How Americans view the Scots?

Offensive, angry and ginger – Simpsons’ Willie defines US image of the Scot – Times Online

Despite all the money, the glossy adverts and the brand marketing, Scotland’s international image is personified by the execrable Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons cartoon series.

Groundskeeper Willie, should you be unfamilar with him, is possibly the most offensive, angry, feral, fictional Scotsman ever invented. Think of the worst possible stereotype of the Scot; double it, and you have got Willie — a red-haired, bearded, foul-tempered, incompetent, haggis-eating, testosterone-filled boor who spends his private time secretly videotaping couples in their cars.

Lighten up. It’s a cartoon, for cryin’ out loud!

I think most American’s look to Sean Connery or Star Trek‘s Scotty for their Scottish image. Personally, I favor Craig Ferguson who hosts The Late Late Show.

Click the link for the full article

technorati tags:Scots, image, Simpsons, Americans

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Harry Benson: Being There – shameless plug 2

DCist: Harry Benson @ The National Portrait Gallery

This is second new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and it’s appropriately adjacent to the Great Britons exhibition. The selection of nearly 100 photos spans time, cultures and continents. Scottish born photographer Harry Benson had the knack for “being there” and he managed to capture on film some of the defining moments in recent history – the arrival of the Beatles in the US (see above with Cassius Clay aka Muhammed Ali), the death of RFK, the resignation of Nixon, the attacks on the World Trade Center. Don’t miss this exhibition of truly memorable photographs.

The link provided is for a review of the exhibition from the dcist.com site.

technorati tags:photography, portrait, Smithsonian, museum, scottish

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