Are We Ugly Americans?

Yesterday afternoon I started watching The Baader Meinhof Complex, as my b-i-l has Netflix instant view. The first three minutes probably would qualify as child porn in the United States; the family is shown at a clothing-optional beach, and not only is the father not wearing clothing, but so are his two prepubescent daughters. Maybe this is acceptable to show in movie theaters in Germany, but I don't think it would be tolerated in the United States. (I think Germany has a problem with the trafficking of children and with child porn, doesn't it?) I saw only the first 40 minutes of it, and it is an European film, with respect to sexual content (though there isn't that much, it briefly shows the father having an affair, and so on.)

What is interesting to me is the leftist revolutionary spirit -- my generation barely has a historical memory of the hippies and the student protests in the '60s and '70s. Who fomented all of this opposition to American foreign policy and involvement in the Vietnam war, and the desire for rebellion and anarchy? It is difficult not to see the hand of the Communists behind all of this. Were some German youths so anxious to reject Germany's Nazi history, resist totalitarianism, and embrace activism that they went to an extreme? So much so that they were easily manipulated by others? (Their own sinful pride should also be noted.)

How do other countries perceive Americans and the National Government? Has the perception changed since the 1960s?

Christopher Hitchens's review