[HarlighQuinn]

Originally Posted by Finnegan (View Post) Gee, I thought I had just posted that I don't have an opinion on this matter ("I'm not sure what, if anything, is distinctively American about YA"), partly because, as an American, I'm not well-placed to have one.

And yet, you do. It might be posed rhetorically but it's there.

Funny how that works.

Originally Posted by Finnegan (View Post) Harligh, your having lived in the UK probably makes you better able to opine on this than I am. That was not apparent in your first post on the matter, in which you wrote that you were "speaking as an American."

The crazy thing about opinions is that they are separate from fact. Fact is that anyone from any nation could answer this question and provide their own arguments/opinions and still be justified because its all a matter of conjecture.

Regardless, when I stated "Speaking as an American" I was only referring to American culture not the show. Moreover, my previous appraisal of the show's narrative of American life being privileged, somewhat ignorant, yet overwhelmingly innocent was my opinion alone, I don't know if other American's feel that way. But I appreciate their opinions (as well as the opinions of other nationalities) which you might want to learn to do every now and again.

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by HarlighQuinn (View Post) And yet, you do. It might be posed rhetorically but it's there. Funny how that works.

I seem to suffer from lack of credibility.

I truly don't know to what extent YA is distinctively American.

What's needed to address the question of how well YA might be reset in some other country is native knowledge of the other country, and I, as an American, lack it. I've spent only a decade of my life in other countries; I don't have native knowledge of any of them, much less all of them. Anja would surely be better qualified to opine as to how well YA could be reset in Germany, Sheida to opine as to how well it could be reset in Iran. (I suspect that there might be grounds to fear for young Miss Pratt's welfare in Iran, but I would defer to Sheida on that, and about Germany or any other European country, I truly have no confident opinion at all.)

Why does this seem incredible?

One wants to believe that what one find in works of art is there for some good reason -- and unless one approaches them with that hope, one isn't like to see whatever good there may be in them. So, obviously, the conclusion that I'd like to reach is that the title of "Young Americans" means something, that "Americans" is in it for some good reason -- as "young" plainly is. I just don't see how. Maybe others do. Non-Americans may be better placed to see it. When I point out that Antin was half English, it's to ask whether he could see America in a way that I cannot, but as non-Americans may be able to.

But maybe "Americans" isn't in the title of the drama for any good reason; I think YA has a lot of artistry, and a lot of incisive cultural criticism, but I don't think its perfect.

[wolkenfuehlen]

Okay, guys, let's calm down again, okay? We all want this board to stay a fun place to discuss things and don't want things to turn nasty, right?

Originally Posted by Finnegan (View Post) What's needed to address the question of how well YA might be reset in some other country is native knowledge of the other country, and I, as an American, lack it. I've spent only a decade of my life in other countries; I don't have native knowledge of any of them, much less all of them. Anja would surely be better qualified to opine as to how well YA could be reset in Germany, Sheida to opine as to how well it could be reset in Iran.

I'm gonna have to get back to you both re: the topic at hand, because a) I have early shift tomorrow and should be in bed already and b) I think I really need to think long and hard about both what may be distinctly American on the show and what is distinctly German and would/could get in the way of a German remake of YA.

[s e r e n i t y]

Yup, like Anja said, lets keep to friendly discussion

Woah never imagined Young Americans being set in Iran, I dont really know of any boarding schools here in Iran there are a select few schools that have dorms for people who come from the towns around the cities though theres like one in our city so and well, seeing as how there is a possibility of Jake getting arrested for doing what she did and not just expelled I doubt she would ever do it then theres also the fact that considering how gay people are arrested (I have heard tales of executions though not sure how true they are in this day and age) I honestly doubt Hamilton would have taken the leap

and of course the cotillion would have never taken place a kid like Scout with family money would pretty much never get a job in a burger place in Iran, its just ... not done... Bellas mum ... well if she cheated on her dad she'd definately be arrested and possibly (again, Im not really sure about the law, you hear so many different things) executed and the list goes on really, I honestly dont see the possibility of a Young Iranians show

[Finnegan]

Upon further reflection ...

Maybe one should consider the words in the title of "Young Americans" together rather than separately.

YA's most conspicuous feature, in my view, is its moral idealism. One would not want to say that moral idealism is distinctively American. But America is surely one of very few countries born in a fit of moral idealism, for which a reliving of national youth is associated with a recovery of moral idealism. Every country has its New Jerusalem aspirations,but few countries were founded in such an aspiration. For most countries, with far longer histories, moral idealism has been more a product of maturation. (And if American was born in moral idealism, that's because it was born of Europe's maturation.)

For America, the national youth is the moral utopianism of New England from its first settlement to the civil war -- ideologially diverse but consistently strident across two centuries. Perhaps this struck Antin during his first trip to New England, in 1998, which, he said, inspired him to write YA. "I fell in love with New England," he told a reporter.

FINN: Listen very closely Gentlemen. Tell me what you hear. ... WILL: History. FINN: Keep going Mr. Krudski. What do you mean by history?