Kevin Kallaugher

Lexington at The Economist admonishes America to turn that frown upside down. Despite news to the contrary, there is plenty to be cheerful about. And besides, Americans, compared to their trans-Atlantic brethren in Europe, are supposed to be the cheerier lot. They do, lest we forget, have 'the pursuit of happiness' enshrined in their constition as a basic human right. "Americans have traditionally been much more optimistic than Europeans, and happier too. They believe that people determine their own destinies rather than being the mere playthings of fate. They also believe that their children will have a better life than they do."

He cites the dropping rates in American crime and social ills like teenage pregnancy as indicating a turn-around, with or without the gaining influence of religious right-wing factions in public culture.

This may in fact be the classic cultural cliche (compare Frank Capra's movies to Ingmar Bergman's) but even the American happy ending seems to have died out as the film ending of choice -- even at Hollywood. Behold the raft of "serious" American films this year starring A-list actors (Cruise, Clooney, Redford) about misguided US endeavors in Iraq and the Middle East at large. The Zeitgeist of American cinema is certainly ripe for self-reflection and not a little self-flaggelation, admittedly a mode of penance perfected post-Vietnam but never quite exhausted.

The most patriotic Hollywood film this year was in fact made by a European, German director Werner Herzog. Rescue Dawn may be a Vietnam movie, but it spends more time celebrating the individualist American spirit than critizing the war. Certainly the "idea" of America is highly attractive to large parts of the world. But whether it works in practice, beyond the motivational goals of a shining ideal, is another question entirely.