Is this really how the rest of the world views the UK?

[Nemesis9]

In your opinion is this 'Travel Guide' presenting an accurate portrayal of our society and culture?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4933278.stm

i.e. "overweight, alcopop-swilling, sex-and-celebrity obsessed television addicts"

Is it true, and should we be embarrassed or proud?

[noxlumos]

Sounds fairly accurate to me. If you read the whole article it's not an assasination attempt against English culture as they say some very positive things too. I'm afraid I have to agree that there are portions of society that are "overweight, alcopop swilling celebrity obsessed TV addicts", but then that's half of the beauty of England, by and large you can be who or what you bloody well like so that in itself is almost a positive thing to say.I always found that people from other countries always have odd notions about the English anyway, with particularly the US thinking we either all speak like Lucius Malfoy or Eliza Doolittle's Dad, with nothing in between.I felt that the guide seemed reasonably objective and don't have a problem with it, but then I'm Irish just living in England:)

[jno]

sounds as if it overpraises Britain, which has nice beaches but desn't exactly match the Caribbean for sunshine. And I think charitable giving is far less common than in the USA. Shonky public transport is correct. And it says nothing about binge drinking.

[Clanad]

Not having read the report, it was referenced today here in the U.S. on the talking heads news programs. I found it certainly challenged my misconceptions of most Brits as being bowler wearing, well dressed (men and women), umbrella carrying, taller and slimmer than usual stiff upper lipped, pleasingly accented descendants of Normans, Saxons, Celts and Picts, with a keen sense of their historical context To find that they resemble a cross section of what I encounter daily here in the U.S. in disconcerting, to say the least...

[Hermia]

When my dad came to Britain his first impression was that all the men were gay alcoholics! His couldn't understand why everyone drunk so much; where he comes from alcohol is a part of a night out not the focus of it. Neither could he understand why all the men he met seemed to prefer spending their spare time with other men rather than ladies! He just couldn't understand why his workmates spent Friday night with the lads when they could be taking a lady out to dinner.

I thought what the guide said seemed okay. It all really depends on what part of the country you are in. noxlumos is right about other countries having a weird opinion of the British. No one thought I was English when I was in America because my accent doesn't comform to what they expected the English to sound like. One guy I met was amazed to hear that we have nightclubs in Britain. He presumably thought we all sit around eating cucumber sandwiches and discussing the Queen's new hat.

[Drusilla1S]

My ex husband, who is French, assumed I would sleep with him after a first date because he'd always found English girls 'easy' prior to me. I made him wait...and wait....and wait. I was actually checking his bank balance. :-)

[LazyGun]

Unfortunately it sounds pretty true to me, and not really something we should be proud of.

[ll_billym]

You have to agree with the "identikit retail zones" statement though.

[bellasasha]

its pretty accurate to me!!! unfortunately we are all tarred with the same brush which is a shame

[dannydingbat]

American perceptions of England and the English are very strange. I have been asked by Americans, at various times, if we have toilet paper, if we speak English, if we have cars, if the Queen is Jewish. if we all stop work to drink tea at 4pm, why the beer is heated up before we drink it, if English guys are all gay and why don't we drive to the US!!!

[mightyWBA]

How you can make a judgment on 60 million people without knowing them is beyond me.

Anyway I'm off for a cup of tea,.....now where's that bowler hat gone?

[shammydodger]

The perception of English would be very different dependent on who you asked. Most older English people would give you a negative descipriion, involving asylum seekers etc.

I'm proud to be English. Fu** those who aren't

[Craig007]

I hate alcopops!! And television for that matter!

*burps*

[maxi29]

The Rough Guide presents a crude stereotype but why single out Brits. I've just got back from a few days in Germany and seen plenty of beer-swilling fatties. I bought a German tabloid and it was even more sex and celebrity-obsessed than ours. I would hazard a guess that we watch no more TV than many other western nations and we're certainly not in the top league when it comes to alcohol consumption.

The only thing that rings true is the alcopop-swilling - that does seem to be a strange British taste; the youngsters must have had their taste-buds removed.

[OBonio]

'...England's beaches and says they could compare with those in the Mediterranean and Caribbean...'

This suggests to me that the 'reviewer' has never even been here.

[ianess]

Not to put too fine a point on it but neither the BBC news item nor the original Rough Guide article mentions the UK, only England as a visitor destination in its own right.
It is very probably an over-generalisation but the portrayal of the English [particularly those in the South-East] is one which would probably find general support throughout other areas of the UK. It grieves me to say that as I am part-English but I have always considered myself to be British above all else.
The news media in particular push the notion that all that matters in life must be related to sex, booze, television, and the English Premiership or English football team.
There is hardly a programme on TV after 9pm which isn't preceded by a warning about violence, nudity, or bad language. All of this seems to come under the control of the so-called media moguls and if this is being portrayed as normal English life I suggest that the English should be both embarrassed and ashamed, but most definitely not proud.

[jno]

if you can see this

http://www.ias.org.uk/factsheets/harm-ukeu.pdf

you'll see the UK seventh in the European drinking league (a couple of years ago) but rising. But who'd have thought the Luxembourgeois were the worst?

[Nemesis9]

Good link Jno, many thanks.

One word of warning though, it's 1.72mbs in case anyone is on dial up.

Interesting to see that, out of the top ten alcohol consuming countries over the last 10 years, the UK is the only one showing a (fairly sharp) increase, while the others are either pretty much static or in decline.

Do you think this type of unhealthy social behaviour will, at some point be frowned upon in the same way smoking is, or is it too ingrained in our culture?

[ugly_bob]

Hmm, we all getting tarred with the chav brush then?

dannydingbat - you're points seem to relate to American's complete lack of knowledge about anything outside of their country (massive generalistaion I know). Apparently 40% of high-school children don't know where Canada is!!

[alijangra]

I agree with it. But Im Scottish hehehe!! :)