?TOO American
Ok, I agree that foreign films offer some wonderful performances. Yet who can really argue that America, and Hollywood in particular, isn't the center of the Cinematic world? No other country produces so many high-profile, worldwide releases. I'm not saying that Hollywood of recent years always produces Good Films, but they do produce the most and the biggest. In terms of classic films, Hollywood made more than enough to warrant seeing entire 100 Best Lists, Great List or whatever filled with them.
I own a number of foreign films and plan to own more. Most of them are Akira Kurosawa films. He is probably my favorite director. But until i see a genuine list of 100 Best foreign supporting performances, i'd have to say it is more difficult to come up with than a list of classic American performances.
When we think of classic films, we think of people like Humprey Bogart, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and Deborah Kerr. I'd say Toshiro Mifune was one of the great stars of classic Cinema, but how many like that do we find in the world outside of America? And most of the foreign greats come to Hollywood anyway.
Gerard Depardieu, Ingrid Bergman, Roberto Benigni, Chow Yun Fat, Antonio Banderas and a multitude of others have made films here and in many cases have made entire careers here.
I know, it's easier to believe that you live in a perfect country. But it's not perfect. And things will only change when Americans start admitting it, start seeing what's wrong with it (on a deep level, of course), start looking with interest at other ways of life, and other, challenging cultural expressions.
I doubt that any American truly thinks we live in a "perfect" country. But what country is perfect? We believe that our system of government and business is the best because we are a free society, with the right to free speech, expression and belief. This does not mean that there won't be culural differences within our borders or political disputes, but that is exactly why we believe we are so great. These disputes are, more often than not, peacefully resolved. And our flaws through the last two and half centuries have been many, but we have seen time help to fix them (slowly in some cases).
No other form of government has been truly successful. Look at the dozens of changes made in European countries that have always led to disaster. Look at the many other countries who have oppressive governments that do not allow for any dissent. People talk about President Bush and civil liberties, but I laugh at them. They are being foolish, because the President is not circumventing any freedoms to the citizens of this country at all. You may site his NSA program, but it is meant to target al-Quaida primarily. There is a dispute about what to do once al-Quiada does actually contact an American, but that will be resolved in due time and Russ Feingold will find out just why his censure measure is so silly.
One of reasons our government works is term limits, which allow for the people to elect new officials every two, four, or six years. Unlike in dictatorships or other totalitarian systems, our leaders are bound by the vote of the people and are not falsely claimed as wild majorities and citizens are not held by force to vote a certain way.
Some systems of government just fail because they allow too much government involvement. Canada has a universal health care system that is a disaster, because the people there have to wait for emergency-level procedures for very long periods of time. This benefits no one. It is a failed system. Our system works, despite flaws, because there is competition and real choice.
Whenever our government reaches too far or not far enough, there is always change. The people make the change. It may not seem that way always, but that's how it works.
My point is this: It isn't fair or true to say that America isn't the most free and strong country, because it is. It isn't fair or true to say that we don't give the most aid in most cases, because we do. Just because you disagree with our President or with some of our policies or you just don't like us being so prominent, doesn't mean we should cater to your view. I should not begin to say that I have a terrible country. It wouldn't be true. I should not say we are too arrogant just because some foreign countries don't like us. It wouldn't be true. Disagreements come and go between us and other countries. Necessity will bring us together one way or another. It always does.
So instead of telling us how horrible we are for loving our country, or saying how flawed we are when no country in Europe or else where can claim to have what we have, try to find a better way to communicate with us. I'm not gonna start blasting my country just because we have a few flaws. We still have a system that works.
