Out Magazine features the lovely Alex Skarsgard on the cover this November. The photo shoot is very similar to other pictorials we’ve seen with Skars lately: brooding, well-dressed and emphasizing his finely honed physique. The interview features Alex chatting with an Out reporter and his friend and fellow Swede Jonas Åkerlund, a music video director who helped Alex land a guest starring role in Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi.” Alex and Jonas riff off each other while talking about their homeland. Out mentions that Sweden incredibly popular in the media lately thanks to high profile Swedish musician from and actors like Alex. Some of the interview was funny, and there were some semi-serious cultural differences brought up that rang true for me. I haven’t been to Sweden, but I’ve lived in Germany for years and there are similar differences between US and German culture. Here’s more:
Alexander Skarsgård: I love my country. I always love talking about it, especially as an expat. When you live there you bitch about everything, but when you move away, all you remember is how amazing and wonderful it is. You remember all the sunny days and forget the rainy days.
Skarsgård: There’s something about the sincerity that I miss in America. When someone asks, “What do you think of this painting?” or “How do you like these shoes?” I would take a second and actually look at the shoes or painting and say, “I like it.” Some people are kind of uncomfortable with that. When you ask, “How do you like my shoes,” they say, “I LOVE THEM.” They say, “YOU LOOK AMAZING; I LOVE IT!” At the same time, the reason Swedes can hold back is just because they don’t want you to think that you’re special or great or better than they are. At least when people in the U.S. like something, they say it.
Skarsgård: Even if you have money in Sweden, it’s frowned upon to show off. In L.A., you see all these people driving around in yellow Hummers and wearing rhinestone dresses, and they live in fake palaces. Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of Ikea, was riding around in a beat-up old Volvo from 1980 until just a couple of years ago.
Skarsgård: And that always strikes me as weird because parents in the States freak out if their kids see a nipple or a butt cheek, but at the same time they’re OK with their kids watching people bash each other’s heads in with baseball bats. I notice in interviews in the U.S. all people want to talk about is nudity. You have a half-hour interview, and you spend 25 minutes talking about the nude scenes, and of course, if it makes sense as a scene, I’ll do it. I don’t even think someone — some guy who doesn’t know any gay people or black people, who may have all these prejudices — if that guy watches the show and thinks, I really like this character, then you’ve done something pretty good.
Skarsgård: Also, I think part of the reason why there are so many musicians coming out of Sweden is you’re encouraged to play an instrument, or to sing and be creative, from a very early age, and it’s free. It’s a combination of a good school system and the long, dark winters. Because that means people sit in their garages and play music for five months because it’s too cold and dark to be outside.
Åkerlund: That’s the boning season. [Laughter] And then it’s spring, and that’s also boning season. And summer’s the best boning season.
Skarsgård: And that’s also why we’re so liberal and so cool with our sexuality — because we f&#$ a lot [laughter].
Åkerlund: How much time can you spend playing the drums?
Skarsgård: When you’re bored, just have sex.
[From Out Magazine]
I don’t think it’s particularly sincere to be upbeat and super positive about everything, but I totally missed that aspect of the US when I lived in Germany. It just feels better to me to be positive, which Germans usually consider over-the-top the way we do it. Also, I totally agree with the nudity vs. violence in our culture argument. It bothers me that violence is so prevalent in the US but that normal non-sexual nudity is still considered taboo.
I love that Alex is cool with being on the cover of Out even though he’s probably heterosexual. Some may think the verdict is still out on that one, given this drunken video of him biting and licking a dude, but I think he just messes around with his friends like that. It does give new meaning to the comments about having sex when you’re bored though. The possibilities sound hot to me.
Well, next time he’s bored, he can come over. He’s my hall pass, so my husband won’t mind 🙂
Lovely and amazing and HOT. I like his way of thinking there at the end.
Hmmmm…sounds like a good plan.
I can never understand why people are still shocked that naked people and violence exist. It is just as shocking to me that Swedish people are still shocked that people commit violence, even though it is as old as nudity.And I always love it when people in tiny countries paint their countries as somehow “better”than others due to their “free”education.All you can really say about places like Sweden is that there are blond people there and they sometimes have decent musicians who come from there. I also don’t understand why the American school system gets so much flack, considering that they demonstrate a wider spectrum of intelligence than places like SWEDEN where they do not have classes for advanced or gifted students. Who do these people think is going to Harvard, MIT, and Columbia? Most of them are American! Where do they think Apple, Oprah, facebook, Microsoft, Serena Williams, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, the Internet, halftime shows,tv shows that are actually good,blockbuster movies (both of which typically explore aspects of nakedness and sex),etc CAME from? Having been to Sweden as well as a multitude of other countries, I know that they are still watching Friends and Sex and the City like they came out last year!They do not smile a lot and are typically not overly independant in their thinking (probably do to a highly homogenized educational system). And the “free”healthcare translates into almost half of everyone’s paycheck being swollowed up by the government. They spend their money on American products and entertainment (where people are able to relieve bordom by f***ing AND being productive). Also, I will NEVER understand how Swedish people go from “people in America typicall do not walk around naked” to “In America, sexuality and nakedness are still taboo.” Did he mention that he is walking around naked on an AMERICAN tv show? PLEASE! 🙂
he’s gorgeous when he’s brooding, but I LOVE it when he smiles. he goes from SMOKING HOT to dorky-cute-hot in seconds.
and though I’m sure Sweden is beautiful, having to be inside for five months because it’s “too cold and dark” to be outside would SUCK.
EDIT: bamabrasileira, I don’t think he’s saying he’s surprised that they exist, just that American “outrage” seems to be selective. he’s surprised that people freaked out about a nipple on TV but they don’t freak out about serious violence on TV.
When are photographers going to let the man smile and show off his overbite already?
But I am often bored and don’t have nearly enough sex – not sure I could handle the weather in Sweden though.
bamabrasileira: come back to the present and stop living in the past. America’s school system and it’s puritanical and hypocritical morals regarding nudity and violence are as bad as people say.
He could be on the cover of foot fetishist monthly and I’d still find him hot!
bamabrasileira, never been to Scandinavia, have you?
It’s not that they’re shocked that violence exists, it’s that they don’t understand why Americans seem to embrace it but freak out over nudity and sex (or have issues with it).
Loq, I do wish the photogs would show his goofy side. As for the weather, well, it’s not so much the weather it’s the lack of sun from now until March. Which is probably why a lot of them go on vacay to sunny climes during this time. I’d still go back in a heartbeat, though.
edit: Praise St. Angie!, there’s still a lot of outdoor activity in the winter, get out in what sun is available.
I’m bored, I’m bored!!!!
I’ll leave the door unlocked.
@loq *lol* thanks.
I do understand what all of you are saying. I think that you must put EVERYTHING in America in it’s proper context as it is really a country of extreme…well…EVERYTHING! I do not think that there is ANY country where something that is unexpected is not sensationalized (such as a nipple at a halftime show, where ther typically AREN’T nipples). On the other hand, when we see nipples in the context in which we are expecting to see them, there is no shock or awe. Also, just because there is a media drumbeat talking about our poor healthcare/educational system, does not mean that it is impossible for a person to get the best education in America. I disagree that the educational system in all 50 American states is just broken! I think it has exceptional schools AND bad schools. And if you have a special talent, America itself supports the development of that talent into excellence. Even though it is getting a lot flack these days, there is a reason why, wherever you go in the WHOLE WORLD (and i know because i have been there) you see traces of AMERICA – not SWEDEN.
Alex looks great in these photos, I love that they emphasize his size. I was also impressed that he felt comfortable being on the cover of OUT considering the gossip around him after that video. Shows he really is confident in his sexuality. I just love him!
“Praise St. Angie!, there’s still a lot of outdoor activity in the winter, get out in what sun is available.”
I don’t doubt that…it’s just that I’m more of a beach-y kind of girl. I get depressed in the winter when it gets dark at 4:30 – I can’t imagine how sad I’d get if it got dark at 2!
though, if I was living with Mr. Skarsgard during those cold, dark months, I think I’d be OK. 🙂
He’s boring to me.
@atlantapug – LOL.. You said it honey!
@JaneWonderfalls He’s always very reserved in interviews. There was even one where he asked the reporter if she felt like she learned anything about him, she said no, and he said, “good, that’s what I hoped for” haha
He’s tons of fun in person though.
JaneWonderfalls: But not to me! And that’s fine, I don’t share the swooning over Fassbender (he’s not ugly, but right now doesn’t make me drooly and tingly).
Loq, Alex seems to me to do much better in interviews where the interviewer has done their homework and asks more interesting questions. I think he doesn’t really go out of his way to make up for what he might consider a boring interviewer.
@bamabrasileira
In regards to: “does not mean that it is impossible for a person to get the best education in America” and “supporting a talent into excellence” are opportunities pretty much reserved for people of privilege: male, white, cisgender, heterosexual, able bodied etc.
And it’s not just context, with nudity vs violence, glamorising or least accepting non-sexual nudity is a much better message than glamorising violence.
And really? You’ve been to the “WHOLE WORLD”? American culture has infiltrated many countries, it has also appropriated from a lot of countries. The strength of america’s marketing has more to do with this success than some sort of natural superiority!
As for america influencing the world way more than sweden etc etc, maybe you should climb down from your UScentric pony and look up the words ‘monopoly’, ‘cultural appropriation’ and ‘neocolonialism’ .
@ bamabrasileira:
Everything you wrote seems like a joke piece in the Onion.
You measure the so-called greatness of US culture and how it dominates elsewhere in sitcoms and Oprah? Please, read a book on US history, like Howard Zinn’s “People’s history of the United States” first before making such ridiculous comments.
Regarding your delusional about the educational system, please watch “Waiting for ‘Superman'” to re-think what you wrote and realize how ludicrous it was. It’s extremely dangerous how the US educational system is failing millions. This generation will be LESS prosperous and educated than our parent’s generation (Source: the documentary “The Inside Job” and this news article: http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2011/08/30/college-budget-graduation). And that scares the shit out of me. It also scares the shit out of me that so many like you exist in their privileged and delusional bubble.
Wake up and feel some responsibility towards others, rather than mere entitlement at how great your sitcoms are.
hahaha boning seasons! I’ll think about vivaldi’s musical piece a bit more differently now.
I feel bad for him that most US interview seem to have 2 angles: Sweden and nude scenes. Because that’s all we seem to read about him …anyway I still laugh at his story about his grandma’s rollout in Sweden (on Jimmy Fallon I think?).
podzol: I first read about grandma’s rollout in the GQ interview, and then Jimmy Fallon mentioned it.
I am so bored…*looks over @ Alex* Right now!
oh dear, ovary explosion
I’ll give you an example of what us ‘over here’ can’t understand about the US
janet jackson gets a nipple out and there’s a hysterical outcry
passion of the christ comes out and people take their little kids to see it
very odd 😉
There seems to be no end for my love for him *sigh*
@bamabrasileira: There’s an entire world outside the US and we’re doing ok, you’re aware of that right?
I love Alexander and am glad he likes his country and can also recognize good in the U.S. too. I wonder what it’s like to go from adoring crowds in the U.S. back to Sweden (where I guess they don’t make a big deal out it?)
I was in Finland once for about 5 days around Christmas time. It was like dark by 2 in the afternoon and not fully light until I think 10 a.m. I swear, it seemed like only 3 or 4 hours of sunlight. Way too depressing for me long term.
The video doesn’t mean he’s gay. You have to understand Swedish culture. When they get drink they get f*cking SMASHED. Their culture is very restrained, so when they drink it’s more acceptable and easier to be social and wild. The guys especially get really rowdy. Skars was liquored and having a good time. That’s all.
@bamabrasileira,
are you even American? Because “brasileira” means “Brazilian” in Portuguese. Just saying because I am Brazilian.
PS: did you just cite Beyonce as a symbol of cultural pride? Michael Jackson, I get. But, Beyonce… babe, please.
@Gretchen: how would you, then, explain the excellence displayed by non-white/priviledged Americans (Oprah,the Williams sisters, Beyonce, not to mention the multitude of doctors,lawyers,teachers, mechanics, cashiers, etc. who are not a part of your specialized group)? How do you explain the THOUSANDS of poor people in America who do receive reduced – priced public healthcare? How can you explain the gifted programs in American PUBLIC schools (that DO NOT EXIST in Sweden/France/Ireland/Norway) that give MILLIONS of American children the opportunity to excel? And yes! I HAVE visited MUCH of the world (9 European countries, including Sweden, 5 African countries, 2 Asian countries, 4 South American countries in addition to currently living in Brasil). If you want to learn about appropriation visit ANY country outside of North America and try to stand in one place for 1 hour without seeing some aspect of North America staring you in the face. Perhaps it’s good advertising, or perhaps it’s because America produces excellent things sometimes.And don’t make me LAUGH about `monopolies’. Go to Cuba, Russia, Argentina, Egypt,China,Ireland (or pretty much ANY place in the world that doesn’t make the pretense of existing within a democracy, AND where you have NO options of going to a `competitor’to try to get a better deal because there ARE no better deals, and talk to me about monopolies!)The world that exists in reality is QUITE different than the one you see on tv, in a movie, on the internet, or via the eyes of a guy from another country doing an interview in a woman’s magazine. I didn’t really think the USA was THAT great…until I saw the rest of the world. There is definitely a reason why North America has a greater problem with illegal immigration than any other country on the PLANET (look at your statistics please), and why, when people cannot get access to cutting edge healthcare in highly socialized systems like Canada and France, they come to America to pay for it (or sometimes to other countries as well), if they are wealthy enough to afford it. Maybe you should let go of the dream that the world is (or has EVER been) a fair place for anyone.
Please insert some paragraphs – it’s easier to read what you want to say.
bamabrasileira, you travel and yet you do not see.
You also write like someone who has read things, but not actually processed them. Your information maybe factual, without actually being accurate.
I’m bored!
emm, last time I checked outside my door bamabrasileira, Ireland, despite all it’s shortcomings, is a democratic republic.
I’m a little bored, myself 😉 And I think Miss bamabrasileira may be related to Rudypatootie from yesterday
Divine.
Sweden has the highest suicide rate of any other industrialized nation.
They must not be boning THAT much to want to die so badly.
atlantapug, Unless I’m reading these charts incorrectly, no they don’t:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/jan/28/suicide-rates-data-ons
http://nitawriter.wordpress.com/2007/05/11/suicide-rates-of-the-world/
@ Loq- do you know from personal experience? if yes i beg you to tell!
I love his expat comment. It’s so true. I always miss my country when I’m gone but I love a little bit about every new country I live in and it feels like home wherever I’m at.
I think it’s cool that Alex is so proud of his country instead of just trying to blend in. It seems important for him to share that about himself. Swedes do seem to be around more and more lately.
I think Americans think they are the best in the world at everything, that they have the opportunities no other country does.
But when your country’s health system is worse than columbia’s, you know something is wrong. I really don’t understand why the US won’t embrace universal health care for everyone, why they are sooo scared of ‘socialism’. Australia is not a socialist country but everyone can go to a hospital or doctor for free ( no matter how rich or poor they are) and get whatever they need. The UK is not a socialist country either but they have free health care for everyone.
As for education I don’t see how the US has anything to be proud of given the massive division between rich and poor. It costs money to get an education in the US which is prohibitive to a lot of people. In Australia everyone can go to uni through government loans at very low interest that we don’t have to pay back until we are earning over $40,000 ( the average pay first yr out of uni) – (I think, it may be a little more or less). Our system is not perfect but when compared to the US I am so thankful I live in Australia.
I just think the US could do a lot more to educate their population because to the rest of the world, many in the US appear to be ignorant, stupid, uneducated morons.
Why the big deal over Sweden? There probably isnt 20 million people there lol. Why dont we ever praise Latin and South American coutnries like we praise European ones? Its discrimination. We only talk about favelas, poverty and drug cartels. Im sick of ASkars and Sweden this, Sweden that. Its the easiest country to live in: the government hands you everything on a silver plater! Here and most places we have to bust our balls. In Latino nations they dont even have welfare. We need to stop glorifying European people and countries. Enough white worshipping! They are so rich because they pool all their resources and never struggle. Sweden invented the eugenically racist studies and Nazi Germany took it to the next level. Right Im sure Sweden is oh so wonderful. They f*cked up the whole world. Thanks. My friend came back from Norway and she said no one talks to each other there, let alone to foreigners. And they were all excited to talk to an American! lol We need to value other countries like Bolivia, Brazil, Lebanon etc. Enough w Europe.
@cr – i’d say that i see BECAUSE i travel a LOT! i see because, instead of watching a film about one aspect of a place, i actually go to them and see that, predictably, some of it is true and much of it is false. i am, by no means, one who thinks north america is the perfect place (as we all know that such a place doesn’t really exist). i just know that, even though it is taking a LOT of flack for not having perfect healthcare, perfect education, perfect morality (by someone’s standards), a perfect government with perfect presidents, etc, as a whole, it STILL has more to offer than most places you will EVER go. i’d say that people should stop being so…i don’t know… naive about these things. america is an easy target because you see it EVERYWHERE – literally! i just wish people would stop getting their feelings hurt every time they see that even america is full of different people with different ideologies and different abilities, who, thankfully, have the freedom and resources to share them. i can assure you that these are gifts that do not exist in too many places on the planet. lots of folks claim to dislike america, but you’d be surprised by how many of them watch our movies and tv shows, eat typically american food, wear american clothing brands, buy american products, prefer music produced in america, are scampering to participate in exchange programs in america (where they often hope to find a marriage partner so they can remain there),etc. it DOES need a lot of work – i won’t argue that. however, being wide-eyed about the fact that violence (along with love, sex, boredom, joy, and misery) is a part of the diversity displayed in american media is just kinda…silly. particularly if you are the star of a show that makes no qualms about it’s glorification of sex AND violence.
@bambabrasileira In America, if you have any talent, you need money to develop it! You must be blind or rich. I grew up in Boston Public schools. And no one was supported or even encouraged to do or try anything! The worst system here is the education system! I was lucky to go to a private high school and catch up with all that I lost, and managed to go MIT and later Harvard. None, NONE, NOT ONE of the kids I studied with in elementary or middle school got that far as I did. You dont know anything! The budget per student in Boston Public Schools is a paltry 10K a year to the most under priviledged and challeneged and second generation children WHO NEED THE MOST HELP AND FUNDING! You need to stop glorifying America! As a matter of fact America just ended lol. I have a Brazilian mother and a Russian father and trust me, those 2 countries are no better either. Poor is poor everywhere and the same. If you guys concentrated on your own countries over there, then you wont need to be here. Then Americans will stop thinking they are better and still in control, when the asskissing and mass immigration stops. The only people here that are okay are most white, Jewish or Asian. Most likely if you are Latino or Black or other, you are 2nd or 3rd world lifestyle in America.
@ kiki – i am a north american living in south america (brazil).i’d say thay many of your country men (and women) would beg to differ (unless you are from the south where they think giselle bunchen is beautiful).
Jacqueline, actually not even 10 million. But why the rant on Sweden, it actually hasn’t effed up the whole world. Really. I’d say my ancestral homelands of Germany and England have done a much better job of that. And Scandinavia wasn’t always the welfare state paradise people think it is.
Brazil is a valued country-it’s got lots of natural resources (oil, models).
Why can’t I value Europe and S. America? Must I choose?
You dont have to choose. Why dont we extend the favoritism to other nations? I doubt Europe is that great. Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Broken Britain, boring Sweden, super poor Eatern Europe etc. Dont believe face value. We need to let some other ones get the spotlight. We could start with the ones close by. Caribbean, Latin South America etc. Europe is rich probably not wrong to say it, because Africa is starving.
@Jacqueline – sucks that you grew up in boston i guess. i, on the other hand, grew up in alabama and had access to excellent public education and was awarded a few scholarships because i was really good at school (where i was able to participate in the state-funded gifted students program, athletic programs, and academic programs for free).i am also an african american female – the last person that america statistically supports. and yet here i am. most people like to make me (and the millions of other supposed minorities/marginalized citizens/others/)into an exception, a statistic that doesn’t really exist, or a unicorn. i had to work for everything (still do). if you are unwilling to be anything other than average, you should go to one of the other places to live. but, if you are interested in excelling and/ exploring who you are multidimensionally, stay in america, stop looking for handouts (cuz there are none for those who have nothing or very little to offer the coveted “whole”)and see what you are truly made of. if you find that you are made of very little or nothing, move to sweden, work, have half your paycheck taken away (to support everyone else), be emotionally reserved, and bone because there is nothing else to do there!
bamabrasileira, so being an introvert is a bad thing? And you are aware that the Scandinavian countries choose the welfare system? They may tweak it, but it comes from their history.
As does the U.S.’s system, also built around our myths and history, especially the Horatio Alger mythology that if I only work hard enough I shall be rewarded! Do you really believe that the US is the only country that can happen in?
And if we all had the same political and economic systems wouldn’t that be boring? I do love the US (as much as I criticize it), but it’s not the only way for everyone. Yes, people want to come here. But people also leave. To each his own.
While I’d love to visit S America, I know personality wise, as an introvert I may have ‘issues’. That’s why I liked Scandinavia, more like me (I live in an area in the US that’s pretty extroverted and it drains me). Is it perfect? No. There is no such place. bamabrasilia, you didn’t like it. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad system or place. It means it’s not for you.
Jacqueline, you want the media to do positive stories on our neighbors to the south? Write your media. Pester your friends to study up on, say Argentina’s reaction to their economic crisis back in the late 1990’s and what it could teach Greece.
@cr – i am not quite sure how you interpreted any of my statements as the idea that it is bad to be an introvert. but no, i don’t think it is bad. what is bad is being a person who has a lot of potential and nowhere to express or develop it (which is something i know plagues places where everyone is forced by societal or governmental idealogy to be/do/have kinda the same as everyone else).and, again,i will personally attest to the fact that it is NOT a myth that if you work hard, you can move forward in life and attain things. of course, i AM that typically despised american who doesn’t really care to support loads of people who can’t/are unwilling to support themselves, and i am not overly concerned that people die everyday (as death is an inevitablity of being alive in the first place). i am not bothered that there are tons of people who can’t afford healthcare or who chose not to overcome some of the difficult cards life has dealt them because it’s not fair that they may have extend more effort than their neighbor to succeed. i have visited sweden,norway, and finland. they were nice places to be for about 2 weeks.but after not finding anything interesting to hold my attention, being surrounded by “reserved until they got drunk”people, and dealing with cold weather and the prospect of a long, dark winter among people who don’t like to smile or encourage one another to move forward in life, i was happy enough to leave. but you are correct…to each his own.
Tbe truth of the matter is there is good and bad in any country (unless you live in like North Korea or Iran). No country can really say they are the absolute best.
I agree with the posters who talk about the chasm between classes for getting an education after high school.
It is very expensive to go to college, STATE college, not even talking private college.
Our financial advisor told us what it would we should be saving per month in order to pay for four years at a state college for our ONE child. She is in first grade and we have been saving since she was 3 years old. She will likely need an additional two years for grad school.
It is unbelievable what we have to pay per month to save for her college costs. Or have her be sacked with huge debt coming out of college. Student loans are not as easy to come by as before.
So yes, do I think the U.S. is the best for getting an education…not if you don’t have the money, leaving out poor but smart kids or middle class with more then one child.
Love Sweden, love Deutschland………. Europe has such an incredible rich history, it just hands down AWESOME.
“if you find that you are made of very little or nothing, move to sweden, work, have half your paycheck taken away (to support everyone else), be emotionally reserved, and bone because there is nothing else to do there!” That’s where I’m getting that from.
No, you’re definitely too enamored by the mythology of self-sufficiency to be happy in Scandinavia. Or most of Europe.
Whatever gets you through your life.
@cr – nah, self sufficiency is only a myth for people who are not self sufficient. it is a reality for those who are. and you are correct – i am enamored of it. there is nothing wrong with helping someone out in a time of trouble or providing resources for them to help themselves. but there will always be people needing help, and there will always be people who do not agree with sacrificing too much of their own lives to provide a constant stream of help to others. if you are capable of doing more than making ends meet and scraping by, so be it. if you are not capable of more, the world is here for you too! just don’t get too upset when other people choose not to take care of you if you do not have anything of equal value (such as being smart, interesting, talented,upwardly mobile,personally responsible,spiritually aware, reliable) to offer them in return. i have met introverts who have plenty of these qualities to offer the society they belong to – including scandinavians (who no longer live in that part of the world because they felt trapped by their society).
@bamabrasileira I would never say Brazilians in Brazil or Russians in Russian are “my countrymen.” They are radically different from me. My parents hated their native countries and have worked blood, sweat and tears to allow me to have what I have HERE IN MY AMERICA. I dont like most Brazilians and most Russians. They tend to be very ignorant and inconsiderate and my personality is just too American for those 2.
I hate it when people assume just because my parents are from those 2 countries that I am interested in them or that I care about them. Im American like everyone else. I speak portugese and russian only in the house. “My fellow countrymen” are here occupying cities for our prosperity. I dont have any interest in visitng Brazil or Russian no matter how great they are. Latinos make a BIG mistake of not putting down roots here so the discrimination against us persists every generation. We need to forget about the “old country” and move on in this one.
@jacqueline – interesting post! it sounds like on some level we agree in how we think and feel about america. i think other places are worth visiting. and brasil has been interesting enough to keep me here for a while. but you have hit the nail on the head of what i have been trying to convey: that in america, your hard work is not in vain. you can achieve if you are willing to put in some effort. and i think that what many other nationalities don’t understand about the american work ethic is how much we actually LIKE it (since our efforts serve us as individuals before serving the collective). i think folks from other places forget that life is about more than having universal healthcare and some kind of illusory governmental safeguard against discomfort,illness, or death. and i can definitely understand why your american identity is so important to you, even though your parents came from other places. i think each person has to follow his own path in life (and for some that may mean not forgetting about the old country). but what i have been getting at is that if your path leads you somewhere that is better than average and with great potential, america is the number 1 spot in the world to experience it!
Dear bamabrasileira, IMHO you put the articles out of context. What’s about the pride & prejudice & miss-understanding, why so serious?
“wherever you go in the WHOLE WORLD (and i know because i have been there) you see traces of AMERICA” << Oh you mean those w/ MADE IN CHINA tags? LOL!
Since you “travel A LOT!” maybe it’s time to stay longer in Uncle Sam’s house for a better perspective.
Bigotry or prejudice in any form is more than a problem; it is a deep-seated evil within our society ~ Judith Light
@ bamabrasileira:
You just confirmed the stereotype of American people – arrogant and narrow minded, which in many cases are not true.
I think he’s really nice to look at but….what is his personality like….you can look really hot and be a major asshole