Been reading this thread, and I think I have a few answers:
1) In response to the last: Scotland, Ireland, and Wales in the American mind have always been distinct from England as concepts:different accents, different geography, variations in histories and in some instances customs. England is the territory that rules them all, thus unfortunately to England goes the name. (Furthermore, consider the fact that in the past British rule often meant her subjects encouragement to consider themselves ENGLISHMEN rather than Scots, Welsh, et. al.) As far as I know, the US is not the only country that still does this, there are others. (Many Latin American maps mark you guys as Angleterra, not "Los Reinos Unidos.")
2) Irish stereotyping, hmm? -Unsurprising, I've seen it happen. However, bear in mind that it actually IS one of two big sources of ancestry (roughly 1 in 4 can trace their ancestry to said teeny country) and this actually does continue to this day. (My apologies, however, for fellow countrymen who make asses of themselves on the streets of Dublin or Galway over it. There never is a football player to tackle 'em when you need one....)
3) Cruel, uppercrust British morons as a stereotype? No, actually, that is only half correct; we definitely absolutely know there are other accents extant and actually we love them to bits!
Bridget Jones, for example, was a MONSTER hit here (both the movies and the book) as was Bend it like Beckham, as was The Full Monty, as is anything Harry Potter, and hell, even Calendar Girls got a piece of the pie. The difference actually is the fact that the average American relates MUCH better to a character like the girl in Beckham than any character like Edward in Three Men and A Little Lady. Hence, the average bloke archetype doesn't get lampooned as much (or punched, in Edward's case.) He is securely loved and embraced (wellies and all :) The other guy unfortunately will not be so lucky.
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Willowi
17 years ago
I think the problem is that any British person in an American film or Tv is so old fashioned. The only exception I can think of is Daphne in Frasier, and even with her the accents are all messed up and her family is just rediculous. I mean take the butler of the Fresh Prince. Absolutely nobody is anything like that in England. And when his son turned up! It is so annoying to have your nation portrayed so completely unlike itself constantly.
Now of course we have American Stereotypes, and people make jokes about Americans based on them, but the difference is the majority of the tv shows and films we watch are American, so we have exactly the same picture of Americans on our tvs as Americans get on theres. Americans don't watch British tv which is where they have this idea we all act like the older rural generation. Try watching Skins or Hollyoaks :P.
Sometimes, I wish I was a little kid again...skinned knees are easier to fix than broken hearts!
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thebigbeercan
17 years ago
this is the RADIO TIMES review of the film.
"In this decidedly lacklustre comedy sequel to Three Men and a Baby, Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson travel to London to try to prevent their adopted daughter from being sent to - horrors! - boarding school.
As an insult to Britain it would have been more effective if it had been better made, but it wasn't.
In addition, casting British actors to perform as if they are the befuddled eccentrics of an imaginary England of the 1950s seems almost contemptuous.
Count it as another example of Hollywood's quaint and unrealistic view of the British way of life."
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