I'm sure many of you are familiar with the show Army Wives. While I was in France this past weekend, I recognized the characters from it in a teaser on French TV. I was at first surprised to see that they broadcast the show in France, but I got over that initial shock pretty quickly when I saw how they were broadcasting it. Instead of calling it Army Wives, it is simply labeled American Wives. I found this to be quite troubling. I don't know if a lot of French people watch the show, but given that it's centered solely around Army wives and the dramatized struggles they go through, I take issue with simply calling it American Wives. The Army represents a fairly small segment of our population when considered in the context of the variety of other women who are married and living in the States. What do you think is the reasoning behind the title of this show in France? Can you think of any other examples either in our culture or in another culture where a television show is re-branded and ends up incorrectly depicting an entire population?
It seems really odd that they would call the show just "American Wives" and not distinguish the difference. It's possible they did it to bring the national aspect into it; meaning, if it was called "Army Wives" in France, viewers might think it referred to the French army. So this way it distinguishes what they mean, and since it is about the American army, that's how they thought to do it. But it does give the impression that this is how "American wives" are, which is obviously not the case.
It seems really odd that they would call the show just "American Wives" and not distinguish the difference. It's possible they did it to bring the national aspect into it; meaning, if it was called "Army Wives" in France, viewers might think it referred to the French army. So this way it distinguishes what they mean, and since it is about the American army, that's how they thought to do it. But it does give the impression that this is how "American wives" are, which is obviously not the case.
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