Little things about Western culture that annoy you.

Recommended Videos

vivalahelvig

New member
Jun 4, 2009
513
0
0
You obviously arent manly enough for AMERICA! The reason why we love our action and all that is because we were once led by people like Theodore Roosevelt and Andrew Jackson (I've spent too much time on Cracked.com lately) who were obviously too awesome for any other country.
/somewhat sarcasm

Although you must know that 'western' culture also applies to say, Canada, Mexico, South America, Western Europe, and all that? You know, all the countries in the western hemisphere.

But enough with ripping on you...
One of the few things that annoys me is that...I just forgot, i hate it when i forget what im about to type!

But, i do know one thing i love about western culture!
We draw so much rage from people who think all westerners are idiotic drooling fatasses and stuff, in actuality we have the most varied cultures in the world due to being full of everything, including all that 'perfect' eastern culture your talking about.
 

LilithSlave

New member
Sep 1, 2011
2,462
0
0
Daystar Clarion said:
Yeah, OP, most of the stuff you stated is what is wrong with American culture, way to generalise the rest of us.

OT: There's no such thing as Western culture. Europe has many different cultures, with good and bad aspects.

Western culture isn't some sort of 'catch all' word for places that ain't Asia.
You know what, I would agree with you. I've spent most of my life trying to claim that most distinctions between East and West are rather contrived and silly. And I've been pretty alone, most people have considered me kinda delusional for it. I'm rather happy that some people here agree with me that terms like "East" and "West" can be kind of silly. I've gotten used to using them myself though because they're a norm that's hard to go against.

Daystar Clarion said:
I can't help but think that some of the OP's points are a little on the... weeaboo side.
Wait, does that word even mean anything anymore? What do you mean by it?

To use that word in a way that's truly derogatory, or should be seen in a derogatory instead of neutral light, it's generally used to mean someone, thinks that not just any Asian country, but Japan, is the most superior country in the world and has little or no wrong to it. Not happens to like a few meager things about East Asian culture, like a lack of religion or an affection for cuteness rather than garish machismo, better than the Western counterparts. If merely liking these things better about Eastern culture better than Western culture makes someone a "weeaboo", then that word doesn't mean a damn thing and certainly should be used as a derogatory.

I do not think the East is better than the West. I do not think Japan is better than anywhere else in the East. I do not think Japan is better than America. I do however, like some things better about the East than the West, and have loads of criticisms for both. And if that makes a person a "weeaboo", then there's nothing wrong with being a weeaboo.
 

Black Arrow Officer

New member
Jun 20, 2011
676
0
0
I agree Christianity could be more badass. What happened to God obliterating idol-worshippers and sodomites with gigantic earthquakes that literally swallowed their city whole? Now all we get is a bunch of fundamentalist crap that drives more people away from Christianity then towards it. What bothers me about Western culture? The police. You can get away with bribing cops in Central America, but American cops are too damn honorable!
 

Giest4life

The Saucepan Man
Feb 13, 2010
1,554
0
0
The fact that we have to give reasons for everything. Seriously, sometimes people like stuff just for the hell of it, and "reasons" don't come even close to explaining why we like--or dislike--those things.
 

Comieman

New member
Jul 25, 2010
120
0
0
I love you.
On serious note;
USA, please stop trying to be the important guys in movies and video games. If you are the last Empire on Earth, it does not mean that you are the center of universe. Life still goes on in countries without American corporations leeching them, or American heroes providing humanitarian help to poor African villages, or American soldiers coming in and protecting people from tyrants.
 

RatRace123

Elite Member
Dec 1, 2009
6,651
0
41
The cowboy hats and the accents, and the chili, I mean its good every now and then, but it just seems like it's all they eat.
And the fact that there's horse crap everywhere, and all those damn criminals getting loose. I swear, badass loner bounty hunters seem to be the only effective law enforcement we got around these parts.

Wait, which western culture are we talking about? The old western culture right? The cowboy one, that's what I thought.

In all seriousness, it's not like I have a huge patriotic boner for all things and ideals western, but many of your points, particularly the smaller ones and your points about animation don't bother me all that much. There's lots of quality western animation out there, and plenty of good animated action shows, you just need to know where to look. And FPSes and sports sims are hardly the only genre put out. Hell, the RPG genre is one of the biggest and most critically and commercially successful ones in the west for this generation. While the JRPG genere is considered to still be in a state of stagnation, at least last I checked, which was a while ago. Things could be getting better.

But as for things that annoy me, I dislike the western (Western seems to mean specifically American in this particular discussion) political landscape but I'm certainly not alone in that, pretty sure just about everyone does.
 

Chemical Alia

New member
Feb 1, 2011
1,658
0
0
It's hard to shake the suspicion that you are trolling or a weeaboo in denial. For all of these "problems" you've listed with western culture, I wouldn't say East Asia is doing any better. Arguably worse, for most of them. Some of your rationalization for why westerners do these terrible things is also pretty hilarious.
 

RESURRECTION21

comrade
Mar 7, 2011
101
0
0
likalaruku said:
I was going to say "greedy rich people who will ruin entire economies if it will line their pockets," then I realized that they are one thing that absolutely all cultures share in common.
not for long the upriseing is almost here
 

cdstephens

New member
Apr 5, 2010
228
0
0
By "Western" you mean American, because most of those things don't apply in the Western world as a whole. In fact, 100% of your examples were American examples.

Also, I take offense to a number of your stereotypes of Christianity. Your argument against Sundays is rather unfounded because most people simply don't like working every single day of the week. It's much more efficient to have one day of the week where almost no one works, especially in an office environment or anything involving group work. Also, not all Christians nor all of Christianity is "oppressive" and conservative; a majority, perhaps, but you should be blaming the *people*, not the religion, especially when you consider that the religion specifically teaches that we should treat one another with kindness and respect regardless of background.

Oh, and the Sunday rule applies everywhere, not just the West. Japan for example doesn't have school on Sunday.

As for video games, blame the publishers instead of the developers, especially considering the job market. If a developer has the choice between having a stable job making a standard game or taking a risky job involving a new game that might not even be published depending on certain situations (i.e. cancellation), they're going with the safe option. Very few people want to be starving artists.

Do you have any better ideas for video game enemies in modern times set in the real world? Our last big enemy WAS Soviet Russia, and our enemy now are terrorists. There aren't really many more realistic options than that.

You don't have to listen to Western pop if you don't want to. If there's a commercial with it, skip it with Tivo or do something else in the meantime. If it's on the radio, change the station or use your ipod/computer.

Also, cartoons were specifically made in the first place to be aimed at children. That's not saying that all cartoons are for children, just that in most cases it's hard to take the genre seriously simply because it looks cartoony. Most anime AND most western cartoons are made for kids though are made for kids. There's a reason why the main anime/manga genre is called shounen; the kanji literally mean "young age".

And just a note, most action oriented anime tend to use cheap tricks like make the background a single color instead of what's actually in the background, do still shots of characters only talking, repeating the same actions over again during a battle, etc that western animators tend to avoid. In most western cartoons for example, people actually DO THINGS while they're talking instead of sitting in one place. Compare an episode of Naruto to an episode of Justice League: Unlimited and you'll see what I mean.

There were no women in the Red Guard, they were all teenagers, and the Red Guard had nothing to do with shooting people.

When celebrities do stupid stuff they a lot of the time don't end up making money out of it. Prime example being Charlie Sheen.

This is coming from a person who loves Japanese culture btw.
 

Shadow-Phoenix

New member
Mar 22, 2010
2,289
0
0
I pretty much agree with everything the op said because let's face it there is no denying that those points make sense because well they do and to voice my opinion:

Sick and tired of playing any game in which the US is ALWAYS THE HERO, oh and having to constantly have Russians, Germans, Chinese and Koreans as my enemies.

Oh and as a side note i love C&C Red Alert series but in pretty much all 3 games the Allies are always the heroes and the latest was RA3 which featured the Empire of the Rising Sun which i would expect their story to be somewhat canon but no the Allies had the only canon story within the game.
 

TakeyB0y2

A Mistake
Jun 24, 2011
414
0
0
When people call a katana a "samurai sword". I know it's kinda petty, but it still gets under my skin for some people.

Also when people laugh at the cultural traditions of others just because it's "different" and "odd".
 

likalaruku

New member
Nov 29, 2008
4,290
0
0
RESURRECTION21 said:
likalaruku said:
I was going to say "greedy rich people who will ruin entire economies if it will line their pockets," then I realized that they are one thing that absolutely all cultures share in common.
not for long the upriseing is almost here
Great, Ill grab my coat.
 

nklshaz

New member
Nov 27, 2010
244
0
0
The fact that so many people don't take the presidential election very seriously. So many people just blindly vote Democrat or Republican every single election, and they don't even consider the issues. They vote for their president's as casually as they would vote for their favorite football team. I hate that the media places stupidity and irresponsibility on pedestals with their asinine "reality" TV. I also hate all the religious fanatics. People tend to lump me in with them, just because I happen to be Catholic, even though I have nothing against gay people. Hell, my cousin is gay, and he's pretty cool. I also hate how so many people will ostracize others just for not liking football. I enjoy watching a game if the team is from my school or state, but I find it hard to give a rat's ass if it's the Broncos vs. the Packers. I also hate what the OP mentioned about having to put those warnings about coffee being hot, or not to attempt the stunts in Jackass. If someone really needs to be told not to do those stunts, maybe it's best to just leave them to the natural selection. I also hate how touchy of a subject that marijuana legalization is. Whenever it get's brought up, people on both sides of the issue go on a fucking rampage. I don't really care, because I don't plan on smoking it either way, and it really doesn't affect anyone except the user. (Unless they're driving or using heavy machinery) One last thing: Sarah Palin. Enough said.

Wow, I really had a lot to get off my chest. Cheers to the OP :D
 

Shadowkire

New member
Apr 4, 2009
242
0
0
Wow, that is a large post... so let us begin!

1)I don't know much about tea, but from what I know most people don't share the exact same tastes and therefore like different things. Maybe "western" tea tastes good to the majority of western tea drinkers. Also this has nothing to do with culture, great start!

2)I have no idea what you mean about the west hating cuteness. Most people will gush over a napping puppy, and those who "hate" on the puppy are in the hated minority(known as a$$holes).

3)As somebody who doesn't identify himself as a christian I am offended, not by what you said about the religion, but by how out of touch with reality you seem to be. You seem to like the made up stuff like human-looking angels and obscure christian mythology more than the charities and good works Christianity is responsible for. I wont argue with you over the negatives of the religion, but welcome to the human race, where half of everything comes loaded with bull$hit(including the east).

4)You do realize that in most places the people who claim "caring about works is communism" only account for half of the political spectrum right?

5)The west has some good animated shows(I like Adventure Time myself), even ones with semi-adult content(Adventure Time, seriously). For whatever reason animation was viewed as a "children's thing" in the west, while in the east(and by east I mean Japan) it became a "child's thing" and a "social adult pariah's thing."
http://www.cracked.com/article_19363_6-reasons-your-plans-to-move-abroad-might-not-work-out.html check out #6, which is at the top.
Yeah, the east sure does love it's animation /sarcasm.

6)I see your "western bronze skinned shopaholic dolls" and raise you an "eastern used-panty vending machine."

7)As it just so happens a great time to take a day off is on the weekend, so 50% chance of it being on Sunday, holy book or not.

8)I have no idea what these blue laws are, I mean at all, maybe you are overgeneralizing again.

9)Westerners have trouble understanding how eastern parents terrorizing their children can even be tolerated, those are just cultural differences.

10)When did western pop ever have good composers? And you don't have a leg to stand on with this point, because I have heard a number of "Jpop" and "Kpop" songs and they are just as bad/good.

11)No argument from me here, they could do better with the art.

12)Over generalizing, yet again. Many Hollywood stars do stupid things, but the majority are good people who live lives of decency.

13)They are probably making lots of FPSs because that is what people are buying. As for the lack of fighting games... they are usually the same, even ones from different developers and with different characters. Similar if not the same controls for similar fighter types.

14)Fair enough on the re-occurring character designs.

15)Funny I always found characters from Japanese games had a western look, even if they are in the clothing of a people from the east.

16)Almost all commercials are obnoxious, even eastern ones. They are made to make you go and do something, so of course they are obnoxious.

17a)This last one has a lot of problems first we show people from the Middle East as enemies more than the rest combined, and we make enemies of the Germans a lot too. Then when no particular country is an enemy, 90% of the time it is a "western" corporation playing the antagonist. Also Russia has a western culture, because the vast majority of it's people live in eastern Europe.

17b)As for the Chinese Red Guard idea, cultural differences make it nearly impossible to convey motivations, psychology and politics in a way that makes sense to a westerner AND have the details such that the game's details even resemble the realities of China and it's culture.



As for the topic: I hate the part of American culture that causes half wits to complain about every little thing even if they have no real perspective on any of it.
 

cdstephens

New member
Apr 5, 2010
228
0
0
Shadowkire said:
As for the topic: I hate the part of American culture that causes half wits to complain about every little thing even if they have no real perspective on any of it.
Nice zing right there.
 
Nov 28, 2007
10,686
0
0
One the one hand, Japan is full of cutesy wutsey things, and Hello Kitty stuff. On the other, Sasuke (the obstacle course, not the Naruto character). It's a toss up.

Also, to poster number 7...show your kid Heavy Metal, then say that cartoons are for kids.
 

DexterNorgam

New member
Jul 16, 2011
214
0
0
LilithSlave said:
Our bottled tea is just terrible. I mean, I don't know how, but the teas that East Asia sells are just so much better. And we don't sell any of them. Forget pocky, Asian tea is ridiculously good. I remembered going to Japan and the tea out of the vending machines was the best I'd ever had in my entire life. But we don't sell it. What is wrong with our vending machines and our tea companies?
Nice heavy hitting cultural complaint to lead off with, who drinks bottled tea anyway?? I love tea but I brew mine by the glass/mug.

LilithSlave said:
We hate cute. Now this is a generalization, but it generally seems to be true. Japan likes cute, Korea likes cute, China likes cute. The West gets a bunch of guys who like My Little Pony and everybody makes fun of them. Why does nobody seem to like cute here? Why so macho, West? Tone it down, seriously, tone it down. Stop and smell the cute bunnies. No no, put that action flick down right now. Breath in, look at the bunnies.
No, we don't hate cute. We just know that there is a time and a place for cute. Live kittens, sure thing. Puppies, all about it. Stupid animated crap, pass. Worse of course is when "cute" is used to pass off child porn like lolicon and the like. Sorry its not the west that has cute fucked up, its definitely the east.

LilithSlave said:
Christianity EVERYWHERE. And I mean not like the good kind. Not all that cool stuff you always see in video games. It's all "morals"(like hating gay people and women) and none of the fun stuff(like cool stained class and badass nephilim and Solomon grimoires and things like that. Just like, lots of homophobia and anti-abortion stuff and other pathetic other non-fun things. If there's anything media has taught me, Christianity is a lot more fun when it's not really Christianity. You know, all that megachurch stuff. Not pipe organs, not Dies Irae, not stained glass, not Gothic architecture, not prayer beads, not all of those things that make video games fun. Real, boring, oppressive Christianity. If you're going to stick around in this world that doesn't need you, Christianity, keep all that cool LARP stuff, and drop all of the stupid "having a boring unfulfilled life is the path to heaven" tripe.
1. nothing about LARP is cool. 2. There are lot of Christians out there who are not overbearing and are nothing like what you describe. What you've done here would be the same as if I said "all you muslims, stop blowing shit up". [/quote]

LilithSlave said:
West, west, please. Can you stop it with the "caring about workers = left = communist = hating the west and freedom" and all that? Caring about workers is not fascism. Workers are the backbone of society and they deserve proper rewards and we should all move forwards as a country, not just a few of us. China and Russia are not the spawn of Satan for having some people who thought the poor deserved better.
Are you pulling my leg, or are you really trying to hold up China as an example of a nation that cares about human rights?? I cant really respond further to this nonsense until you define what you mean by "caring about workers". That really could mean anything.

LilithSlave said:
So much weaboo noise.
Sorry I just couldn't get through the rest of it, so much nonsense.