Even in a gleefully negative comic there is optimism although it's slightly hidden: It comes out through a comic character's sheer tenacity. He keeps going and trying to find some sort of fulfillment regardless of his perpetual failure record. That's a form of hope a form of optimism. Really hokey I know but it's true.
Now if you are like me - if you are like practically anybody in America - then you probably hold some negative opinions about the French based upon movies rumors recent headlines unfortunate run-ins with Parisian waiters or... you know... all that unpleasantness surrounding the Vichy regime.
We Hoosiers hold to some quaint notions. Some might say we 'cling' to them though not out of fear or ignorance. We believe in paying our bills. We have kept our state in the black throughout the recent unpleasantness while cutting rather than raising taxes by practicing an old tribal ritual - we spend less money than we take in.