My preconceived ideas of the British People
In English class yesterday, we were discussing England and what we thought off the British people. We all talked about it for a while, and all conclusions were referring to stereotypes, but it was a good discussion nonetheless.
My impression of Britain and of British people used to be very stereotypical. I used to watch a lot of television growing up and one of my favorite channels (together with Cartoon Network, I admit) was BBCPrime. I just loved it! Anne Robinson with her “You are the weakest link, goodbye”, Trinny and Susannah and their straightforwardness, those auction shows where people would sometimes sell ridiculous things for ridiculously high prices, the animal shows, I even watched Eastenders for a while.
But then my most favorite one ever, Keeping up Appearances.
Keeping up Appearances is a British sitcom about Hyacinth Bucket (it’s pronounced Bouquet, mind you). She’s a very snobby housewife who likes to pretend to be more aristocratic than she is, spending most of her time maintaining her perfect house (always warning visitors not to brush up against her walls) and trying to impress other people.
There was a Portuguese version as well, very well made in my opinion. It was translated as Cuidado Com As Aparências and the main character was called Jacinta Bimbo – pronounced Bimbô. Just like Hyacinth, Jacinta would have her last name mispronounced all the time, and she would get very upset about it. The original version was obviously better, but I still watched both.
I honestly don’t know why I liked it so much. It was cute and funny, but there were definitely better and different sitcoms I could relate to more. But I don’t know, I used to find it hilarious and laugh myself silly every time it was on. Anyway, it’s not like I still watch it everyday at 17:30 or at 21:30 on BBCPrime anymore…
Yes, right, moving on. The English class. For a very long time, that was how I though all British people were. Now that I have a different perception of things, I’m glad they’re not. But I can’t help to love Hyacinth. She’s so unbearably cute!
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