Al Bundy and Co....

Two days ago I was crossing the square, and someone behind me referred to a local person as 'your typical Al Bundy.'

Upon which I shuddered inwardly.

And then remembered, my father enjoys watching 'Two and a half Men', and was doubtful it was on the programming here....

And yes, have seen a couple of episodes, but it loses in the translation. The series are always dubbed.

The first time I saw 'Married With Children' was a year before the Berlin Wall fell. Was visiting there, and it was running on the Air Force AFN network. My friend said, 'You have GOT to see this!' I was horrified.

'Married With Children' went into German programming, and was and is still a hit. The German title is 'A Terribly Nice Family'. And they repeat all seven seasons Over and Over and Over, and I am not always sure what that does for the perceptions of what people here think the average US family is like, you know? When Peter first saw the series, he kept asking me, 'are they really LIKE that????' (This after having met many of my family and friends.... ouch.) And I would snap at him: 'It's SATIRE, Peter, SATIRE! And leave me alone.'

He gets it now during it's n'th re-run.

'Roseanne' is another series that some people seemingly can't get enough of. I found it wonderful. Peter hates it. She is too fat, and vulgar. He said. But he laughs. I think it was a series that was all of one piece, about a normal, struggling family, with some hilarious stuff in it. It wass daring in its' themes, it reeked of truth, and was wonderful. They told it like it is, if you are trying to struggle from the lower middle class. I could identify. The final season puzzled me, but the last episode was so wonderful, tying up all the story lines, and that last camera shot brought me to tears. It runs and runs and runs.

Malcolm in the Middle is another hit. But so crazy.

'The King of Queens' is Peter's favorite. I don't get it. He thinks Kevin James is hilarious. (Whaaa?) Also running forever.

And then there is 'The Nanny'. Running longer than any of them. The day I realised that the grandmother was Carol Channing, I nearly fell out of my chair for shock.

'Home Improvement' is a staple. Bill Cosby is a staple.

Not to worry, we get a lot of other series also, but just once.

The ones above have been running for nearly a decade.

They are the staples, and people seem to want to see them over and over and OVER.

And 'Al Bundy' becomes a code word for a terrible American?

That one hurt.

Most people do not UNDERSTAND satire... This I know for sure.

But the fact is... most Americans are sort of boring. Most. Not all. The 'majority' abhor 'culture', for instance. They think it is faggy. Or something. Oh well, do not want to get off on a rant.

What I am trying to impart is: I think that the success of these series have contributed to a very distorted view of what America is like, because they have no reference to what it is really about. Oh, they are not so stupid, but if you rinse and repeat, it leaves a lasting impression.

All in all, I can't do anything about it. But the effect doesn't make me happy when all it leads to is a distorted view of what Americans are like.

So the US send us distorted versions of how we perceive them and that is not goood.

It bothers me muchly....