Question

[fredericks]

What does the phrase "All-American" mean to you? As in, how do you define it? What images does it invoke?

Comments

[semirose.livejournal.com]

I don't know how I'd define it but when I hear All-American I picture summer at the baseball park. The background is all enthusiasm and cheering for the team, drinking some beer and eating hot dogs. Men in their late 20s/early 30s with their mitts and their hats. Little kids climbing on seats to see better. Couples being sickeningly adorable. And in the center is that guy. That typical guy you picture when you think of an All-American guy. Tall, broad-shouldered, blond, strong, confident, fit. He could be the poster child for any sport or any branch of the military and there he is rooting for his team.

Lol I actually didn't know that's what I associated All-American with but as soon as I read the question that's what popped in my head. Still have no idea for a definition though.

[captainschlumpy.livejournal.com]

To me, it used to mean some typical blond, blue-eyed corn-fed country boy who probably played football and helped little old ladies cross the street in his spare time. Like the Hardy Boys (before I decided in my twisted little brain that they were gay for each other and horrified my mother, good times) Now, I'm not so sure. For some reason it still makes me think of football. So maybe your bro qualifies as all-american to me now! You ask the tough questions. I can't answer, I think I've got "the Rabies" can I get an A for effort?

[paradise-city.livejournal.com]

I think blond kids, green grass, and baseball. And then I get a little irriated because I know how culturally limiting that phrase is. The ethnic chip on my shoulder, let me show you it.

[blood-of-winter.livejournal.com]

it depends on whether im being earnest or snarky. If Im being earnest, I'd go with the trite, worn out cliches of apple pie, baseball and self made people, the "go-getters", the American wild west...

if im being snarky? lazy, culturally bankrupt, gluttonous, apathetic hamburger and wing eating trash

realistically, i guess it's a combination of everything. I think America and Americans can represent both the best and worst of people. Some people say the "melting pot" is just really slop (everything thrown together) but sometimes, it can create a really great fusion.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

That typical guy you picture when you think of an All-American guy. Tall, broad-shouldered, blond, strong, confident, fit.
So you think male, fit, athletic, blond, military service. ?
Baseball and America, I've noticed, tend to go together in people's minds.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Bwah. With all your shots? I'm pretty sure you rival Wolverine with your healing factor at this point. No rabies for you.

I posted this question because I was watching a true crime doc/drama (as one does when one is me and sitting at home with the TV stuck on Investigative Discovery) and they talked about Scott Peterson and the trial involving him and the murder of his wife Lacey (sp?). The Talking Head started out their description of Scott as "All-American," and that initially struck me as off since Scott was a brunet and a bit on the chunky side. But he was/is white and a male, and I found myself trying to define what I thought "All-American" meant. And I realized that it basically meant caucasian. Which...does my subconscious consider non-whites to be non-American or to not represent the American ideal? In which case, goddamn, I've been quite thoroughly brainwashed.

Yes, I probably need to go work out or something.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

And then I get a little irriated because I know how culturally limiting that phrase is. The ethnic chip on my shoulder, let me show you it.
Don't worry, I'm right there with you. It's just been ingrained in my head (boy do I want to shake it) that "All American" is quite close to the Aryan ideal. Disturbing as all hell. I'm going to have to apply conscious effort to reframing my thoughts on the matter.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

if im being snarky? lazy, culturally bankrupt, gluttonous, apathetic hamburger and wing eating trash
Bwah! Really? *grin* I like the snark definition.

"Go-getters", Manifest Destiny, and all that is sort of what comes to mind for me on second glance as well.

[semirose.livejournal.com]

I think that when All-American is attached with a person.

[sometimesdee.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. White picket fences and all. Somewhere in the midwest.

[aearonlinn.insanejournal.com (from livejournal.com)]

I immediately thought of sports-- as in NCAA All-American (immediately thought of Jim Thorpe, because there's a billboard in my home town with his face on it) or something like that.

I have been brainwashed by ESPN, apparently.

[sternel.livejournal.com]

High school homecoming, complete with perky cheerleaders, a halftime marching band performance, and PTA moms selling snacks as a fundraiser while their husbands stand around and discuss their sons' football ability in lieu of whipping it out and measuring right there on the spot. It's the American Way.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

That's what I think of at second glance as well, All-American something or another. Usually football because that gets more emphasis than the other All-American sports for college kids.

The ESPN is life, don't knock it.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

...Friday Night Lights, huh?

[sternel.livejournal.com]

Never watched it. I sat through enough of that shit in real life. Thank god I was in the orchestra and not the band or I'd have had to go to everything, not just homecoming.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Really? Wow. My school had absolutely no "spirit." As in science nerds routinely got pummeled when playing sports so we gave two craps how they did. I'm guessing I didn't miss out on much.

[sternel.livejournal.com]

My favorites were always the pep rallies before championship games. I'd sit there counting the minutes down until 2:20 when I could make a break for it. I lead a team from the German club to back-to-back championships in annual Sprachfest Culture Bowl, and we didn't get so much as a mention in the district newsletter. All-county Orchestra? Same. To be fair, I think the LI String Festival selection got mentioned one year. But football or boy's basketball? STOP THE PRESSES THE PRINCIPAL WOULD LIKE TO PONTIFICATE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HOW AWESOME THE MALE ATHLETES ARE.

I have an allergic reaction to "All-American" because I grew up in it. That might also be why I can't watch "Glee".