It's more that we understand and appreciate American popular culture, as does the rest of the world.
However in the presence of Americans we feel inferior.
We feel inferior because Americans express deference in a way that we interpret as dominance.
So quite wrongly we feel Americans are trying to dominate us. And so we feel inferior.
And the more Americans try to make us feel at home by exhibiting appropriate deference, the more we think they are trying to dominate us.
Unfortunately each of us show deference and dominance in different ways. So we can expect to misunderstand one another.
So understanding and appreciating popular culture in no way means we understand our deeper cultures.
I do not feel inferior in the presence of Americans. I never did.
My first American was a Texan. Time: August 1964. Place: London.
There was a shortage of hotel accomodation.
The agency said you can share, or you can live in the street.
I shared.
Texas was long an independent state.
They acquired land that was not their own. It belonged to the local people.
The locals were not allowed into the parks, recreational areas, hotels, pubs, restaurants.
Barbers' shops. Diners. Whatever. Forbidden territory.
The Texan in London talked of culture. He said London is great.
I said I have seen better.
Did I lie? I have a guilty conscience.
I call my priest.