I think the personification of a city is not at all uncommon. I personally find it unavoidable if you are anywhere long enough. Some places take a long time (Ottawa took me about 4 years) and some places are love at first site (San Diego and New Orleans each took me about 4 minutes). I am not a big fan of Paris, but I am sure that would change if I spent enough time there. It's just a let down when people talk about it like it's the greatest city in the world.

I thought Amelie was overrated, but I haven't seen it since I've been to Paris, so maybe I should watch it again.

LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. In America it's just called Amelie. One of my top 3 favorite movies. I cant wait to see her in The Dav Vinci Code !!!!!

I think you're right. And the thing with Paris is that it's such a different city. People are rude in a very special way, and they don't really see you worth their time unless you can speak french. I only knew a little at the time I was there, and I was a little shocked when in some places I couldn't even get a glass of water if I tried to order in english.
The way stores work, the underground, people without legs sitting in the middle of the road somewhere begging for money and people just walking around them like they're not there... Someone who has lived there told me that the beggars actually hurt their babies so that people would feel sorry for them and give them more money.
Everything seems weird to me in there. Of course London is different from where I live as well, but to me, that's a good kind of different.
Sorry for making this a London vs Paris thing.

I love the colors in Amelie, they're so vivid. I'd love for my place to look like hers does, and I actually know a girl who reminds me of her so much. The first time I went to visit her, she had Yann Tiersen playing. He's my favorite composer now, all his albums are great and have that Amelie vibe.

This is rotten of me but I can kind of understand this. Even if I was going to any non-English-speaking country I would definitely try to learn the language and I would make sure I was at least okay at it before I left, even if it was just for a few days. I would definitely not try to order a glass of water in English.
I have to deal with people who can't speak English and actually live here, and it is nightmarish and frustrating for both parties.

Anyway this thread is supposed to be about Amelie. Definitely on my list of favourite films. Love love love it.

yea, that was brillant. he seemed so innocent and sweet but he was working in a sex shop! haha

One of my favorite movies.

I understand that they cherish the language they have, but I do think it's a very french thing to expect tourists to learn it. I would never expect someone to learn finnish just because they're spending a weekend in Helsinki or something. My attitude isn't "how dare they not speak english, everyone should!", but I do think they could be nice about it. French isn't one of the easiest languages to learn, and I'm really shy using what I have learned, as I know my pronunciation is whack.

If they truly do not know how to speak english, does that mean they either won't travel, or does it mean that when they do, they expect people to speak french where ever they go, like some americans expect that they can pay with dollars no matter where they are?

Fuck dat! I speak French like a native speaker. Just CANADIAN French. And I got treated like shite by a lot of Parisiens. At best they thought I was a quaint oddity who had come to bastardize and butcher their language.

So you'd never go anywhere for a few years before you learnt the language? That's sad.

If a huge part of your economy is based on tourism, especially from America and the UK, you better believe people need to know English. That's the way the world works right now.

Haha, do some Americans really think that? That's hilarious.

People can do what they want but they should be considerate of the fact that wherever they are, they need to be able to communicate. If a French person is going to England, then I think they should learn some English so that getting around is easier. And if an English person is going to France, then they should learn some French for the same reasons.

I really don't understand what the big deal is. To me it's just common sense.

How is that "sad"? I'm just being considerate to the fact that the majority of the people in France speak French and therefore so should I. It's not sad at all.

Yeah, I KNOW. That's practically what I said in my post. People come to my country to live without bothering to learn English at all and it annoys the fuck out of me. I'm not going to learn Korean just so I can deal with a minority (which is becoming a majority) of lazy people.

I don't care what that makes me sound like, it's different when you're in the situation yourself and someone expects something from you but you don't know what the hell it is.

Amelie = one of the most influential pieces of anything in my life? Yes, maybe so.

Yeah, they do. Working at a store, I get that pretty much on regular basis. "You take dollars?" In Helsinki? I don't get it.
I see you're point, I get the fact that it's polite to even try. I'm going to drop this now so people can get back to Amelie.