American mannerism

I'm glad this forum hosts so many U.S nationals because as everybody else I often watch American films or series.
Two people meet for the first time and one of them readily says "Call me John" (instead of the "Mr Scott" the other person started with).
Now, why is that? Why does he beg for more familiarity with someone he has been introduced to two minutes ago?
I just can't understand and I'm shocked. No Brits would ever say that.

I don't think anyone would actually say call me Mr but in times gone by it was accepted that you would refer to each other as Mr This or Mrs That, at least in polite society. Times are changing however, I was recently contacted by my bank. The young woman had no misgivings about calling me by my first name despite the fact she was probably less than half my age and didn't know me from Adam. Anyway as I owe them rather more money than I actually have at the moment I thought it best not to say call me Mr!!! Call me old fashioned but I do find it slightly depressing!

The same thing would happen in Canada, the tendency to call anyone by anything except their first name has dropped off drastically over the past two decades. Even in the higher government executive service area it is common for the occasional government staff member to address officials of any dept by their first name. I feel uncomfortable if anyone addresses me as "sir" or "mister" or by just by my last name.

I don't call my boss, his boss or even his boss anything except by their first names, and this company has over 90K employees in Canada. It is just a sign of the times we live in, and I have to say it is one of the nicer signs that I see.

CS

I always start out when first meeting someone by Mr. or Mrs. I very seldom use the word 'Sir or Ma'am,' except for sometimes I might answer a question out of the blue with 'Oh, yes sir/ma'am." Not in a formal capacity though, just a way of me expressing that I strongly agree with something.

When speaking with someone in a professional capacity I often use 'yes sir, yes ma'am.'. That is, unless we end up with the 'oh, call me . . . etc etc,' thing. Nine times out of then we are on a first name basis.

In Blimps example I agree that the young lady should have referred to him as Mr. Often a phone conversation starts out with the caller saying, "Good morning/Afternoon, this is Mrs. or Mr. so and so." In that case I use ma'am or sir. I don't know their first name and I'm not asking. They may know mine and call me by it, but I still answer in what I feel is a respectful way. Maybe they'll learn something by it.

I'll take a shot here...

The person might honestly be trying to be humble and/or friendly. But it's also an ingratiating behavior! An auto salesman might walk up to you, shake your hand, and say something like that in an attempt to quickly get into your good graces (and eventually, into your wallet).

A guess here. Well, two guesses:

First guess:
Thanks to that exchange, you now know that the character's name is John Scott - and knowing both names might be very important to the story. Depending on the point of view it can be hard, very hard, to tell a character's name to the reader or viewer of a story. If I write a first person POV story about someone who see a stranger then the reader doesn't know who that stranger is - and then language gets awkward.
The unknown woman then sat down and ordered a drink...
The Lady in Yellow shot me a hard look...
Then she... and after that she... and then she...

Awkward. Especially keeping track of who "she" is referring to.

Compared it to:
Helen Green sat down and ordered a drink.
Mrs. Scott shot me a hard look...

That's much easier to write and it flows better for the reader.

In your example, we know that the character is John Scott. If we later meet a Sally Scott or a Bill Scott then we can assume that there's a relationship there. If there's a gunshot and someone (say Sally Scott - his wife) screams the name "JOHN!" we have a good idea that John Scott has been shot (or is shooting). If we see a headline that says "John Scott - shot dead at Hotel" we know who has been shot.

Imagine being introduced to Mr. Scott, his wife Mrs. Scott, Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones, and a few other characters. Then there's a gunshot and Mrs. Scott screams "JOHN". We (the viewer or reader) won't know who Mrs. Scott is referring to - and if it's her husband than she would scream his first name, not his last one, and we don't have first names for Smith or Jones.

Second guess:
To explain why these people who have just met are going to doing whatever the plot calls for them to do - and do it together. In many movies, within a scene or two of that first meeting John and the person he's just met are neck deep in adventure, intrigue, mystery, etc. The more barriers between those two characters, the less likely is it that they'd stick together when they discover the map to the lost diamond mine. Most plots work best if the characters are on a first name basis and are becoming friends.

But those are just guesses...

And to counter that point:
Ever notice how Donald Trump is Mr. Trump to everyone on his show? Everyone knows that he's "The Donald" and everyone calls him Mr. Trump. That's one of the realer bits of that show.

Goodgulf

Shouldn't they call him "Wiggy" in honour of that birds nest he wears on top of his head. In any case it shouldn't be a case of this fellows got lots of money let's call him Mr. I think everyone deserves the respect of being called Mr or Mrs in certain situations at least. I don't want to go back to the days of forelock touching and grovelling to ones betters!

Maybe it's because he has money - or maybe it's because he's "the Boss" on the show (even if it is the producers who decide who is fired).

Goodgulf

You have to remember that in our stories on the LSF whenever we write about a teacher, principal, headmaster or mistress, we always refer to that person as Mr. or Miss - Mrs. Sir or Ma'am. So, even in our fiction we show respect.

Miss Taylor, Peterson, Beaumont and Thrashbottom would not be very happy if called by their first names.

I wonder what Miss Thrashbottom's first name is???? Cherry, Hazel, Myrtle, Olive or Willow perhaps?