This was a very interesting movie. I definitely enjoyed getting an inside look into how international students and professors here at the University see us Americans. For the most part, I was not surprised at what everybody said about us; however, there were some aspects of the movie which I did not like. I do not mean to criticize one individual, but I was kind of hurt when one of the faculty stated that Americans like to have power in the conversation. She stated that they used silence in a conversation to dominate their presence and that while silence may seem awkward to most Americans, we also use it in order to prove that we are superior. Which I find to be utterly false. For me, I am a quiet, more reserved individual, especially when I am in a group setting. So when someone tells me that I am a power monger, I take it as an offense.
Although, the rest of the film was great! I enjoyed being able to relate to the students and others being interviewed since I live with an international student, and I understand the troubles that he went through when he first came to this country. It is definitely interesting in my opinion how different everything can be from the way teacher's communicate with students to how students interact with other students on the weekends ;-)
Overall, I didn't learn THAT much new stuff from the documentary; however, I did for the first time, experience someone directly say to me that Americans are these social dominant people who have a very distinct way of speaking. I think that such a generalized claim is a horrible stereotype that I cannot tolerate.
Comments