Manic Homicidal Xenophobes

Just a quick note. I always thought it would be interesting if, in the movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, all of the aliens were played by Americans, and British actors were specifically cast as the humans. This would preserve the integrity of the story while allowing the all-important (in the movie world) American audience to latch onto something familiar. The aliens would have an inherent other-ness that I suppose most of the rest of the world experiences when dealing with Americans. As a bonus, the evil and bureaucratic Vogons' "high, piggy foreheads" could bear a resemblance to cowboy hats, and they could come equipped with Texan accents.

The Tertiary Phase radio series has done something like this. The gentle but completely isolated people of Krikkit, who turn into manic homicidal xenophobes overnight upon discovering that there is a whole rest of the Universe out there and that they are not the sole inhabitants of it, all have American accents.

Is this the way the rest of the world sees us? I suppose if they get their view of America from the psychotic right-wing voices that dominate the airwaves of America's "liberal media", they probably do. If that's the case, let me state for the record: WE ARE NOT ALL LIKE THAT. NOT EVEN MOST OF US. THESE XENOPHOBIC NUTJOBS ARE A SMALL BUT VOCAL MINORITY AND DO NOT SPEAK FOR AMERICA.

There. Just wanted to get that out. Of course, there are quite a few xenophobic nutjobs who will tell you I am full of crap. But, hey, they're nuts.