Later, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the term was widely used after members of the US 4 × 100 relay team pranced around the stadium, flexing their muscles and making poses with the American flag, after winning a gold medal. The term was invokedĪfter Justin Leonard holed a 45-foot putt on the 17th green at the 33rd Ryder Cup held in September 1999, resulting in extensive and adverse media coverage. The term has also been widely used in the international sporting arena. Mark Twain wrote about The Innocents Abroad in the nineteenth century, and Algonquin Round Table member Donald Ogden Stewart wrote Mr and Mrs Haddock Abroad in 1924. The idea of the ignorant or badly behaving American traveler long predates this book. Perhaps they're frightened and defensive, or maybe they're not properly trained and make mistakes out of ignorance." A mysterious change seems to come over Americans when they go to a foreign land. In the book, a fictional Burmese journalist wrote, "For some reason, the people I meet in my country are not the same as the ones I knew in the United States. The book led to a move by President Dwight Eisenhower to study and reform American aid programs in the region. Their behaviors have the opposite contrast: Atkins cares about the people of southeast Asia and wants to help them create practical solutions to their everyday problems the bureaucrats want to build highways and dams that are not yet needed, and with no concern for the many other projects that will have to be completed before they can be used. Atkins's unattractive features, rough clothing and dirty hands are contrasted with the bureaucrats' freshly pressed clothes, clean fingers, and smooth cheeks. Perversely, Atkins embodies the opposite traits from the pejorative traits now popularly associated with the term "Ugly American". He is "ugly" only in his physical appearance. The title character, Homer Atkins, is introduced late in the book. As a result, their influence is more limited than it should be. A minority are effective because they employ knowledge of the local language and culture, but most of these are marginalized and some even considered suspect. The majority of the Americans exhibit a range of blundering, corrupt, and incompetent behaviors, often concentrating on impractical projects that will serve more to benefit American contractors than the local population. The best-selling, loosely fictional account provided contrasting characters with different approaches to opposing Communist influence in Southeast Asia, and the use of foreign aid in particular. In 1963, the book was made into a film directed by George Englund and starring Marlon Brando. The term seems to have entered popular culture as the title of a 1958 book by authors William Lederer and Eugene Burdick.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |