Seems to me to have always been a meme, even before the internet. I suspect it’s some amount of shit-talking going to an extreme, propaganda that has long just turned into an incomprehensible slush, or it’s adopted from other countries’ hate of france being treated as self-explanatory and just becoming a given.
Very rarely is the hate for france real, it’s pretty much just a joke anytime it’s been used while I’ve been in earshot.
The joke template is:
Anyone: *says something disparaging about the french that is either very vague or about them being snobbish or quick to surrender*
Everyone else: *agrees without question or elaboration.*
I’m sure some portion of the US genuinely does view the French in a bad light, but I’ve yet to meet them.
As an American, I think a lot of our country really does see the french poorly and fitting for the meme I see it often tied to anti art and anti sophistication attitudes. I suspect it’s partly because enough people are so insufferably pro French that it’s a common annoyance.
Ultimately though I do think we’re too hard on them by quite a bit. As Americans we ought to be more fair to them as our first allies and our long standing friends and ideological compatriots. Also a lot of our culture was influenced by them as several of our founders were insufferable francophiles.
Also the joke is stale and anti french sentiments at least in the US are partly tied to their resistance to the Iraq war.
Seems to me to have always been a meme, even before the internet. I suspect it’s some amount of shit-talking going to an extreme, propaganda that has long just turned into an incomprehensible slush, or it’s adopted from other countries’ hate of france being treated as self-explanatory and just becoming a given.
Very rarely is the hate for france real, it’s pretty much just a joke anytime it’s been used while I’ve been in earshot.
The joke template is: Anyone: *says something disparaging about the french that is either very vague or about them being snobbish or quick to surrender*
Everyone else: *agrees without question or elaboration.*
I’m sure some portion of the US genuinely does view the French in a bad light, but I’ve yet to meet them.
As an American, I think a lot of our country really does see the french poorly and fitting for the meme I see it often tied to anti art and anti sophistication attitudes. I suspect it’s partly because enough people are so insufferably pro French that it’s a common annoyance.
Ultimately though I do think we’re too hard on them by quite a bit. As Americans we ought to be more fair to them as our first allies and our long standing friends and ideological compatriots. Also a lot of our culture was influenced by them as several of our founders were insufferable francophiles.
Also the joke is stale and anti french sentiments at least in the US are partly tied to their resistance to the Iraq war.