Related to the thread topic, we were discussing the controversial theme tune of Enterprise in the ENT forum recently, and I said I thought it seemed too "American". A couple of people agreed with me. But Star Trek is an American show, of course! It's not that we're "anti-American", but there is a bombastic, self-regarding quality to the song which perhaps reflects the worst aspects of America's international image. Compared to this, the orchestral themes of earlier shows were more accessible to we foreigners.
I was one of those who agreed with you. I am American, but as I have lived half of my life outside the U.S.(including Australia, the UK, Russia, Germany, Korea, Italy and Japan) while performing embassy duty. I also speak 3 languages to near-fluency other than English. -Not to 'toot my own horn.' I believe my background provides to me a unique perspective regarding cultural sensitivity and bias that one may not get if they live their lives in one location.
I don't know that the song is necessarily bombastic, but I have not reviewed the lyrics. However, I believe the images displayed on-screen while the song plays do portray an American slant and would like to have seen a few more non-American space achievements represented in that sequence. And although there is a non-American within the crew, I think there should have been more international representation within the crew that would reflect the coming together of all nations that we (hope) we will see in the future.
One thing I have noticed in my travels is that Americans are much less aware of cultures outside their own in comparison to other developed countries. For example, I often see American movies and songs topping the charts in other countries, but rarely so is the reverse in the U.S. Perhaps it is because of this that the producers of American shows are not inclined to think in terms of representation of other cultures. In other words, they may not inclined to introduce such characters in a series because
they are not often exposed to them. Or perhaps they are afraid to introduce non-American characters because they don't want to deal with cultural issues that may come with the character.
Either way, shows often lose some credibility with foreign fans.