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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jester47" data-source="post: 216787" data-attributes="member: 2238">Wow, this post hits close to home.  See, I am almost technically Swedish.   My mother's side can claim citizenship all the way up to me (I can't, and I think I am a little too American).  This explains why (at least in my mind) I love Ingmar Bergman flicks, can easily find my way around an IKEA store, and really do love meatballs.  Also I am a really messy cook (Bork Bork Bork!!).Anyways, I digress.  I think there are several reasons we seem more imaginative.  The first is population.  We have provinces (called states) the size of countries.  We are a whole magnitude bigger.  There is no such thing as American Culture.  Our "Culture" is a salad/soup made up of the cultures of the world.  That is the reason we kick so much butt.  We have huge chuncks of africa and europe and asia and india in our culture.  We come from desert nomads and warriors who chased buffalo.  We share the Blood of Ghengis Kahn, Alexander the Great, and Caesar Augustus.   We are the place where all the cultures of the world are meeting, and so among the population we have someone that understands your country and culture, no matter where you come from.  We are Vikings and Samauri.  We have deserts, plains, lush forests, rolling hills, vast swamps, and enough scenery to inspire epic novels for the next thousand years.  Europeans on the other hand have small countries, and smaller populations than the US.  These countries have pretty much one culture.  Patrick said it himself, he can CROSS A BRIDGE and be in another country.  For me to be in another country, I have to drive about 4 hours.  And thats because I am on the edge of this one.  Most northern europeans can drive to Italy in a day.  I have to drive for three days to get to mexico.  Less people means less folks to write cool ficiton and make cool movies.  I mean what great sci-fi/fantasy has come out of Guam?But do not sell sweden, or europe for that matter short.  You have the scenery, real castles and the history.  You guys (not counting england) have some great fantasy and science fiction writers and film makers.  First, the seventh seal.  Ingmar Bergman.   Sweedish.  Second Fritz Lang, awesome director and writer.  Influenced tons of people with Metropolis.  Not to mention Jules Vern.  French, broke more ground than H.G. Wells.  Europe is creative, europe does write awesome fantasy.  Don't forget about Michael Ende's Neverending Story (It took the americans to butcher that into a movie).  Amazing stuff is comming out of spain and portrugal.  One of the coolest Fantasy movies I have seen recently is Le Pacte des Loups.   Sure it has a lot of history in it, but if that guy ever decides to do a pure fantasy movie, he will kick ass.  But I need to make somthing clear.  It does not matter where you come from, or what you see.  Imagination is some powerful stuff.  The best example is Robert E. Howard.  He never really left the part of Texas where he grew up.  Yet he influenced Tolkein, Lovecraft, Lewis, (all those english guys) Leiber and almost everyone writing fantasy today.  So it really does not matter where you come from, just as long as you fight to get it out there.   Its not cultural.  Its just the numbers. Aaron Webb</blockquote>

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