MOSCOW -- Each country has a reputation. For France, it is wine and food; for Italy, wine, food and the pope; for Holland, canals; for Austria, skiing; for Russia vodka, snow and bears.
Stereotypes are in most cases correct, and that's why they are so widespread. Some nations have spent decades trying to persuade the rest of the world that they are different from their stereotypical images, but the world refuses to believe. The suggested revised editions of national identity almost invariably appear artificial and sometimes simply untrue.
Contrary to what academic snobs say, stereotypes rarely lie. The difference between them and reality is the difference between cartoons and feature films. True, in real life, or feature films for that matter, cats do not hit mice with hammers. Yet, as every cat owner can testify, the felines chase the rodents obsessively, almost like serial killers, and in this sense the hammer image from the cartoons is absolutely appropriate.