After having dated two French women, my observation is that the French are "snotty" to Americans because they resent the prevalence of American culture.
And they (as you said, T-Dave) feel their own culture and national identity slipping away, not only from American film and television (which is the most prevalent exported culture in the world) but also from Moroccans and other foreign groups entering France.
I don't know what it is that makes the French so much more territorial and Xenophobic than, say, Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland and other countries of Europe.
Although Germany would probably still be the most nationalist if it was not politically and militarily gutted in 1945.
But all are shrinking former empires, why is France the most Xenophobic?
I saw an Arab political pundit on PBS News a few weeks after September 11th, and she said that even after September 11th, she was amazed how friendly people in the U.S. were to her. She said in France, well before September 11th, French citizens would spit on her in the street, thinking she was a Moroccan.
I can say with authority from my lengthy friendships and dating relationships with french nationals, that they truly and deeply hate the Moroccans and their intrusion on French culture. (The Moroccans could be considered comparable to Cuban and Mexican immigrants in the U.S., coming North across the border for education and career/work opportuinities not available in their own country.)
And with France's globally vilified nuclear testing in the Pacific a few years ago, France also clings to its national image as a global power.
I think France resents the U.S. prominence that exceeds that of France, and it appears to me (as in the example of France voting the U.S. off the U.N. Human Rights Commission) the French seem to do whatever they can to frustrate U.S. military and diplomatic prestige.
In point of fact, France aided the U.S. in 1776 when we declared our independence from Britain, and France supplied the fledgeling U.S. with loans, military supplies and training of its first army.
The French had a personal stake in training the American Revolutionary army, weakening Britain by doing so.
And the U.S. had a personal stake in the Normandy Invasion, protecting Amercian security and economic interests.
So I don't think it's a case of "France owes us." It all washes out in the end.
My only complaint is:
France is an ally, and I wish they'd behave more like a friend of the U.S than an enemy who tries to undermine us at every turn.
