WombatNation

Whenever I travel, I always like to watch a bit of what the local TV channels are running since I believe that local television broadcasts can tell you a lot about the local culture. Okay, maybe not, but I like to give it a try anyway.

When I was in Munich last week, I caught dubbed reruns of Hogan’s Heroes on TV several times. What the heck was that about? That would be like watching movies of John Wayne battling the “savage natives” on a Indian Reservation TV channel.

It’s not like they had a jones for any American 1970’s era slapstick comedy. There was no Gilligan’s Island, Bewitched, or I Dream of Jeanie. Just Hogan’s Heroes. Our friend in Munich said that Germans generally view Hogan’s Heroes as especially funny because the stereotypes of Klink and Schultz are so over the top.

The Wikipedia article I linked to above ends with:

The show later became popular in Germany, with dubbed-in lines. In response to the sensitivities over Nazism, when German characters raised their arms and said “Heil Hitler” in the original version, the dubbed German version would replace that line with something ridiculous, such as “The wheat grows this high”.

I wish I had read this beforehand, as I would have listened more carefully, not that my German is that good anyway.

It was close for a while, but I think that Tony Blair has taken a clear lead over George Bush in being most hated in his own nation. I was aware of some level of backlash against Blair before I got to London, but the English (possibly motivated by what’s going on in California) are talking seriously of recalling him, or more likely getting him to step down. I can’t imagine Davis or Bush facing the music and voluntarily abdicating.

When it comes to being hated in other nations, though, Bush is the clear winner. In my admittedly highly unscientific poll, Bush is the least popular world leader among people in England and Germany. Germany wasn’t that much of a surprise, but I didn’t expect Bush to be so widely despised and ridiculed in England.