the French stooping to such a level of childishness.
It seems quite one-sided to me.
This.
It's not just American, they are generally hostile to any foreign influence on their culture. Immigration and multiculturalism in France is a real hot potato. Look at the turnout for Le Pen.
Maybe the Statue of Liberty is a giant dormant robot just waiting for activation, it will then wreak havoc then make its way up to Canada.
ok there was a riff over iraq and wmd but we are bombarded with american culture here and almost cant understand any resistance to american influences .
i dont think theres a national hatred on either side but an inability by outsiders to
accept the twos differences as equally worthy of respect .
World War 2 maybe ?
Britain and USA didnt surrender.
Do you really?:rolleyes:
France is a very insular nation, the elite in power are racist to the core if the Burkha proposal is anything to go by, a certain bunch were surrender monkeys who during the era of WW2 supported the nazis through the Vichy administration sending thousands of jewish people to their deaths in nazi concentration camps.
And remember this the french navy actively sided with hitler and attacked the allied naval forces, just like de Gaulle ran from France like a coward leaving good french men/woman to their fate fighting against the invasion, the french people are on the whole ok, their elected leaders are the very definition of surrender monkeys.
Hitler never wanted to attack Britain. Britain never defend themselves. Britain intervened in France to stop the war and only then did Hitler start attacking Britain.
I also doubt a Britain would dislike the French in the way some Americans do. Apart from things like food, body smells or stereotypical trivial things like that (which is like what the UK does with every country), most Britons don't really 'dislike' the French. If we hate the French, then we hate 90% of the world including Britain itself.
Considering everyone dislikes the French, nationally, at least, it balances out.
I actually quite like the French, and their arrogance in small doses. I'm quite fond of the Germans too. The Latvians? Not so much.
De Gaulle never 'abandoned' the French. He wanted no part of the Vichy government, he went to Britain (forgot the thank you of course, but he was French, so...) and he did boost the morale of the resistance through his radio broadcast.
I quite admire De Gaulle's guts, he wasn't a coward. I remember watching footage of him walking through France when an assassination attempt was made. He just carried on walking as bullets flew past, didn't even flinch although everyone else was ducking for cover.
Hmmmm? Britain declared war on Germany along with the French.
Me too. The UK and France would make a good team. We'd fight like siblings do, of course, but it could work.
You being a Russian, that surprises me.
The War? I don't hold grudges really. Plus i'm a little bit German by blood. Ethnically i'm only half Russian in fact, the rest is a mish-mash of mongrel.
There have been German communities in Russia for centuries, in fact Germans are the fifth largest ethnic group in Russia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Germans_in_Russia_and_the_Soviet_Union
There was huge Prussian influence with the Tsars, historically too, militarily and through marriage (Alix Von Hessen, the last Tsaritsa, was German).
In recent years Russia and Germany have cultivated a good relationship, politically.
lol! Don't leave! I love France, and Paris, one of my best friends is fluent in French, and we've vowed to goto Paris together SO soon!
I don't hate the French at all. Very far from it. Not only because it would require a degree of ignorance and shallowness to declare "hatred" of any entire nation that I just can't muster, but because I genuinely like France a great deal indeed.