No Ugly Americans

November 19, 2010 Barbara Button
Tags: American values, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson, Swedish movies, Ugly American

Have you ever willingly watched a foreign film?  I did … just this past weekend.  And I subjected my husband to it as well.  Interesting experience … however, I only did the subtitles for a short time before I gave in and toggled to English.  That’s not the point.  What I learned is.

The film was “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”  I have recently read Steig Larsson’s trilogy, and was anxious to see how the first volume was interpreted on-screen from within his own Swedish culture.   It was an eye-opener.  We (as Americans) already presume the Swedish have a progressive, if not provocative point of view when it comes to sex.  That came as no surprise, however I must admit, I was less engaged than I thought I’d be.  And the nod to S&M left me cold.  But the REAL surprise was the fact that all the actors and actresses in this film looked like NORMAL people!  I mean it!  They were actors and actresses minus the glamour, pomp and perfection we all expect and glorify from our own American actors.  These were everyday people reciting lines and bringing home a story outside their own, without having to look PERFECT!  The male protagonist (star) actually had pitted skin … and most of the female characters were genuinely middle-aged and LOOKED it!  It was refreshing, really.  Somehow, it gave the story credibility.  I found myself thinking about what was happening on the screen instead of being distracted by camera’s love affair with the mega-star lead.

But the oddest part is, I felt like I was watching something real at times, that I wasn’t part of.  Like it was someone’s story that I shouldn’t know about.  Yet at other times, I missed the glamour and circumstance of the American brouhaha surrounding movies and “movie-stars”.  My point is … the revelation that we are sooooooooo f____ing caught up in the superficial in this country, it’s embarrassing.  How NONE of us want to get old, will admit we’re getting old and/or God forbid, ever want to LOOK old … or UGLY, for that matter!

We Americans exalt many superficial values as a society, and think nothing of it.  We are born and bred that way.  We revere beauty, in any form and/or at any price – especially when it comes to the human form.  We equate it with sexuality and sexuality is equated with desirability.  As we all want to have a mate … we must all at some point be desired/sexy/beautiful.  Hence, the billion dollar cosmetic industry that out-paces the yearly Gross annual product.  God help us … there shall be NO UGLY AMERICANS!

I remember I was in Spain a while back on a business trip and I met a Norwegian colleague who I developed a minor crush on.  I couldn’t figure it out … he WASN’T attractive!  Of course nothing happened, as I am happily married; but I was still intrigued that I would be attracted to someone who didn’t fit the sterotypical image I possessed of a potential male suitor.  He really was, well, average looking at best.   WTH, I thought … perhaps it was being in a culture that doesn’t require perfection.  It put everybody on the same playing field, and evened the odds.  It felt sexy. 

Being American, and being superficial also goes hand in hand with being materialistic.  We as a capitalist society are widely know througout the world as major energy wasters,  insatiable product consumers, and an exaggerated, shallow, rude and self-absorbed people who aren’t very smart.  But we’re NOT ugly!  LOL  Afterall … have the Europeans even HEARD of orthodontia?

Seriously, the message I got from the movie (which was certainly NOT the one they were going for) was a wake-up call to the basic overall standards we have as a society.  Go figure!  Maybe I need a tattoo.

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