I'm a big movie watcher. Action movies, horror movies, comedy movies, anything. When you watch as many movies as I do you come to realise a certain characteristic of mainstream American movies that really starts to get on your nerves: this something is, as I call it, the God Bless America moment, or GBA moment for short. It is the moment of the film, so overloaded with patriotism, the sense of victory and complete sentimental mush, where you can just imagine the stars and stripes unfurling slowly in the background and the "star spangled banner" echoing through the speakers.
I guess the GBA moment is something deeply imbedded in the American psyche, because it only seems to happen in American movies. I heard once from some media mogul that the American public won't accept any movie or TV show that doesn't have a tinge of optimism underneath everything. The need for a plucky 'underdog' feature of many US films probably best demonstrates this need for optimism. The underdog must always overcome all adversity to do what is supposedly impossible; the overuse of the 'underdog' feature by American directors is annoying enough in itself, but the fact that in the moment where the adversity is actually overcome, you get a complete overload of mushy, putrid sentimentality, with everyone in view cheering, maybe a former bad guy giving in and smiling with everybody else (and if not then just frowning and sulking), and the hero being patted on the back by everyone (sometimes even lifted up onto shoulders.
It's enough to make you laugh, and often (if the film is clearly 'America wins the day') scream "get over yourselves". Remember the moment in "Independence Day" when the president ends his "today we celebrate" speech? I felt the whole cinema retch; but in the USA, people would have been cheering and applauding with them. Would it work for England? "Today we celebrate our St George's day!!" I don't know, we don't have many immense national celebrations like the Americans do, and we certainly wouldn't ever pay homage to them in British Films! Imagine the closing words by the lead actor "god save the Queen!" in a movie like "Trainspotting" or "Four Weddings"...
Obvious examples: