A YouTuber took it upon himself to explore the genuine perception of British people towards Americans by conducting spontaneous interviews on the streets of London.
As far back as he could remember, the creator Nathanial Drew said that he felt the British looked down on Americans.
To support his claim, the YouTuber referred to an excerpt from Prince Harry's memoir, where the prince acknowledges that during his upbringing, he frequently heard warnings about Americans being "too loud, too rich, too happy, too confident, too direct, too honest."
Nathanial went to the streets of London and conducted interviews with passersby to attempt and ascertain their perceptions of their foreign neighbors to test his theory, which is that British people despise Americans and American culture.
"Oh you're from America, are you?" is the first thing that always makes me feel bad. Oh, all right,'' said one man, mock-grimacing.
According to an older British woman's perception, she believes that America is associated with various challenges, making it potentially difficult to live there, especially for people of color or those from the Middle East.
When asked about how she feels perceived by British people in London, a young American woman responded by saying that she feels like a "big, stupid, bellowing oaf." She further expressed that she always feels the need to apologize for being American.
A young man responded by saying that he believes Americans tend to look down on the British. He expressed the sentiment that: "Americans often think they are superior and there is a sense of competition between the two countries."
Another woman shared her thoughts by saying that Americans are "too extra" and that their behavior doesn't seem genuine to her.
She further explained the perception by mentioning that it's not about thinking Americans are dumb, but rather about the idea of always striving to be the best.
She expressed concern about the disparities in access to healthcare depending on where you are born in America, finding it frightening.
The woman concluded by questioning how one can claim to be "the best" when not everyone is taken care of in the country.
"I don't know how you can speak about being 'the best' when you can't even make sure that everybody's taken care of,' the woman concluded," she said.
One young man expressed his perspective by stating that he perceives British people as being "more polite" compared to Americans. He also mentioned that British individuals tend to be "more talkative" and "more helpful." However, he acknowledged that Americans are generally "nice," "funny," and have "good music."
Another elder British woman also supposed that there were some amazing Americans, and many of them were her friends; "They're great, they're fantastic," she gushed.
A Pew Research Center poll revealed that only 38% of UK citizens hold an 'unfavorable' view of the US as of spring 2023.
This is lower than in Sweden, France, Germany, Greece, and Spain, where 41%, 41%, 40%, 40%, and 39% of people have an 'unfavorable' view of the US.
Hungary had the highest percentage of people with an "unfavorable" view of the United States, with just over half of the respondents admitting to holding a negative perception of the country.
