First allow me to note how funny it is that the current Featured Question so closely mirrored an idea for
a post I did weeks ago. What can I say? I'm ahead of my time. Anyway, here are a few things I find overrated. Part Deux.
- The movie Love Actually. Every time I see it referred to as a great romantic comedy, or great comedy, or good in any way, I just cringe. I thought it was terrible.
I actually saw it in theaters with my friends, who liked it. I thought it was crap then too. I saw it again on cable, to shut up the people who told me that I hadn't given it a chance (people always say that when they like something crappy and you don't. Of course I gave it a chance. I paid the overpriced movie theater ticket to see it, didn't I?). I never saw so many talented actors in one so bad a movie. The various plots were barely strung together, and every single one of them was unbelievably trite and pitifully written. It may have been the writing or the directing. It may have been the fact that so much talent in one picture (Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, etc., etc.) was so totally and utterly wasted. Either way I hope I never see such a saccharine, overhyped letdown ever again. It does go to show that talent is not always so powerful as to completely stop a trainwreck.
- Hillary Clinton's experience. If I marry a politician, will that make me a good president too? Take away the "experience" she got by virtue of being married to Clinton, and she seems to have only a bit more experience than Obama does.
- Jennifer Aniston's beauty. She seems like a nice person, and I enjoy her tv show and some of her films, but she's not that pretty. I don't know why people keep saying she's so beautiful. She looks quite ordinary to me.
- Anti-French sentiment. "Freedom Fries"? Insulting anything remotely French? WTF? Remember the Revolutionary War? Which country was it that helped us successfully fight off the British which led to the creation of a little thing called the United States of America? Hm. Plus, I've been to France (OK, for one day). It's a really pretty country. Sure, I got sick at that one restaurant, but that doesn't mean the people weren't hospitable or that it's not a really nice place to visit. I did find the stereotype of the rude Frenchperson to be untrue. Everyone we ran into there was perfectly nice. The French don't agree with everything we do. That doesn't mean they suck.
- Anti-American sentiment. By the same token, it seems in vogue around the world, and even among some Americans, to automatically bash everything America does, is, or stands for. You know something? This is not a perfect country. It does make mistakes. But it's a pretty great country and it's full of good people too. America often leads in humanitarian missions when disasters happen; America feeds a good portion of the world with its crops. Whenever I go out of the country I see some product, TV show, or some sort of emulation of something that had its start in America. I'm getting a little tired of seeing our country and our culture being sneered at.
Comments (21)
AMERICA!
Hecks yeah!
You know... for all the American people who bash the US and what we do... why aren't they running to other countries to live there then? I know that that's a very narrow way of looking at it, but you know what I mean. Nowhere is perfect. Not even Switzerland. Which is where I so totally want to go... it's beautiful there, lol!
I so agree with you about Jennifer Anniston. I have never understood why everyone thinks she's so hot. She's as plain as they come.
i can get behind you on every one except #1 - guess i'm just an easy-to-please sot -
I soooooooooo agree with this post. Except for number one...I thought the fact that the stories were barely connected (and terribly average) was the point.
1. never saw it.
2. hahahaha... ok, sorry, she sucks.
3. yeah, not my style, but then, it's not really about looks. and when you get down to it, it doesnt matter how "hot" angelina is, a homewrecker is a homewrecker(and im talking about brad, he's the one that decided to leave)
4. i really just dont like the french, im not sure why... meh, i really dont care for much of europe.
5. i am saddened by the westernization of much of the world. it seems that the worst parts of our culture are adopted, selfishness, greediness, immodesty, and the rest is not. but i know that not everyone is anti-american. there are still some who apreciate us. i had a very humbling experience in Korea, talking to a great.. no, a GREAT man. he started an orphanage and adoption agency AFTER he retired, and still runs it to this day(i believe he is in his 90s). until prohibited by his health he would climb a mountain, DAILY, to pray for the orphans of the city. He expressed his gratitude for America, for their intervention in the Korean war and for all we have done there. frankly, i felt unworthy(of course, i, myself am.) but it made me think, in 50 years, will the same kind of exchange take place in iraq? but i digress, there are still many people who remember what America was, and what it was intended to be. i believe if we get back on that track there is still hope, though the anti-american americans wouldnt like it. most of them that i've met are simply jealous they arent the ones benefitting from the corruption, or they are the type who just like to bitch and moan and not contribute to solving the problem.
Never seen the movie. Hillary just... bothers me. I don't like her aura. Jennifer Anniston is ok... not gorgeous, not ugly. She's kinda cute in a girl next door sort of way, she's got nice eyes and has a pretty good hair stylist. But not nearly as good looking as say Carrie Underwood, Kate Bosworth, or Emma Watson. :D My Dad was really into the anti-French thing. I almost lived there as a tutor for a year actually. I had a teacher who knew some people that wanted an English tutor for their kids. But I decided not to go. My dad started calling me Fifi and my husband Pierre and asking if we would become snobbish cowards. o.o I can't stand that. Any anti-any sentiment at all. There's good and bad everywhere, can't we leave it at that? Personally I'm glad I'm American, and wouldn't be anywhere else. At least I know the ups and downs and it's really my home. Not perfect, but no where is.
I feel ya squeaks, on the anti-French/American sentiments.
I'm in a much better mood today. I think it is because graduation was yesterday and all the kids went home. It is a very high pressure time for me.
1. Haven't seen the movie, but it's not my kind of film.
2 & 3. yup
4. I agree. I think the US Government sees France as a rival because it does democracy better than us, and because they don't blindly agree with everything the Idiot in charge decrees... like the war in Iraq.
5. But I'm not anti-American. I'm anti-George Bush. What I can't stand is that any kind of criticism of some aspect of American culture seems to make people think you're anti-American and unpatriotic. Patriotism is a love for one's country. I love my family, but I also tell them when they're doing something asinine. How is that different from criticizing my country? I don't think that makes me Anti-American or unpatriotic. Criticizing the country is a fine American tradition begun by our founding fathers. Besides, if we never point out what's wrong, it will never change for the better.
Only saw bits of Love Actually but it didn't impress me all that much.
I really don't get why some Americans seem to have such an issue with the French. Is it because they didn't support the Iraq invasion or is it simply a culture clash?
I actually haven't met any US citizens with Anti-French sentiments. But I live in a very international city ( NYC ). Have you met a lot of people with this sentiment?
must say i agree with you! Â and thanks for the recommendation on my post!
I went to Paris airport. The lady who attended to me and my Spanish friends (a married couple) was just darn rude. I would definitely generalise (bad idea, but stick with me) that the French are so very impolite, if not for a friend of mine who is half-French and lives in Paris. He's great :) Thank God for him! LOL.
And I'm definitely not anti-America (since I have so many great friends from there) but since the country is so big and powerful, there are some things I definitely don't like about it
As I'm sure there are things people don't like about Malaysia! No pasa nada. These kind of things are normal, no? 
I don't know. Hillary lived with the president for a long time so even if she was not involved in every decision it is hard to think of anyone who would be more prepared to be president.
@Daithi - I think it has more to do with the fact that France has not always supported US decisions or agreed with them, but there is some culture clash there as well. @spiritedsherry - I live in NYC too. People here tend to be a bit more sophisticated than to indulge in that kind of nonsense, I'm referring more to stuff I've seen online, or from people i know who live in other areas. @stargazerlillikat - you're welcome! @faerieshadow - lol I was expecting a light movie too... but I wasn't expecting it to be so... bad... @ionekoa - interesting points. And about #1 - you're better off not seeing it.
@GhostBenjimon - glad you are feeling better! @apennieformythoughts - I must say, I agree. If it's so awful here... there's the door... @theblackspiderman - indeed! 
@beli_grrl - I agree. @silkenbutterfly - that would have been quite an opportunity to get to know another country! Maybe eventually your dad would have come around... but yeah, nothing beats the US for me either. @harmony0stars - criticism is fine and, honestly, one of the most American things one can do. But there is criticism, and then there is knee jerk antipathy. And that's not cool from anyone.
I have to be honest, I love Love Actually [oi, no comma!], but I think I'm mature enough to realise that it's not to everybodies taste. It is an incredibly British film, with very British quirks and very British humour.
As for the French - pffft. They make us laugh, here in England
.
@Katiefinger - I didn't dislike it because it was British humor, I love British humor. I disliked it because it was bad. Suck is international. Sorry re the comma though. lol
I think perhaps part of it is that Americans inherited the British disdain toward the French.
But not toward their toast. Mmm. Time for breakfast. 
I think Love Actually is the perfect demonstration of why "nice" is not always a bad thing. Everyone in the film is nice... unrealistically nice. And it grates.
Ashton Kutcher.
i can't stand that eff'n idiot.
I agree with #2.
I can't stand about 90% of television today. Anything touted as "Reality", or any programme with "Worlds" as the first word in the title, e.g. "World's Greatest...", "World's Funniest....", "World's Worst....". Shoot me now.