Roger Ebert expresses contempt for America

Okay, so it's not news, but Ebert spends the last paragraph of his review for "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" insulting his own home country for lacking the whimsy developed by the Brits:

But it's remarkable, isn't it, that the Brits have produced Narnia, the Ring, Hogwarts, Gormenghast, James Bond, Alice and Pooh, and what have we produced for them in return? I was going to say "the cuckoo clock," but for that you would require a three-way Google of Italy, Switzerland and Harry Lime.

I guess he's never bothered to read Twain, then, has he? He must have passed on Thurber's marvellous parody of fantasies, "The 13 Clocks", and skipped the opportunity to scan the magical pages of short stories in Bradbury's Martian Chornicles -- or Bradbury's dark fantasies in "The October Country", for that matter. There was wonder and humanity and wit in all of it.

Or, outside of wondrous literature, haven't Americans brought humans the glory of mechanical flight, and then interplanetary travel? Not whimsical enough a form of transporation for you, Roger? What about the paddle wheel boat?

And, how about popcorn? Pumpkin pie? You don't think the Americas contributed to, perhaps, your girth? Of course, on the downside, we did build Hollywood. So we do have a little bit for which we must atone. We gave Ebert a career, after all.