My wife is German and her family lives in Nurnberg. I remember when I first me them, I told them that my father was born and raised in the bronx (1940s-1950s). They were shocked. Their version of the bronx was based on the movie "Fort Apache" and had no other visions of how that area looked like other than how it was portrayed in media venues in Germany. Years later I took my wife down into the Bronx to see where my Dad was born and worked as a NYPD officer there for 20 years. I wasn't anything like she had pictured.

Interesting observations on racism, media portrayal and cross-cultural understandings. I agree with Tequila. All we can do is try to educate our own people, our allies and approach other cultures with an open mind. We all know the hollywood portrayal of America is 1) no where accurate and 2) often the only cultural exposure other nations have to America.