QOTD: Helen Mirren Is Not Amused By Her Country's Humor

ubmitted by johnnysgirl on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 3:45pm.

I SO AGREE. My mother (and of course, consequently, half my family) is British. My mom is a lovely person, but I cannot say the same for all of her family. And I certainly wouldn't say that about that British generally - obnoxious, acerbic, racist...and the constant MOCKING. Ugh!!! It makes you want to slap a bitch. I don't know where people get the idea that the Brits are so nice, and civilized. They are not nice - they think anyone not British is subhuman and they especially love to crack on the "Yanks." I'll never forget how I became instantly a slut in the eyes of some young people I met when they discovered I was American - one of them even reached out to touch my boobs, saying "Ooo, I've never done it with an American girl before." WTF?!!! Civilized, my ass - and don't even get me started on all the nasty chavs running around. Please.
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OMG! That was my experience in France! They thought I was some slut, because I was American. They made the worst comments to me in French AND English. I was so insulted and shocked by their horrid manner. I fared much better in Italy and Greece, believe it or not.

I dont find the French funny, they are dried up prunes.
But how they manage to stay thin on all that fabulous food must be why they are grumpy cunts.

Submitted by BeatABitchDown on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 10:11pm.

THIS times one million!

I'm American and lived in England for many years. Trust me - their humor is harsh. They will meet you and start making fun of you and where you come from TO YOUR FACE in mere minutes. It happened to me countless times. I always thought it was rude instead of funny. Also, prejudiced - these people mocking my country - a country of 300 million people of such a huge diversity of backgrounds - when they clearly knew nothing about it.

Do not miss England. AT ALL.
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I SO AGREE. My mother (and of course, consequently, half my family) is British. My mom is a lovely person, but I cannot say the same for all of her family. And I certainly wouldn't say that about that British generally - obnoxious, acerbic, racist...and the constant MOCKING. Ugh!!! It makes you want to slap a bitch. I don't know where people get the idea that the Brits are so nice, and civilized. They are not nice - they think anyone not British is subhuman and they especially love to crack on the "Yanks." I'll never forget how I became instantly a slut in the eyes of some young people I met when they discovered I was American - one of them even reached out to touch my boobs, saying "Ooo, I've never done it with an American girl before." WTF?!!! Civilized, my ass - and don't even get me started on all the nasty chavs running around. Please.

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Have an open mind - but not so open that your brain falls out.

Submitted by Bjork You on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 1:21pm.
harveyprice: I love your avie! Team Angela Channing? (Are you Team Chase Gioberti?)

Definitely Channing and Chao-Li (the real mastermind) all the way.

harveyprice: I love your avie! Team Angela Channing? (Are you Team Chase Gioberti?)

TEAM PATZS!!!!

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"I'M A VEGETARIAN. I DON'T INGEST SUFFERING"

One of the reasons I love dlisted is being able to read comments and life experiences from others who have actually lived in the places discussed. Sometimes it makes great food for thought.

Americans are always easy to hate on because we are too fearful (I think of a dog with it's tail between it's legs) to stand up and say "yeah, our comedy IS funnier than yours" or to make any positive statements about our culture. We are like the self-deprecating kid just trying to make friends with the mean kids that say "what do you mean by that?" any time we open our mouths. To be proud of our culture is to be accused or being protectionist, racist (which I always find the most funny since we all have such varied backgrounds here in the US), too focused on ourselves (yes, yes, all those accusals of "you don't even know there is a world outside of America" bullshit), etc. etc.

We've fared well in Paris because, partly, we're New Yorkers and are used to a certain amount of obnoxiousness in everyday transactions. (When my sister visits, her nose is always out of joint because people here are so "rude", which I never even notice.) We tried to speak French as much as possible, even though they would switch to English for us after letting us flounder a bit.

Also, we dressed very nicely. No jeans or sneakers or sweats. Mr. Hekki always wore a jacket and I mostly wore skirts and dresses.

Living in a city that is a year-round tourist destination has taught us how NOT to be annoying tourists.

Sorry, I love Paris, as I do most cities.

The French are funny, too (e.g., "The Closet," "The Dinner Game").

While the French seem to have an admiration for black Americans, that's not necessarily the same for black Africans. Remember that quite a few black Americans were able to perform and expect equal (decent) treatment in Paris as opposed to what they were experiencing in Jim Crow America. And that still doesn't mean that France, like everywhere else, is not without its prejudices (and charm).

Anyway, I think Ms. Mirren doesn't give a crap, really. I forgot how Brits like those extreme modifiers, like "brilliant." "Oh, you have to try that jelly, it's brilliant." "Poppy drank so much she passed out and cracked her bloody head open! Brilliant!" So I guess she used "savage" in much the same way.

By the way, check out the very funny American comedy set in England called "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret." It's on IFC.

Nobody mentioned the Brit com Only Fools and Horses - I loved it!
Del Boy and Rodney - mmm mmm mmm!
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Dark-sided!

French people love me so va vous faire foutre!

♥ Threadkilla!
9/11 is like Christmas for gay people!:
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1926079
A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices.~ William James

For sale...French WW2 rifle....it's only been dropped once.

Submitted by MissJaneTexas on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 8:50am.
The French reminded me of slow new yorkers.

Ha!!

Yah.

France never treated me right right off the bat and I had a French friend along too.

I don't think every french ho is an asshat tho. They be just like Americans, English, Italian, Scot, Brazilian, Canadian...

Dickheads and cunts are born all over the world, yo. Humor can be caustic anywhere too. In other words: Helen Mirren is fucking stupid talking in generalized ways. Fuck her.

I was in Paris in November last year. I did not find it a very particularly warm and funny culture. I did love the food and the 2 Euro bottles of decent Rose (I said decent not great)...but I was also shielded by the friend I went to visit. He speaks fluent French and I just followed him around and pointed. The French reminded me of slow new yorkers. If you are going to be short and curt, atleast get the f out of the way while doing so.

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Take a bow, freak. Jack-n-the-hat 10-5-2009

For what purpose was this created? A goddamn project for whore school? Sophie_003 10-6-2009

Oh a little history on Napolean. He was of Italian heritage, a Corsican to be exact, whose real name was Napoleone di Buonaparte. He was an opportunist who saw a crumbling country and created his empire. He is as French as my thinly cut fried potatoes.

If the US had even tried to enact that burqua law, Europe would have jumped down our necks for being barbarians. As for blaming Sarcoozy for his immegration laws, who voted for him? French citizens with a popular vote. There is no electorial college in France. He understands French racism well.

Sorry, but I get so riled when people tell me how "wonderful" France is. It is just another country with its own set of problems, just like any other.

asterix, or olden days pokey the penguin

literary lioness
Yeah, making fun of Americans is too easy yet all these celebrities want our money and to make it here.

biggest market, chump. no other english speaking nation keeps ignoring birth control.

The only funny french thing I can think of is Lois de Funes. But then again i was 6 when i watched his movies, and easily amused.....
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I fixed dinner, i get bottom. I called it!!

I also don't get French humor. It's like it's another language or something.

well, i'm heading to france in the spring, so i'll see for myself whether they have a sense of humor or not...
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Just wait til your ball sack is jangling around your knees like santa's bells and your brows are meeting your eyelids -stolen from: Urfugginjokin on Holy Moly on 10/13/10

i guess cos theyve got that whole free healthcare thing. f u america and yer examples

it's mainly the posh with no money but titles and land who have the awful teef. the lower class seem to have evolved

The French aren't funny. My father is French and I have lived there-no sense of humor at all! The English are mean, but funny. I could never live in England with their horrid teeth though. I wonder why Gillian Anderson loves it there.

The French are very racist and don't hide it at all! Old Sarcoozy gets knocked all the time for his Jewish (non-French) heritage and if you are Middle Eastern, I feel sorry for you in France! I get pissed at the way the French knock Americans for being so "backward" when we are so far ahead of them in humanity. The French do like African-Americans though and that's always what gives them this pass for some reason with their racism.

Yeah, making fun of Americans is too easy yet all these celebrities want our money and to make it here.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone from France on this site, but my comments are more directed toward those who idealize French culture without thinking of its complexities. You know, Roman Polanski-supporting types.

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"Don't trust anyone I could blindfold with dental floss."

-Submitted by karmaskull on Fri, 11/12/2010 - 4:51pm.

Submitted by decorative item on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 2:28pm.

I know what you mean! Americans with money droool over their food (kind of bland sometimes, if you ask me)their women (many have eating disorders to maintain this image), their films (are not the only good ones, and sometimes the ending makes no fucking sense), their fashion (black=cool. the end), their tolerance (despite segregating immigrants to the ban lieus where they can't get jobs or adequate education, and despite that an African has trouble getting an apartment their) and so on and so forth. There are beautiful things in their culture, but people need to stop acting like it's the only shit already. And this is coming from someone who studied in Paris for a semester. The French have their charm, their politeness, great cheese and wine and a love of food and blahdy blah, but the way they cling to their culture excludes minorities in their country, and their beauty ideal is basically don't fucking eat. I get so tired of websites like Huffpo being like French this, French that blah blah blah. And no, Carla Bruni is NOT pretty anymore. She turned into a damn cat lady!

Sorry, just had to vent since it's such a rich white thing to obsess over France. I mean, god forbid they admit that curry is better than fucking butter on everything and that women who actually eat French food on a regular basis are probably not skinny. It's just so damn racist and classist. And the kids I studied with were annoying as hell and so ignorant about anything outside of western culture, and they didn't mind at all. Merde!

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"Don't trust anyone I could blindfold with dental floss."

-Submitted by karmaskull on Fri, 11/12/2010 - 4:51pm.

The big problem with the Brits is that they spent too many centuries defining themselves as NOT BEING OTHER PEOPLE. "We're NOT THE FRENCH! We're NOT THE SPANISH!" and shit like that.

Srsly, I've been subjected to British clerks and waiters, and those assholes are NOT nice. I wouldn't be surprised if they spat in my drink. Maybe it's because they're packed into a smaller area than Americans are (since we have a big-ass country and relatively few people), but why is it we expect people to at least pretend not to hate us, and they don't?

They also have a lot of weird prejudices. One English dude said he couldn't respect my dad because he was part Irish. WTF? And I don't know why they often hate Americans. Is it because we are in the position they were 150 years ago? Is it because we're similar to them but just different enough? Is it because we're easy targets since everybody makes fun of those dumb hick Americans?

On the other hand, what kind of humor do the French have? I'm not being snide, I honestly haven't seen a lot of French humor, and I like foreign films. Most French movies I've seen are damn depressing and even the comedies are kinda bleak and not funny. That can be a good thing because they are often high quality and well-written, but not really funny. Am I watching the wrong movies?

And in case you're wondering I LOVE British humor like Monty Python, It Crowd, Darkplace, Fawlty Towers, the Office, AbFab, Extras, Mr. Bean, Blackadder Mighty Boosh, wonderful shit like that. Wonderful. But that's on the TV not in real-life. I think there's a time and place for humor and making fun of PEOPLE like many Brits do for no real reason crosses the line.

Also, what does she mean, savage assimilation? Uh lady, we're not charging across the Atlantic and forcing you to wear baseball caps backward, change your terminology and listen to rap all day.

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I'm here to kick ass and drink tea. And I'm all out of tea.

Submitted by madam s. on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 5:29pm.
you had my ♥ at The IT Crowd. Yup.

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I have a high tolerance for pain, but it's offset by my propensity to bitch and moan to all and sundry about any discomfort I experience. - mike 11/12/2010

If it wasn't for my British accent and self-deprecating sense of humour, I would've been shanked at my Aussie high school.

Submitted by Pearl_Necklace: "Have some pity..."

Exactly. He always provides the race porn, jotting off a quip about black and tranny dick any chance he gets.

Submitted by momockey on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 3:32pm.

"As for Napoleon being a hero, it's 50 50 ( for some he's a hero, for other is just a criminal)."

I only had a problem with it because my teacher told us stuff from a French perspective only. Not a word of criticism, nor a hint to the many that fell victim to Napoleon's attempt at world domination. That's not what you'd expect at the university level.

Just so you know: I am a Francophile at heart. The mere sound of your language does something strange to me. That's why - as a kid already - I decided I had to learn it. And if you really wanna make me happy, just let me spend my afternoon on a park bench watching some oldies play pétanque. My morning run along the beach of Erquy, Bretagne, ain't half bad either. And then some fishing for crabs and shrimp with my little girl at low tide, chitchatting with the occasional Breton brave enough to talk to a "German" (I do look the part). I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about it. No pompousness in Bretagne, just people who live a simple life and are content with what they have. En bref: j'adore la France. C'est vraiment le plus beau pays du monde et moi, j'aurais voulu être Française.

Who are you calling silly cow?

Long live Patsy Stone in my heart!

last time I checked, the french were not funny.
please, correct me if I'm wrong.

Riiiight...because Faulty Towers, Little Britain, and Monty Python are not funny(??!!)

Agreed with the other posters, the English are assholes (no offense to those that aren't). I went over there being totally enamored with the country and left hating them. No idea why they're such dicks but damn talk about a country that needs an infusion of kindness. When they found out I was American it was like they hated me even more. I couldn't wait to make it back home. I practically kissed the immigration officer, I was so happy to not only hear an American accent but have someone be nice for no reason. The rest of the world can make fun of Americans all they want but nothing beats the kindness I get on this side of the pond. That trip turned me from a self loathing American to some kind god bless America teabagger (without all the insane right wing ideology).

Submitted by Bjork You on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 9:34pm.
"The race porn posters"

That's rich.
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Have some pity on poor Provolone/Poopele, Bjork. His hard-on for our good President Obama colors his every word. And yes, Prov/Poop, black men do have bigger cocks, get all the hot white chicks, AND are comin' to getcha muuuuahahahaha!

There. Angry wittle man is set for his good night's sleep ^_^

Oh-Helen 'take your clothes off' Mirren prefers French humor does she-I wasnt aware that she actually even had a sense of humor.....
Im English and have lived in the US for over 20 years and yes the English can be scathing,sarcastic and superior but they also do it too each other.
As regards Little Britain-Im afraid those situations are not over the top and far fetched-England is full of people exactly like that and thats what makes it so funny so lighten up Dame Helen and stop kissing frog ass.....

"NOSOPD -Not our sort of person darling"

THIS times one million!

I'm American and lived in England for many years. Trust me - their humor is harsh. They will meet you and start making fun of you and where you come from TO YOUR FACE in mere minutes. It happened to me countless times. I always thought it was rude instead of funny. Also, prejudiced - these people mocking my country - a country of 300 million people of such a huge diversity of backgrounds - when they clearly knew nothing about it.

Do not miss England. AT ALL.

Only 2 French people have ever made me chuckle: Sarkozy and Louis de Funes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-2yMBrWnds

Submitted by IrishFury on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 7:51pm.
Now Ireland is stone freaking broke again and immigration is at the same levels as the huge recession of the 80s. They got cocky and greedy and now don't have a pot to piss in and you can bet are dying for the tourists to come back.

*bowing deeply*

Shut it, Helen. You don't hear me complaining about BBC America and the fact that the network only airs Star Tek and Top Gear.
I blame reality tv, Family Guy and Judd Apatow for bringing us international shame.

Isn't it?

:D

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OH SHIT ITS DARREN SHAWPUH, ONE OF THE MOST HARDEST HITTING SAFTYS IN DA LEAGEEEEE!

"The race porn posters"

That's rich.

The Big Fat Quiz show (i think that's what it's called) with Noel Redding, Russell Brand & Johnathon Ross was hilarious. Watch the whole thing on youtube, it's like 10 parts.

As for French humor, i have no idea what that is.

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OH SHIT ITS DARREN SHAWPUH, ONE OF THE MOST HARDEST HITTING SAFTYS IN DA LEAGEEEEE!

Submitted by Pinkismyblack on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 5:27pm.
Everyone is taking the "savage assimilation" phrase the wrong way. She was talking about humour and tv/films so I take it to mean that she thinks everyone is turning out to have this same cynicism and "scathing" humour in the UK. -Which is something I see in the US as well. NOthing to do with "immigration", or whatever.

Thank you for your reading comprehension. The race porn posters were all too eager to jump on that quote.

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OH SHIT ITS DARREN SHAWPUH, ONE OF THE MOST HARDEST HITTING SAFTYS IN DA LEAGEEEEE!

I hope the folks blasting Mirren aren't the same ones who defended Morrissey for his comments about China...

i can think of some brits i'd like to savagely assimilate with, har har.

i can think of some i did, for that matter.

(*belches into california wine made from grapes picked by latinos while idly fingering dreadlocks"*)

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kiss my ass!

There's no parallel to draw here, or if there ever was, this dumb ho just cannot draw it, period.

English people being too cunty and having harsh humour? Way to go, potkettleblablahblah.

Oh and thankyou for linking the full interview. It's even more ridiculous than this excerpt.

Does she have a film to promote and is running her mouth like a Megan Fox as a strategy?

I concur with Ms. Mirren. I like British humor from the safety of the U.S., but I had an internship at a UK magazine and the staff was just mean. I distinctly remember them laughing behind the back of some poor American sap who dared to ask them for a recommendation. I asked them, too, as a formality, but I didn't expect anything. And I didn't get it.

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Silly rabbit.

Helen Mirren and Kunty Karl sound like they share the same sense of humour.