In a brief email exchange yesterday, I said I would put my thoughts on Lars Von Trier's statements about his American-ism in this weblog. Let me first disclose (maybe redundantly) that I am an American. I am a proud American, but I am also often ashamed of my country. By this I mean I believe there is difference between what america is, and what America could be.

My thoughts on Von Trier’s statements are to say the least complex, and as this is a blog, I'm trying to be simple, which probably means it will be more confusing. Is there anything contradictory or wrong about him making a trilogy of films about America without ever setting foot in the country? No. He is 100% right in saying “America is sitting on our world.” Its culture and ideas and implicitly its contradictions are constantly exported without regard to whether actually anyone wants to import them. And as one of those choice-less importers, he has a view of America regardless of whether he’s visited the country.

That said is Von Trier, an American? No, I don’t believe he is. America is undeniably a country of immigrants, and although not everyone came here of their own free will, anyone can choose to be an American (despite current legal immigration dificulties). I don’t however think declaring yourself American at a press conference counts. The American government, corporations and moneyed interests might be trying to make the world over in their own image, but that doesn’t mean they are making you an American. To become an American you have to make the choice of coming to America and take part in its many contradictions, what it is, what it isn’t, and what it could be (For everything that America could be, it has to first deal with what it is - Yes, the founding fathers created a blueprint for a representative democracy and free society, but they did on the backs stolen land, claiming one person was only worth 3/5 of another, and by using compromised techniques that kept people separate from the halls of power). This is not something Von Trier has done, and in the end, I think we are better off for it.

His perspective is more valuable and his opinions more potent, as an artist creating a vision of America that forces Americans to face a version of themselves, whether they like it or not and whether they agree with it or not.