Entertainment that Best Depicts American Life

[Rich]

Like Rich.

Even you know that not to be true Kenny

 

[ColinEssex]

And I never heard of Bob Hope being British.

of course, Charlie Chaplin was also British

Col

 

[selenau837]

Ahh, the sweet sound of words flying back and forth over the ocean blue. *ducks a low flying verb*


Loves that sound!!

 

[Rich]

of course, Charlie Chaplin was also British

Col

As was Archie Leach

 

[jsanders]

As was Archie Leach

One of the great transplants if you ask me.

What movie did he make a reference to Archie Leach

 

[Rich]

One of the great transplants if you ask me.

Like those of his ilk, he kept his Britishness to the end

 

[ColinEssex]

As was Archie Leach

Born in Bristol no less

Col

 

[Rich]

Born in Bristol no less

Col

No wonder he left
wonder what happened to the accent

 

[GMLWORLDCHAMP!]

There has been much talk on these thread about entertainment reflecting the culture of America, so I thought I’d post some of the films and TV shows that most accurately portray our true lives.

So my first pick of movies is
Blade
Blade II
Blade Trinity

Absolutely the best portrait I have ever seen.

Don't forget the DIEHARD trilogy...

 

[statsman]

Bob Hope was born in the UK. He started his show biz career as a song and dance man. He learned comedy by watching others on the US vaudeville circuit.

 

[Rich]

Don't forget the DIEHARD trilogy...

The original post did say "entertainment that best depicts etc"

 

[GMLWORLDCHAMP!]

yep...

As much as I don't like the "yeaa haww" image and depiction of the West, especially in Colorado; much more appropriate for Wyoming but for this show...vacationing cop, low on smokes, trouble with the Mrs, bad headache, terrorists stealing Japanese bonds, gold, and seeking revenge, dealing with binary liquids, screaming kids, giant bombs, and having hung up on his wife for the second time...yippy kay yea!?#?$!?#

 

[gemma-the-husky]

surely something like The Simpsons, or Malcolm in the Middle, is representative.

Otherwise, Deliverance, or indeed any other Burt Reynolds Good Old Boy movie.

Whereas in the UK, its Mastermind, or University Challenge obviously.

 

[Adeptus]

Dave Allen

How many different stories did he have for how he lost his finger?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

If we are going by the original question "best depicts American life" - I've got a couple of candidates.

1. The old cop show Adam-12 was supposedly taken from real police files. Jack Webb was SUCH a stickler for that sort of thing that I tend to believe it. The unreality here is that they crammed a week of typical calls into a single episode to keep up action levels. But there were many cases where you saw ordinary folks with strange issues. OK, it focused on crime, but more often than not, they dealt with the aftermath. Yes, they had a few shoot-outs and more than a little violence, but they also showed officers scrambling to find lost kids. They showed officers crying when they found kids dead or hurt. They showed officers with private lives - Jim Reed's wife was a recurring if not weekly character.

2. Everybody Loves Raymond is a comedy that again stretches reality by cramming a lot more into an episode than would happen in a single day. But it deals with a semi-disfunctional family that copes with the imperfections of each member. It shows that despite the craziness, there is a lot of tolerance and more than a little love between the characters. Therefore it has a respectable amount of verisimilitude.

3. Driving Miss Daisy shows a very GOOD slice of American life regarding not only the shabby way that Miss Daisy treats Hoke in the beginning - but how they become friends as time passes because each sees the other as no more and no less than another HUMAN person. It shows that people CAN change in our society. They CAN overcome prejudice. They CAN grow out of blind neglect.

I cried my eyes out at the end when Miss Daisy is in a home and she doesn't want to see Booley - she wants to see Hoke. She reminded me too much of my own mother in the last couple of years of her life.

Jessica Tandy got an academy award for this performance. To my way of thinking, there was no competition that year. She was ahead of the other four combined.

4. Steel Magnolias - again another good depiction of friends who are slightly off-center individuals but who treasure each other. And who come together when one of their friends experiences a deep, personal tragedy. Not to mention that Weezer makes such a PERFECT comic foil.

In closing, I'll point out that NO depiction is perfect and many are not even close to a depiction of American life. But the ones I named above each have FACETS of truth in them. Just remember that sex and violence sell. Peaceful resolution with no strife involved DOESN'T sell. So take that into consideration when trying to guage the accuracy of anything you see. The more sex and violence you see, the more like it is to be totally untrue.

 

[Rich]

Peaceful resolution with no strife involved DOESN'T sell. .

I don't know, On Golden Pond did very well

 

[KenHigg]

I don't know, On Golden Pond did very well

I think the kid was a bit of strife for the old man in that movie wasn't he...

(Not to mention Hanoi Jane )

 

[Rich]

(Not to mention Hanoi Jane )

Odd how she's still hated in America for trying to bring an end to death and destruction

 

[ColinEssex]

(Not to mention Hanoi Jane )

The big joke here in the UK is the current Loreal (because you're worth it) advert for anti-wrinkle cream featuring Jane Fonda. She's trying to make out its the cream that "keeps her young looking" and not the extensive plastic surgery she's had. ref
Loreal must think people in the UK are stupid to think a tired 68 year old D list actress like her hasn't had help from a knife. Only Americans would believe that rubbish.

Col

 

[Rich]

D list actress like her

Col

Thought she was A rated in Barbarella, myself