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No, I understood exactly what the joke meant.

I have to step in here, I grew up with French Canadians. The first non family kiss I ever got was at age 7 from a totaly gorgeous French girl named Carmen. My heart melted.

I don't think you're hating, R. The joke was dumb is all. It relies on a brainless sort of pride. No big deal. They can't all be gold.

While living in Maine, I'd go deer hunting with the French on their family sugaries in the woods of Quebec. Some of my best childhood memories there.

Relapse wrote:Luna, as I said earlier, I'm part French and thought the joke was funny. I just popped it on, not expecting the type of response it got. I viewed it one context and other people saw it as something else.

My bad there.

You dont need to apologize , i really dont hold you or anyone responsible in the thread o_o.
as you can see since the beginning , im just trying to understand out how these type of jokes came to be ( well this and other type of situations )

And im grateful really , that most of you didnt take the opportunity to take what i said out of context ( which can easily be done )
it has been very peaceful and helpful lately , and im very happy to be on the forum , appreciate it! ^-^v

@Manchu Too true. I thought it'd be a couple of comments at best. Just a dumb 'un, like you said.



@ Luna,

I've been told Polish jokes came about as a way to minimize the Poles prior to WW2. This way, the Nazis figured they could do what they wanted in Poland.

Definite urban legend feel there, but a grain of truth with the thought of one people minimizing another.

edited because it's late, I'm tired, good night.

I have to push you aside here. I also grew up with French Canadians(seeing as though my family history starts in Quebec). In the north my uncles always complained because they would never speak english to him until he got mad enough to make them speak it(he was an electrician and fixed up the power plants and generators in Quebec at times). My other family members up north have had to experience them first hand and haven't had any positive ones.

Now, I live in a "resort" town in the south and we have people from Quebec come here during the summer every year. They are smug, hate to speak english(yes they do know english), and in general are rude. A friend of mine works for a travel agency, she shares my sentiments.

Is the resort around the St Lawrence?

I still say that I don't see the "smugness" and ego necessary for the joke, just basic knowledge of history.

Americans landed at Normandy during WW2 and fought the germans(not the french) and most people who have had experiences with older people know that they like to yank the chain of the younger people.

It can suck bad when you have to work with the public for sure.

Relapse wrote:Is the resort around the St Lawrence?

Think middle of the US east coast.

I used to work in a New Orleans hotel, and I got a sour view of people there.

I have to confess though, the nicest people I've met during my working hours are Germans. Who would've figured?

halonachos wrote:

Relapse wrote:Is the resort around the St Lawrence?

Think middle of the US east coast.

Duh! I was thinking about Quebec city when you said Quebec. It's getting late for me.

halonachos wrote:I still say that I don't see the "smugness" and ego necessary for the joke, just basic knowledge of history.

By basic, it seems you mean shallow.

Does it truly matter manchu? Does one have to have a thorough knowledge of history to enjoy a simple joke? If you know that the french weren't at the beach and the americans and germans were you have the joke. You don't need to know about the other nations involved(the joke's not about the british, canadians, or others). If you really know your history, then you know that the French Resistance was operating by attacking roads and such, but weren't busy attacking the bunkers, mg nests, etc that were at Normandy. They were making sure reinforcements would be difficult to transport to Normandy. Although this doesn't really matter as the basic history was covered.

So by "basic" I do not mean "shallow" as "shallow" may imply a negative meaning.

Oh so much anger..... But yes it was a bad joke, no more no less

You're really bending over backwards to see this as not what it obviously is: a contrast between a brave and generous American veteran, standing in for all Americans, and an ungrateful and petulant Frenchman, standing in for all Frenchmen. This is not "falling into the stereotype trap." Rather, it's simply "understanding what is being communicated."

Meh, I loled.

sebster wrote: At de Gaulle's request, it was French troops that led the advance into Paris (although Eisenhower allowed this only on condition that no black soldiers be seen in this advance - the 2nd armoured was chosen as it was the only French unit that could maintain operational effectiveness while hiding it's black troops... history is messed up).

Really?
I gotta say sebster, I honestly did not know that. Funny piece of info there. And yeah, that's pretty messed up.

Some people just want to be offended.....

Imagine the OP as if it were done by the Monty Python Crew. Over acted and all that.
Would it be considered "funny" then? Or would the "easily offended" be up in arms about it?

And as for the "racism" issues..... We all post on a forum concerned with our mutual enjoyment of a GAME based on inherent .... racism.

Don't break your brains by thinking on that one too hard....

It helps to read the whole thread.

Manchu wrote:It helps to read the whole thread.

Hey, I'm all for racist jokes. It's like any other joke. If it's funny, it's funny. (My Indian/Canadian/Australian/Sri-Lankan/Whatever friend is the one who makes the most jokes against his colour.) You should only worry when people start taking it seriously.

Manchu wrote:You're really bending over backwards to see this as not what it obviously is: a contrast between a brave and generous American veteran, standing in for all Americans, and an ungrateful and petulant Frenchman, standing in for all Frenchmen. This is not "falling into the stereotype trap." Rather, it's simply "understanding what is being communicated."

You don't know if the frenchman was ungrateful, until the end the reader didn't even know that this guy was a vet. We only know what was communicated to us and all the rest is speculation. You can say that the frenchman apologized after he heard this, or he just plain snapped and killed everyone in the airport before riding his cyber unicorn into low orbit.

I see that it could be interpreted as anti-french, but it truly doesn't seem so.

Here's the scene I get:
Some old guy is going up to the customs desk(I will guess that there is aline behind him) and begins fumbling for his passport.
The customs agent is a little annoyed and remarks sarcastically "Have you ever been to France before sir?" mainly because it was almost plainly obviuos that this old guy had no idea about airport and international travel protocol.
The old man is able to produce a quick witted response by saying that he had been there before.
The officer states the obvious.
The old man counters with a statement.
The officer is shocked,
The old man explains.

I would also like to add that it would be rather silly for the customs officer at a FRENCH airport to be anything besides French.

Also, how would this joke play out if it was a canadian, or an englishman instead of an american? If anything it could be anti-old men who reminisce about the "old times" and feel like the younger generation should know what they did.

Let me ask you this: Is the joke still (attempting to be) funny if the guy impatiently demanding the passport is American airline employee rather than a French customs official?

If the airline employee had the same reactions then yes it would be.

I think some people just WANT to be offended.

Female mailmen find it offensive so now it's "mail PERSON".

Seriously?

Manchu.. that would depend on the location of the airport, now wouldn't it?

This joke makes zero sense in almost any other country.... save Italy and some parts of Africa. Also you would have to change the beach to reflect those locations.

I don't quite understand the transition of roles.

But yes, I don't really think this is a racist joke as such. (Or at least it's not the main point)

If you want to hear a racist joke then...*looks around*..you know, maybe not.

To be honest though, this thread has ruined this joke for me.

Seeing as though we're asking hypothetical questions, would it be funny if it was a british person instead of an american.

Really, I think the joke could work in any case, as long as there was some actual history behind it. (For example, a US vet visiting South Korea and being stopped for his passport?)