How the British See America

Posted by on October 11, 2006

Survey Results from the BBC

The early October, 2006, issue of Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine reports the results of a 2003 survey conducted by the BBC.

When asked to name The Greatest American Ever, Brits came up with the following list:

4. Mister T.  “I pity the foo’.”
3. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a dream…”
2. Abraham Lincoln  “Four score and seven years ago…”
1. Homer Simpson “Doh!”

Give it some thought and it begins to make sense. Lincoln and King represent, in the minds of others, the best that can be found in us. Sort of like how Gandhi represents the best of India. Bumbling Homer and comic badass Mister T represent another side of us; a bumbling, not-so-bright character who sometimes flexes big muscles.

Or maybe you interpret the survey another way?

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