Thursday, January 20, 2005

Germans object to crass British stereotyping

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In the aftermath of the Prince Harry story, I came across this shrewd and insightful explanation of the English mindset in the online version of the German magazine Der Speigel ...
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'... World War II, which became England's "greatest hour," retains a large place in England's conscience even today. Hardly an evening goes by in the UK without a television special on the war, Churchill's resistance, or on German war crimes. There are soap operas featuring dim-witted Nazis and heroic small-town Britons, and documentary series about Rommel and his daredevil lightening operations in Northern Africa. With such a menu, it isn't surprising that today's party-going youth -- with their paltry attention spans -- reach for such a tasteless costume.
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Yeah, and we all drink tea at 4.00pm and have to feel our way home in the evenings because of the thick fog; dressed in deerstalker hats and bumping into caped policemen on the way.
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In the same spirit of informed, Pan European understanding I'll just write this article off as being due to the fact that the Germans are still upset with us for beating them twice in the World Finals of their national sport.
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The best line about the Prince Harry story so far came from Rory Bremner ...
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"Harry didn't mean to dress as a Nazi to go to that party - he was just pushed for time that day and didn't get time to change into anything else before going "
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