There is a genuine positivity to many Americans which simply doesn't map on to our slightly more cynical worldview. Add to that inability to really understand another culture's sarcasm delimiters (translated as the persistent lie that "Americans have no sense of irony") and you get a lot of misunderstandings.
I think that's generally true, but in Richard's case, he does understand sarcasm, etc. I do think his Canuck accent - American to British ears - is possibly feeding into our suspicion of that "have a nice day" vibe. In addition, the Big Brother House acts, for many, as a magnifier of paranoia; the set-up encourages one to be distrustful. Richard, possibly partly because of the accent, is attracting a lot of essentially undeserved nastiness; other Housemates cannot believe that someone being that pleasant can be genuine.
Of course, niceness is more generally perceived as weakness:
The first thing Lisa and Imogen did after waking up - before breakfast, before brushing their teeth - was head into the garden and bitch about Sam. The reason? He's just too damn nice.
"I hope she isn't going to be nice as pie, I'll f****** walk all over her," scowled Imogen. "She needs to toughen up."
"Yeah, I hope she's learned," agreed Lisa.
The pair then had a little bitch about Richard, "he's trying to get everyone on his side," and Lea, "she mothers Pete all the time."
Just then Sam came over, offering them both a morning cuppa.
"No thanks babe," chirped Imogen.
"Hiya babe," smiled Lisa. Sam went back into the kitchen, but unfortunately his actions had been way too nice.
"F****** knob," sneered Lisa. "Making everyone tea in the morning. She's gonna f*** me off today."
This is Lisa who, lest we forget, was promising last night: "we'll look after Sam now". Mind you, after Sam's stupidly misguided bitchfest at Richard and Lea, my sympathy for her is somewhat limited. |
