upsticks | England in the 21st Century

Entry tags:

England in the 21st Century

England, famous across the world as the country of Shakespeare, royalty, fair play and manners, is a nation of "overweight, sex-and-celebrity-obsessed TV addicts", according to a new tourist guide.

I'm not sure what to make of this article on England in the 21st Century.

I mean, England isn't the dry stone walls and rolling hills and apple-country it seems to suggest that it is. It isn't the magical fairytale country, where people speak slowly and clearly, and all with the same accent - the perfect RP.

We don't wear bonnets, and complain about decency.

I'm not sure we even feel so strongly about Royalty anymore. I for one, feel particularly indifferent to it (right now, at least).

But saying we are a nation of "overweight sex-and-celebrity-obsessed TV addicts"?

You forgot the Chavs.

Tell me, flist, anyone - from England or not - do you think England is overweight/sex-obsessed/celebrity-obsessed/tv-obsessed?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tell me, flist, anyone - from England or not - do you think England is overweight/sex-obsessed/celebrity-obsessed/tv-obsessed?

No more so than America.

I was pondering this. Do you reckon it is just that England is becoming a mini!America?

I agree with

bibliophile1887. I wouldn't have come up with that though, because pretty much my only knowledge of England comes from Doctor Who. xD

apart from EVERYTHING being about London, it seems a pretty realistic view. Apart from the aliens and shizzle ;P

You don't have yearly attempts of alien invasion? My world. It is shattered.

well, I'm from the part of England that isn't London, so even if there were alien invasions, I wouldn't know, because nothing ever happens here.

It seems Christmas is a big time for Aliens though, we've had several wierd looking clouds over the past three Christmases.

Yeah, likewise if anything happens in the U.S. it won't be in Michigan, it'll be hours to the east or west. x)

Spooky. :o

grr, stupid london-centricity.

When we went to the US some years back, no-one could place our accent. They couldn't work out if we were Australian or Irish. And we're English, just not super-posh or cockney!!

We ought to put our towns on the proverbial map, y/y?

;P

That's weird. O_o

Well my local city is on maps, just not good ones. ;)

FOURTH largest city in England, and it barely gets a mention. Ok, so it used to be quite industrial, but we owe it to the "Steel City".

*sigh*

The History Boys and The Full Monty are both located there, and both referred to as taking place in "a grim Northern town". GUTTED.

That's so crappy. D:

tell me about it *sigh*

No way!

Although almost everyone here believes that all Englishmen are very prim and they all always have porridge for breakfast :))

yes way, apparently.

I thought about it, and it's kind of true. I mean there are a HELLUVA lot of celebrity magazines, which means people must buy them. There's also a lot of Celebrity something or other - reality TV with Celeb involvement - so it's kind of a valid point.

But what about the number of people who enjoy walking, and the "green belt" and all that stuff. *sigh* makes me feel sad :(

I love that idea :D My dad isn't all that 'prim' (nice word) but he usually eats porridge :) Does that mean Englishmen are serious or sensible?

So there IS at least one Englishman who eats porridge! Never thought it would be true :)))

yep yep! indeed. It's not even the 'instant' stuff either. proper oats and shizzle.

I don't eat it all that much, but it's very nice to have it brought to you on a cold day :D

Gross stereotyping FTW! Oh, no, wait, the other thing. FTL.

"As a glance at the tabloid newspapers will confirm, England is a nation of overweight, binge-drinking reality TV addicts," it says.

Yes. That is because they're tabloids. Well done, you idiots.

I think a large part of any Western culture is celebrity-obsessed nowadays. The human race is just naturally curious about EVERYTHING. But to say our entire culture is based on food, celebrities and sex? Yah. The guys went to the wrong place. Idiots.

LOL, fuhtehluh!

Yes. That is because they're tabloids. Well done, you idiots.

I thought exactly that, but then I realised, even though they're not exactly representative of the UK (I mean there are a lot of popular broadsheets too), that these tabloids sell. Some people buy them because they like them. Of course, some people just buy them for the Page Three Girl, and the "Dear Deirdre, I had sex with a female monkey and now my third husband's cousin thinks I'm a lesbian" sort of stuff. But I don't think it's fair to look just at the tabloids. Most people understand how poor they are in content.

I reckon it's the new religion. People want something to believe in, and where God has - perhaps - failed them, Celebrities (this new type of beautiful and indestructable person that we choose to watch) are around, to idolise, fancy, and generally creep out. Inspiration, and all that. It's certainly an idea anyway.

The whole idea of Slash and 'Slash Goggles' suggests to me that there is a lot more sex involved in things than we'd all care to admit, although how similar that is for the non-slash folk (I reckon we need a name for those) I couldn't say.

I don't mean to knock you down or anything, I just thought it was a worthy of a bit of a discussion.

Overall though: idiots = yes. Way to stop the tourist industry!!

They forgot the teenage binge-drinkers. You know, those teenagers who were given a questionnaire about their drinking habits and promptly went all 'Oh yeah. I drink, like, nineteen pints a night me. At least. And take loads of drugs. And have sex in bus shelters.' Exactly like you'd expect teenagers to. Show me a teenager who can afford nineteen pints a night and I very much doubt they're in any way typical.

Your comment genuinely made me LOL XD

good point though, if there's anything I've learnt from Psychology, it's that it's difficult to spell and that studies are always criticisable for the way they were executed. Questionnaires suck.

My teenage friends can. Well, I say "afford" I mean "spend their overdraft on".

As far as I can remember, the article I'm talking about referred to a study involving teenagers who weren't old enough to get an overdraft. I know wealthy people do exist, but I'm living in the middle of one of the most deprived areas in the North West and they don't exactly make up a large portion of the people I encounter. Quite a few of the people I met at uni spent their student loans on bikes or computers, which was kind of annoying for me when mine had to go on food and rent. I did meet a bit of the heavy drinking culture at uni, but it seemed very dependent on the course people were doing. Drinking a lot during the week just wasn't the done thing on my engineering course. Pretty well everyone I knew on any course who drank a lot had dropped out by third year. I tend to believe that the whole newspaper angle on drunken students only really fits the ones that end up dropping out or not doing very well, but maybe I'm just annoyed because I wasn't like that and it's not great to have people assume stuff.

Quite a few of the people I met at Uni spent their student loans on bikes or computers, which was kind of annoying for me when mine had to go on food and rent.

yeah, I know a few people who've spent their money straight out. One used hers to pay rent for a flat which is alright I spose, but then she had to live on her overdraft for the rest of the year. Another bought a camera. One got a brand spanking new LCD TV. One got Bon Jovi tickets... My mum got annoyed with me when I bought a boxset for 20 quid! *sigh*

I tend to believe that the whole newspaper angle on drunken students only really fits the ones that end up dropping out or not doing very well, but maybe I'm just annoyed because I wasn't like that and it's not great to have people assume stuff.

Yeah, I like to assure people I'm not your usual student. I love going out and doing studenty things, but I'm not big on drinking. I find I have more fun sober, and all without the problems you get from being drunkard. But that's a whole other kettle of fish. I don't know anyone who's dropped out yet due to alcohol (poisoning, if you like), but it does sound very likely. *sigh*

Mostly, yes.

LOL, short and sweet :)

Hahha it's true though. When you go out, you know that you're going to get asked by someone to dance or whatever, and they're gonna be after sex. It happens nearly all the time.

We're constantly talking about celebrities in the media. Magazines, newspapers - they thrive off it. It's a big business. I think us English are basically just trying to get lots of money. That's what it is. And the celebrities are the source of it. It's just the way our culture is at the moment.

It is totally true. People have asked me to dance, told me they have a girlfriend, and then tried to feel me up. I hate it, and I've kinda lost my faith in humanity because of it.

I think it's just that celebrity = religion. Since we're not so big on religion any more, celebrity has that edge that we want.

that is an interesting point though: we crave money so we produce these celebrities that will achieve it. huh, interesting thought. A whole new spin on it, and one that sounds quite pessimistic :S thanks :)

There's a lot of food for thought there...

To a certain extent yes. It seems to be the way that the Western world is going, so don't feel too unique. Every country has some sort of stereotype attached to it's culture, and for England it was about being prim and proper - something which still seems to be propagated to a certain extent. Now when they go to write a guide book they're just realizing that for the most part a lot of modern society is very similar.
(That doesn't mean I don't still have a little soft spot in my heart for the UK).

It seems to be the way that the Western world is going

yeah, but I'm not too sure I like it. I spose it's kind of inevitable, so I should just let it be.

What is the stereotype of your country, do you think?

'prim and proper', lol. We don't all walk around in suits, but there does still seem to be the 'stiff upper lip' sometimes - some things are still difficult to talk about.

It's wierd though, a guidebook that (what's the opposite of "bigs up"? "smalls down"? "belittles"?) belittles the country it's written for. Almost as if it's persuading people not to come and visit.

That said, it seems there was bias reporting the guidebook, so who knows what the guidebook is actually like?

It makes me happy you have a soft spot fot my country. And you know what? I love yours :)

Oh we definitely get sterotyped as being super friendly lumberjacks. Or that we all live in Igloos LOL. That's my particular favourite, though it's finally starting to die out.
For the most part we're just average Western citizens. (Well for the possible exception of the Maritimes. They are genuinely the nicest people I've met in my life, and do seem to live up to the Canadian image).

Awww, it makes me happy too that you love my country!

but you are super friendly, right? When I went, I know we were very impressed with how friendly everyone seemed. Although maybe they were bitching about us behind our backs, so who can say? :P

Igloos? ARE YOU SERIOUS? Where'd that come from??

Maritimes being?

Yeah, I loved it. I seem to have got a little scared about countries that don't speak English, as stupid and possibly ignorant as that sounds. I think it's just because I haven't been to a "foreign" country for a long time. But I really enjoyed going to Canada. I think has some of the most beautiful scenery ever, and I adore Vancouver. I also love that it has all the excitement of being american, and yet still understands conservation and the need to look after things :) *hugs it* lol.

this comment is so late, I'm sorry.

Yes to the super friendly bit, although in my experience people from Ontario can bitch with the best of them. Usually not about other people though, just about all our own issues lol.
And yes to the igloos - this being from some ignorant Americans.
Sorry, the Maritimes is what we call our East Coast provinces. Don't ask me why, but it seems like anyone from either New Brunswick, Nova Scotia (where I go to school), Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland definitely live up to being amazingly hospitable.

I've only been to Vancouver once before, but it was definitely beautiful.

And I'm with you about being a bit ethnocentric in terms of being scared of having to deal with non-English speaking countries. Especially if it has no relation whatsoever to a Romantic language. I'd be able to handle France as soon as all years of French classes kick in mentally, and maybe Italy with my 1 year of Italian classes. But I would have major issues with Eastern Europe or Asia. I'm game for going to Western Europe and muddling through though.

I'm going to move onto a completely different topic now just because I have the opportunity: I'm thinking of moving to England to study law, but I was wondering if you could tell me from your impressions which are good universities. Preferably outside of London, since it freaks me out a bit with it's massive metropolitanism (don't know if that's a word, but basically I don't have a lot of experience with very large cities).

Igloos. That still confuses me. I mean, WHERE FROM? THEY ARE A DIFFERENT COUNTRY. THEY MUST LIVE IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

I like learning stuff and not being so ignorant :)

It just felt really comfy. And there was so much to do... and, *happy sigh* I love it.

Well, we used to go to places like France and Spain and Turkey and Italy... but we haven't been to any places that don't speak English for a while, and it makes me nervous now, cos I'm an ignorant Brit who demands everyone speaks my language :'( I'm with you on Romantic stuff as well. I'm not sure I'd ever be able to get anywhere near places like Russia or Japan :S (I fear Japan more than is rational. There's just SO. MUCH. CULTURE. So much to go wrong.)

Oooh, your best bet is to look at league tables and stuff. I have friends at my uni who say this one (Reading) is very good for law. I'm not sure how they know that though, so I'll find out and get back to you *makes note*. It's also quite near London (40 mins) so it wouldn't be too far from your knowledge of England, if you like, but far away enough to not be all that metropolitanistic ;P It feels weird biggin' up my own uni, but it does seem a good uni for you.

Unless you're looking for all round good unis? A hint that may be helpful: look for Universities that are "The University of ___________". Usually, that means they are more prestigous, and better 'set up' (longer running) for Further Education, rather than many institutions which may not have "university" in the title, like, for example, "York St. John" or "Oxford Brookes" (both recently became univesities rather than "polytechnics". Here in Reading, there's "The University of Reading" and "Thames Valley University". UOR was established in something like 1928, TVU a lot later. The older universities also tend to be a bit more "academic" rather than "vocational". But it depends what you're going for.

That's a lot of info. I hope it makes sense. Feel free to ask anything more :)

And yes, London freaks me out too. I don't understand BOROUGHS and stuff.

woah, Long comment is long.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

England in the 21st Century

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject