The "Special" Relationship

For a number of people in the United Kingdom, their first encounters with the Americans and their culture came during and following the Second World War, which ended in 1945. Britain’s growing relationship with the United States of America, cohesive throughout the War and the ensuing Berlin airlift crisis, led to an increased military presence of American soldiers in the UK and, as a result, an increased exposure to their way of life for residents of the UK who may have only seen and read about the Americans through televisions and newspapers. Inevitably, there were a myriad various reactions to the enigmatic presence of these ‘outsiders’. During this period in time, there were several main, contrasting perceptions of America and its global position of power and wealth, which arguably exist to this day to a degree. One stance was a negative position of jealousy and envy, the other is said to “delight in the liberational potential of American culture”.

It can be argued that the people of Britain were taking a progressively critical attitude towards the Americans as the 1940s came to an end. Although this could have been moulded by their own personal experiences with the Americans and the soldiers stationed in the UK during the war, it is likely that these opinions were, at least in part, formed by the persuasive media depictions of the USA which began to intensify as the 1950s brought a new wave of “Americanisation”; the pernicious influence of American popular culture inflicted by a society lacking the most basic cultural credibility on a Britain previously rich in traditional values. The media backlash against this American cultural invasion continued as it became clear that not only were American “traditions” beginning to appear in the UK, but that the British were actually embracing them.

The more educated and cultured British attempted to act as the moral guardians of the UK with those in a position to do so ensuring that the American influence was kept as controlled as possible. This disdain towards American media had long been prevalent in the United Kingdom, dating back to the days of the much-ridiculed ‘yellow press’ sensationalist newspapers at the end of the 19th century. Meanwhile, American films and television shows were garnering favourable responses from the less culturally demanding of British people, principally the youth element. Despite attempts to hold back new radical and revolutionary styles of music, the likes of Elvis Presley began to filter through the censorship, with much success, to the chagrin of believers in music with legitimate historical credibility. The British establishment were fighting a losing battle. “Americanisation” was an appealing and refreshing change to the reserved popular culture of Britain for those who felt a need for something a little more revolutionary than the carefully controlled British media.

It wasn’t only popular culture such as music and television shows that were imported from America. The whole concept of television as a forum of entertainment and mindless amusement was developed and aggressively expanded on in America during the 1940s and this led to an increased demand for a similar style of media throughout Europe during the 1950s. However, the television didn’t manage to eclipse the success of the cinema, despite posing a large threat. Cinema remained probably the most popular form of entertainment throughout the world, and the Americans dominated in virtually every aspect, a virtual monopoly which arguably remains to this day. Studies in the early 1990s depicted a Britain in which 90 per cent of all box office takings in the UK were for American films and, in 1994, nine out of the ten top grossing films of the year were American, despite the many and often severe cultural differences between the two countries. America is often viewed as a country with no real refinements, no finesse. A country with no historical culture and an alarming lack of scruples and behavioural protocol, with nothing to offer of a higher moral value than the likes of ‘trailer-park-trash’ shows such as “Jerry Springer”, a show in which Americans tend to reveal their outrageous and excessive exploits in front of a live audience. With shows tending to focus on sexual depravities, cheating lovers and various other “taboo” topics, it is clear where the impressions of America as a country with no moral boundaries emerged from. However, this is just a small aspect of a large and extremely diverse country. It is, nevertheless, often picked on as one of the “examples” of American culture and its potentially devastating effect on the preserved and time-honoured traditions in Britain.

It is this blinkered view of America that has been played on for decades by critics who argue that the very moral fibre of Britain is at risk as a result of an invasion by decadent American principles. An early example of this line of thinking would be the reaction of Britain’s most popular source of media at the time, the British Broadcasting Corporation. The BBC deliberately ignored American innovations such as rock ‘n’ roll music (often berated as one of the most negative influences by the likes of Richard Hoggart) and rhythm and blues. Research even indicates that the BBC laid down detailed guidelines as to how much American material should be presented and in what context. This was obviously an attempt to manipulate and control the tastes of the general viewing public, designed to off-put the “damaging effects” of Americanisation. It could be argued as to whether this policy protected the interests of the British public or simply the personal tastes of the upper BBC hierarchy, but it was vigorously employed throughout the 1950s.

The backlash against the Americanisation of Britain was not restricted to television. Newspapers and magazines also played an active role in the undermining of the worth of American cultures. One such newspaper was the Picture Post, in which writer Edward Hulton suggested the Americans were responsible for producing a generation of mindless, uninspired factory workers with no intellectual aspirations, who would rather read comic strips than a classical novel or anything of real substance, and moreover gave the impression of a crime-ridden Britain, caused by the US inflicted images of youth. Studies by Geoffrey Pearson in the 1980s seemed to corroborate these fears to a degree, looking in hindsight at the causes of lost morality in the United Kingdom. Pearson claims that “Popular entertainments of all kinds have been blamed for dragging down public morals in a gathering pattern of accusation… the first flickering danger signs from the silent movies… Hollywood picture palaces… and then television viewing… Each, in its own time, has been accused of encouraging a moral debauch”.

It is interesting that Geoffrey Pearson echoes what was being declared about the influence of America back in the 1950s, despite his research coming over three decades later. He suggests that declines in public morale and “imitative crime” can be traced back to the early days of cinema and TV, and their subsequent growth and impact through the second half of the twentieth century. This finding certainly adds some weight to the original fears of the affects American culture could perpetrate, although it is not definitive, as America is not the only country to have produced films from the 1940s onward and there is no evidence to suggest that British cinema and television had any less of an affect on the viewing public.

Whilst many critics of the time thought that the early signs of American culture becoming engrained in the British lifestyle were a negative and deplorable sign that high culture was dying a slow death in the hands of a generation too unrefined to appreciate the traditional and historical, there were also a number of critics who contrasted this view, welcoming the American qualities into the UK. However, the overwhelming fact remained that it was the ordinary people of Britain that were embracing many Americanisms and slowly these factors of US life became factors of British life too. American films, such as The Sound Of Music, became firm favourites in UK households. American stars of film, stage and music became as famous in Britain as in the USA. It could even be claimed that Britain has adopted so many “Americanisms” that as we stand in the early 21st century, Britain could almost be declared “honourary Americans”, or at least part-American, simply by definition of our cultural activities.

The United Kingdom is not alone however; during the last few decades, “Americanisation” has swept the world in a global phenomenon which has left US-based brand names such as McDonald’s, Budweiser, Nike, Disney and Coca-Cola and their corporate logos as the most recognised labels in the world. The British, once jealous and threatened by the “arrogant” Americans, now found the American translation of the English language become more globally recognised than the original language itself. As culture was “infected” by Americans, so too was the political and business side of the UK which became increasingly “Americanised” as the Brits took a more US-style approach to their jobs, inspired by films depicting the corporate side of America, such as Wall Street.

The early 21st century finds the global cultural influence of America seemingly on a slow downswing. This decline could be attributed to many factors, none of which could be definitively proven. Perhaps people are tiring of the influences of another country and want to reinvest in the rich histories and cultures of their own countries. Maybe there are simply no further developments to be made by embracing the American way of life; is Britain any less American than America itself these days? Another factor could simply be that America no longer represents the same image as it did when it began to influence the UK back in the 1950s. Its reputation severely damaged by political fiascos such as Bill Clinton’s sex scandals (which could have come directly from an episode of “Jerry Springer” in itself) and a declining ability to offer any assistance or influence to other countries could have led to a weakened perception of America as a whole, and therefore its culture.

Also, the USA has never quite managed to shake off its notorious reputation for sleaze and stupidity, despite the only evidence being hearsay and a small minority of US citizens. However, to suggest that US culture has but a small presence in the UK would be extremely misleading. Most towns and cities feature at least one McDonald’s restaurant, the most famous fashion brands are American based and some weeks there are more American television shows broadcast on British TV than home-made shows. Modern impressions of America are also quite different now. The younger generations were brought up on a diet of “America”, and unlike the older generations, there is nothing “alien” about the way of life. In conclusion, then, it is apparent that despite all attempts to censor and protect the British from American cultural influence, today’s Britain would be a startlingly different landscape from the “Americanised” Britain we live in today, a country whose mass media is largely owned and run by American-based companies, giving America more influence over the minds and opinions of the British public than ever.