I like UK folks.
Having been there twice and NOT added to the stereotype( "Ah carn't beLIEVE 'e's so quiet! I never 'eard of it, a shy American!"
) I too had my eyes opened as to how much of England does NOT conform to the snobby, stale stereotype we sometimes get. ( Riding the trains the night a local "football"
team had won against another local team....eye opening indeed:eye-popping:
)
Thing is, you're still cool to us in many ways. Witness "Brit as hero/villain in Yank movies":
Even though it's often grumbled about that English actors are often cast as villains in American movies, it isn't because we think less of you, but rather because the demeanor, acent and mannerisms communicate intelligent, calculated, and therefore frequently successful, evil plans
.
Portrayed as the good guys, you're the James Bond type. never ruffled in the face of danger,not so much the macho-oozing, action hero cool but the unruffled, social-engineer-with-stunt-training cool, stiff upper lip and all that.
Kind of fits once thought through.
Americans in general, have traditionally been an all-or-nothing type of society for better or worse. We like the big win, the touchdown, the first-round knockout. There seems to be something in us that needs to know, and for everyone else to know, that not only did we "win", whatever it constitutes in the particular case, but that we won by an unquestionable margin. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it is not, because not all fights CAN be won that way, yet many crucial ones still must be fought slow and steady. Some of this it's taken our current situation to finally come to realize.
You have the calm , unrushed confidence of experience, and we the energy and percieved invincibility of youth, and it reflects in our heroes.
You got "...Aren't you in the wrong room, Mr. Bond?.....Not from where I'm standing".
We got "Braddock!...Don't step on any toes!........I don't step on toes, Mr. Chairman.....I step on NECKS".
It was the same difference in vibe and "energy" in the general populace in America post 9/11 , and in England when the Blitz was on. Somewhat similar circumstances( though the blitz was longer), Similar but distinct reactions.
Here, there was the natural shock, then burst of outrage, but there was all of the singing and pulling together and for just those few days/weeks there were cross sections of US culture who were giving blood and volunteering on their own time to clean up Ground Zero and just pulling together in ways that were stone cold unthinkable to do prior to the event.
I've seen footage of the Blitz and heard accounts of how that was handled--Brits just kept right on, going to work, living their lives, didn't cave for one minute to the bombers, stiff upper lip and all that.
I mean we like to make noise every now and then about how we're a pretty tough breed when times call for it but even WE can't claim THAT level of resilience, it was like "right--is that all you got?"
Then we both commenced to asskicking but did it each in our accustomed ways--us, to fight like a young man, all recklessness, athleticism, size, strength and savagery, and you, as an older, wiser one might--he's been young, and has been through that, and knows how to fight *around* a young man, slipping, voiding, countering and saving the energy for when a shot to where it HURTS opens up.
This last few years, I think, has forced us into a period of( i hope) forced maturation so maybe we'll start seeing more options as we stop being young--Our "young" country is getting to that late 20's-early 30's stage where the invincibility begins to wear off, and while his muscle isn't gone, he's getting sore for longer periods after each fight.
(Of course that'd have to put your country in his 70's but hell--so's Chuck Norris and nobody ****s with HIM).
. Part of that is of course the fact that we welded ourselves together from four different countries, each of which has elements that will not tolerate elements from the others 
. That worked well enough when we weren't so concerned about not treading on other peoples 'rights' but no so good when we reached post-Imperial 'enlightenment'.
.
