Chuck Klosterman: ‘I Believe Germans Are Nice Because They Were Nice To Me’

Travel Blog  •  Michael Yessis  •  03.06.07 | 9:25 AM ET

klostermankilling

Cultural stereotypes. We hate them and we love them. And in the case of Chuck Klosterman, they make an excellent topic for another half-brilliant, half-baked piece of cultural criticism. Writing in Esquire, the author of Fargo Rock City, Killing Yourself to Live and other books writes about a trip to Germany, where experiences including watching American football in a bar and visiting an art exhibit called “I Like America and America Likes Me” lead him to several insights about the folly of cultural stereotypes.

A sardonic German teenager told me what she thought the phrase “the American dream” meant: “I assume it means watching Baywatch twenty-four hours a day.” She was (sort of ) joking, but I’ve heard similar sentiments in every foreign country I’ve visited. There is widespread belief that Americans spend most of their lives watching Baywatch and MTV. But what’s interesting about this girl’s insight was her reasoning: She thinks Americans love Baywatch because Joey Tribbiani on Friends loved Baywatch. And this does not mean she viewed Friends as an accurate reflection of life, nor does it suggest that she saw Matt LeBlanc as a tragic spokesman for the American working class; this was just one random detail she remembered about an American TV show she barely watched. She didn’t care about this detail, and neither do we.

Among Klosterman’s stereotypes of Germans: “No matter how much they drink, nobody here acts drunk.”

 

Tags: Global Village, Travel Writing, Europe, Germany, News and Briefs


1 Comment for Chuck Klosterman: ‘I Believe Germans Are Nice Because They Were Nice To Me’

Frank 04.03.07 | 6:20 PM ET

In response to your comments regarding Germans and their “friendlyness”, my Volkswagens StaNav will only direct me eastward, toward Warsaw via Stalingrad. VW wont repair this feature under warranty !?! What sort of Germanic customer service is that all about I ask you. I mean, if you’re going to go around making unfounded accusations about the friendliness of national peoples like the Germans, you should at least check you facts before-hand you charlatan. I, for the record, am Albanian and we are NOT friendly ! In fact we dont like anyone, even the bloody Albanians who just clog-up our streets with their shopping and general activities most of which are questionable. Keep up the good work - lots of love ; Frank :)

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.