Anti-Americanism in German TV

[Sirona]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

California in general has a homeless and affordable housing crises, and the scenes in LA and Hollywood (itself in LA county) I have no reason to doubt. Homeless encampments exist in every big and biggish city here, and some of the smaller ones. (And America in general has this problem, thiughbits especially bad here)
The Christian family, I have no reason to doubt that was made up either as stiff like that does happen.

 

[Revoltingest]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

Such things are entirely outside my personal experience here.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Not having seen the documentaries, but by reading your description, both sound entirely reasonable as tiny snapshots of the range of conditions to be found in the US. We are a land of grinding endemic poverty and amazing wealth, built on that grinding poverty.

 

[Quetzal]

Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

This is a flawed question by design. It is not possible to (accurately) depict our culture in a documentary. You simply cannot do it. The experience for someone living in the Bronx is different than someone living in Miami, which is different than Austin, which is different than San Diego, which is different than rural Iowa; and so it goes. The country is too big and encompasses so many different things that it is a disservice to even try. It is like taking a 45-second highlight reel of Oktoberfest and claiming it encapsulates all Germans.

 

[stvdv]

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF

Wise men declared "Television is Telepoison". This seems a good example of this.

 

[Nakosis]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

We see reports on the homeless crisis in LA. Attempts by politicians to do something.

I did meet a couple, they were homeless. That is how they wanted to live. Obviously not the case from most but it is a lifestyle some choose.

As far as the well to do folks, yes we have that as well. While I don't think this has much to do with religion/Christianity. We just happen to have a lot of Christians.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

The reality is that in just a few miles/a few minutes of travel, one can go from an area there the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans live to an area where the poorest of the poor Americans live. By definition, those are the extremes.

But neither is a complete (nor even adequate) picture of the reality that is America.

 

[Rational Agnostic]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

It really depends on where you are in the United States. But overall, I would say that the documentary you watched is not an accurate representation of the entire country.

 

[QuestioningMind]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

Opening people's eyes to the reality around them is not being anti-American. Here in the US we live in a delusional bubble in which we tell ourselves that We're Number One! over and over again until we believe it, regardless of what the facts indicate. The truth is that Europeans often do things better than we do, but the establishment wants us to believe that anyone claiming that America isn't the best at everything is somehow anti-Americanism.

 

[bobhikes]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

I've been to LA twice in my life and it has never been the city of glamour the exception being the stores of Rodeo Dr which is Over extremely glamorous and very expensive. As for Homeless I understand we have the most homeless out of all the 1st rate countries and they exist in every state. As to the Evangelicalism, yes it is true but I believe that was an extreme case the show produced and a minority. However I live on the East coast and Evangelism doesn't have a big hold.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Not having seen the documentaries, but by reading your description, both sound entirely reasonable as tiny snapshots of the range of conditions to be found in the US. We are a land of grinding endemic poverty and amazing wealth, built on that grinding poverty.

I still remember how amazing California was when I first moved here. Never before had I seen such vast depths and great heights of wealth. From the public services, the mansions, the scenes of arts amd culture, this great wealth I never saw before quickly swept me up and put me on an elevator of assimilation.
However, at the same time I had never before seen such staggering and abysmal poverty. I was even shocked--and quite strongly so--upon discovering a small community of dirt roads, houses that look condemnable, and conditions that even former Peace Corps people have affirmed look almost third world, but tucked away in generally working class poor city, it's self near a city with all classes from the homeless encampments and assisted living, comfortable middle class and those just well enough to avoid impoverished areas, on up to gates communities of multi-million dollar mansions.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

This is a flawed question by design.

^ Perfectly worded.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I've been to LA twice in my life and it has never been the city of glamour the exception being the stores of Rodeo Dr which is Over extremely glamorous and very expensive. As for Homeless I understand we have the most homeless out of all the 1st rate countries and they exist in every state. As to the Evangelicalism, yes it is true but I believe that was an extreme case the show produced and a minority. However I live on the East coast and Evangelism doesn't have a big hold.

I dont see the Evangelical thing being nearly as much a thing either. In the MidWest, however, parts kf my childhood do parallel much of what the OP mentioned (where I lived thiugh was generally too rural and poor for the mega churches like that, however, and the average and common church there is much smaller).

 

[Kenny]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

In a spectrum of a people of a country, you can find any extreme and any position.

However, it is clear to me that this wasn't so much a "documentary" but rather a production with a clear vision of simply trying to create a false narrative for whatever purpose that they have in driving it.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

This is a flawed question by design. It is not possible to (accurately) depict our culture in a documentary. You simply cannot do it. The experience for someone living in the Bronx is different than someone living in Miami, which is different than Austin, which is different than San Diego, which is different than rural Iowa; and so it goes. The country is too big and encompasses so many different things that it is a disservice to even try. It is like taking a 45-second highlight reel of Oktoberfest and claiming it encapsulates all Germans.

Im not sure. While what you say is true, the documentary did festure factual parts of American life. Such as the Christian part, which is particularly strong in America.

 

[Heyo]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

I don't have a TV, haven't had one for over 20 years. I have YouTube. And except for the daily "Tagesschau" and occasional clip from LeFloid or documentary, my viewing diet is in English and most of it from the US. And from what I see there, the German documentary is accurate, at least not different from what you'd see in the US when you watch documentaries about the US made in the US on YouTube.
What I have found is that news about Trump are very favourable for him. The Tagesschau reports very soberly about him. He doesn't seem half as crazy as he is depicted in US media.

 

[SigurdReginson]

I'd say your doccumentary represents a very tiny virtical slice of LA, and of that super rich family with a healthy dose of spin. America is a pretty diverse place with lots of stories to tell, and it's very big. I'd be wary of any program that tries to extrapolate something from a subject to apply it to something larger without some serious evidence to back up those claims.

 

[Orbit]

Anti-Americanism in German TV

Yesterday, I watched two documentations one after the other, produced by influential public channel ZDF. One was about poverty in America, depicting homeless people (many of them Blacks) illegally camping on sidewalks in Los Angeles. One recording had allegedly been taken “directly in Hollywood, which used to be the center of glamour”.

The other one was about Evangelicalism, depicting a fairly well-off white family in a very beautiful suburb (I wondered whether it was something like a gated community). They were members of a church which was stated to run its own school, hospital and supermarket. The family had two teenage daughters, and it was stated that the parents paid 14,000 dollars a year to send the girls to said (private) school. They also showed many things which are considered odd for mainstream Europeans, such as prayer at school, the girls having nothing but Bibles in their room, a Christian music festival with ridiculously high daily money collections, anti-abortionism, creationism and the like. I rarely use Facebook and wouldn’t consider myself somebody who believes in conspiracy theories, but I’ve learned to become critical of German TV also through the internet. I know these were “just documentaries” but I don’t know what to make of them as I consider them contradictory. Americans, do you consider yourself depicted accurately in such documentaries? What do you want others to believe about you?

Maybe I should mention that here in Germany we have to pay more than 50 EUR a quarter year in compulsory fees for public TV.

Both are accurate. America has very high income inequality.

 

[Rational Agnostic]

Opening people's eyes to the reality around them is not being anti-American. Here in the US we live in a delusional bubble in which we tell ourselves that We're Number One! over and over again until we believe it, regardless of what the facts indicate. The truth is that Europeans often do things better than we do, but the establishment wants us to believe that anyone claiming that America isn't the best at everything is somehow anti-Americanism.

"Good" is entirely a subjective preference. No country is objectively "better" than any other.