Since Gwenyth Paltrow made her comments on the state of American intelligence and civility, people have been asking me: "Is she right? Are Americans dumber and less civilized than our British counterparts?" Well, I'm not sure that I'm qualified to answer that. Are our sports hooligans more destructive? Are our racists less civilized? Was Bush dumber for going into Iraq, or Blair for supporting him? These are questions that I can't answer.
But I am completely convinced that Ms. Paltrow can. I had the good fortune to meet her at a luncheon served in honor of the Prince of Monaco in Newport, RI, and I must say I found my conversations with her both delightful and insightful. Here's just a few of the amazing tidbits:
Her thoughts on the poor:
"I think if the poor were more like me, they wouldn't be poor."
On the No Child Left Behind Act:
"I think if our school system wouldn't let all the poor, stupid, ugly, people in, then we wouldn't need No Child Left Behind."
On racism:
"I think the Brits handle issues of race in their society much better than Americans. For them it's simple: if a black man plays for your team, you cheer for him. If not, you give him the monkey chant."
And finally, on whether Americans are less civilized than their British counter parts or not:
"I think when I did Shallow Hal, it really broadened my range as an actress. It showed that I could do lowest common denominator, especially if I'm making fun of people that aren't as pretty or as skinny as me."
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