Anti-Americanism in German TV

[beenherebeforeagain]

If you choose wrong, the rest of us pay for your choice in higher health insurance bills because of unreimbursed hospital costs.

yeah, that too. 'Charity' has rather severe limits in health care in the US

 

[Sirona]

Bibeltreue Supermacht - Evangelikale in den USA

@Heyo This was the documentary I watched about Evangelicals but I‘d have to watch it again to answer your question.

But the homeless problem is nationwide, caused mainly by the shortage of affordable housing, which is especially acute in states like California where housing is unbelievably expensive.

This isn't exactly a new problem, so I'm curious as to whether this documentary offered any explanations as to why this problem exists or if they had any suggestions for improvement. Or was it just presented as "America sucks because they have homeless people"?

@Stevicus Here in Germany every German has a right to a home (of limited size) through welfare if they are unemployed or unable to work because of certain chronical diseases. IMHO this is not the case for citizens from other EU states and not for foreigners from non EU states if they don‘t have the official legal status as refugees . I had a homeless American friend in my local Hare Krishna group before corona stopped me from attending and I don‘t live in a city so I can‘t claim I know much about homelessness but I‘d say the problem in Germany is nowhere as drastic as shown in the documentary about Los Angeles. So they didn‘t explicitly say that Germany is better than the U.S. but as a German you could get that impression on the background of our extensive social security system.

What I found hypocritical about the documentary about Evangelicals is the fact that church officials whine about the fact of several hundred thousand members leaving the traditional, de facto state churches (Catholic and mostly Lutheran) every year while demonizing Evangelicals at the same time. Evangelicals are a small minority in Germany but at least they do take their Christian faith serious. When I was a kid in the 1980s, “the state Churches” largely demonized the so-called “cults” such as Hare Krishna but now "cults" have fallen out of their scope. Currently they’re demonizing American style independent churches, claiming they were planning a cultural war against the social consensus in Germany. I don’t know how realistic this is but many German officials don’t like the idea of churches organizing themselves independently. I think they want everything to be controlled by “the traditional Churches” in order to prevent “abuse of people” so basically, every non-traditional church is pre-supposed to be “dangerous” because they exist.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

and their future may be under significant threat from climate change.

That part I take serious issue with because the present is being adversely affected by climate change. It's long past time we stop ever referring to climate change as whats to come. It's here. From here out it gets worse. (But, good luck as in addition to widespread poverty and the seeds planter during the American Revival bearing fruit, America also bears traits of being anti-intellectual and anti-science).

 

[Heyo]

Bibeltreue Supermacht - Evangelikale in den USA

@Heyo This was the documentary I watched about Evangelicals but I‘d have to watch it again to answer your question.

I found that myself in the Mediathek. What I didn't find was the one about homelessness.

@Stevicus Here in Germany every German has a right to a home (of limited size) through welfare if they are unemployed or unable to work because of certain chronical diseases. IMHO this is not the case for citizens from other EU states and not for foreigners from non EU states if they don‘t have the official legal status as refugees . I had a homeless American friend in my local Hare Krishna group before corona stopped me from attending and I don‘t live in a city so I can‘t claim I know much about homelessness but I‘d say the problem in Germany is nowhere as drastic as shown in the documentary about Los Angeles. So they didn‘t explicitly say that Germany is better than the U.S. but as a German you could get that impression on the background of our extensive social security system.

What I found hypocritical about the documentary about Evangelicals is the fact that church officials whine about the fact of several hundred thousand members leaving the traditional, de facto state churches (Catholic and mostly Lutheran) every year while demonizing Evangelicals at the same time. Evangelicals are a small minority in Germany but at least they do take their Christian faith serious. When I was a kid in the 1980s, “the state Churches” largely demonized the so-called “cults” such as Hare Krishna but now "cults" have fallen out of their scope. Currently they’re demonizing American style independent churches, claiming they were planning a cultural war against the social consensus in Germany. I don’t know how realistic this is but many German officials don’t like the idea of churches organizing themselves independently. I think they want everything to be controlled by “the traditional Churches” in order to prevent “abuse of people” so basically, every non-traditional church is pre-supposed to be “dangerous” because they exist.

Yep. The docu was made up to be frightening for Germans. I don't think that it was staged but they nut-picked some extremes.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I found that myself in the Mediathek. What I didn't find was the one about homelessness.

Yep. The docu was made up to be frightening for Germans. I don't think that it was staged but they nut-picked some extremes.

I was going to watch it but it's not available here.
I'm curious if it might be more location specific and more pooling samples from Bible Belt states, rather than nit picking examples as America is Christian, but the Bible Belt is its own world. It wouldn't take anyone long there to find an evolution denying Young Earth Crearionist who see the devil everywhere.

 

[Heyo]

I was going to watch it but it's not available here.
I'm curious if it might be more location specific and more pooling samples from Bible Belt states, rather than nit picking examples as America is Christian, but the Bible Belt is its own world. It wouldn't take anyone long there to find an evolution denying Young Earth Crearionist who see the devil everywhere.

And a Christian militia that would be called a "Wehrsportgruppe" here and be under surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. That's practically comparing them to militant nazis.
Yep, they had one of those in the documentary.

 

[thomas t]

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.

From my perspective, ZDF and German public television in general is not anti-American. They may criticise aspects of American life very much in the way the criticise aspects of German life in Germany.

Please also note that, from my perspective, America has long been hailed as "the promised land" for all those who look for liberty, it's in this context that they put their criticism in, as I see it. It's like lowering the range of German admiration a bit. This is how I see it, at least.
In general, the US gets huge media coverage in Germany. To get an accurate picture you would need to look at more media coverage.

What most of German media mostly don't like is the Evangelicals, it seems to me.
I regard myself as a born again Christian, as well. But still, in the town where I live, we have plenty of possibilities to outreach. The church I attend is well visited.

Thomas (from Germany)

 

[PureX]

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.

I think the point was to showcase aspects of the U.S. that Germans would find shocking. Personally, I think Americans should find it shocking, too, but we don't.

 

[McBell]

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.

Sounds like they are trying to present the exception as the rule.

 

[oldbadger]

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?

I don't think that's anti-American. It's just stories about some Americans, is all.

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 pay a bit more than that for our public tv, I think. (UK)