This article is about the negative stereotype about the behavior of Americans, especially abroad. For the 1958 novel about American diplomacy in Southeast Asia, seeThe Ugly American.
"Ugly American" is astereotype depictingAmerican citizens as exhibiting loud,arrogant, self-absorbed, demeaning, thoughtless, ignorant, andethnocentric behavior mainly abroad, but also at home.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Although the term is usually associated with or applied to travelers and tourists, it also applies to U.S. corporate businesses in the international arena.[7][8][9][10][11][12]
TheCollins English Dictionary defines an Ugly American as "a stereotypical representation of an American tourist as a brash and insensitivephilistine."[13] TheMerriam-Webster dictionary’s definition is: "an American in a foreign country whose behavior is offensive to the people of that country."[14]
The term made its appearance through the title of the 1958 book,The Ugly American.[13][14][15][16] The book was a thinly fictionalized chronicle of American diplomatic insensitivity, ineptness, and bungling inSoutheast Asia.[n. 1][15][18] The message of the book was that American officials abroad were ignorant of local customs, social norms, and culture, and consequently losing influence tocommunism in the region, during the period of theCold War.[15]
Since then, the term "ugly American" has become shorthand for the stereotype of loud, boorish American behavior abroad.[15] Although the 1958 novel was about diplomacy and made no reference to American tourists, the evolution of the term's usage to refer to ill-mannered Americans in foreign countries took place rapidly. In December 1959,Newsweek magazine referred to "poorly oriented" American study-abroad students in Europe as "the 'ugly' ones," and in June 1960, the mass-circulationParade magazine ran an article about tourism titled "Don't Be an Ugly American," written by Frances Knight, director of theU.S. Passport Office.[16]
The term has also been widely used in the international sporting arena.[19][20] The term was invoked afterJustin Leonard holed a 45-foot putt on the 17th green at the 33rdRyder Cup held in September 1999, resulting in extensive and adverse media coverage.[21][22]
Later, at the2000 Sydney Olympics, the term was widely used after members of the US4 × 100 relay team pranced around the stadium, flexing their muscles and making poses with the American flag, after winning a gold medal.[23] One foreign journalist called the incident "one of the most cringe-making exhibitions that the Olympics has seen".[24] This event was heavily criticized even by the American press and public. The members of the relay team were contrite and apologized for the incident the same day. Then, at the2006 Winter Olympics inTurin, the term was regularly used after the skiing superstarBode Miller, who bragged about skiing drunk before the Olympics, was adversely compared to the term "Miller time", and went home with no medals.[25] A lesser-known teammate was sent home for fighting in a bar.[26]
Intennis, the term was used in regard to players at the1987 Davis Cup for unsportsmanlike conduct.[27]John McEnroe was regularly cited in the media as being an "Ugly American" for his on-court tantrums and off-court negative comments aboutLondon andParis.[28] In contrast,Andre Agassi who early in his tennis career was labeled a "potential ugly American", managed to transform himself into a crowd favourite.[29] In women's tennis,Serena Williams's outburst at the2009 US Open semifinal againstKim Clijsters, and again at the2018 tournament reiterated the "Ugly American" label.[30]
After theUnited States women's national soccer team lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals of women's football of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil,Hope Solo called the Swedish team cowards unleashing multiple Twitter references associating her with this term.[31][32] At the same Olympics, Gold medalistRyan Lochte was named the ugly American by media outlets after falsely reporting a robbery at gunpoint during the tournament. Local police investigation showed that he and fellow swimmers in fact caused damage to a petrol station in Rio and were required to pay for the damage.[33]
The "ugly American" tourist stereotype has been heavily depicted in films, with characters such asSheriff J.W. Pepper inThe Man with the Golden Gun,[46] the Griswald family inNational Lampoon's European Vacation,[47][48] and Ralph Jones inKing Ralph.[49] The 2004 filmEuroTrip was originally slated to be named "The Ugly Americans" due to its depiction of stereotypical American tourists in Europe.[50] The producers changed the title shortly before its release.[51] A study carried out in 2002 revealed thatHollywood also contributes to the "Ugly American" image. The study found that the more access other countries had to American programs, the higher their negative attitudes toward Americans tended to be.[52]
The 2008 black comedy filmIn Bruges has the two protagonists, Irish hitmen hiding out in the Belgian city ofBruges, encounter obese American tourists who fit the "ugly American" stereotype, being crude, ignorant, loud and boorish.[53] The movieSex and the City 2 has been cited as a typical portrayal of the "ugly American" image, where Samantha makes fun ofMiddle Eastern culture and women in traditional dress during a visit to theUnited Arab Emirates.[54]
The Simpsons episode "The Regina Monologues" had the Simpson family getting into all sorts of trouble in England due to their boorish behavior, which results from ignorance of and unconcern for the local culture.[55]
^ In the book, "the titular ugly American is actually a kind, practical, wealthy engineer who is humble, speaks the local language, and works with people in their villages solving local problems — the exact opposite of what the term has come to mean."[17]
^Erik Adams, Sean O'Neal, Kyle Ryan, Dennis Perkins (June 20, 2018)."The Simpsons vacation episodes, ranked".The A.V. Club. RetrievedSeptember 8, 2024.The Simpsons has a long history of satirizing the British, but "The Regina Monologues" unsurprisingly turns Homer into the ugly American—"We're big-shot tourists from everyone's favorite country, the USA. We saved your ass in Vietnam and shared our prostitutes with Hugh Grant!"—who causes an international incident.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
