Interview on the Streets

 
 
 

Vocabulary

bum	bum rap	stand for (2)
local	run (2)	intelligent
monk	Utopia	mixed up
invade	currency	in terms of
blast	care (2)	for all I care
crater	turban	pretty soon
skate	attitude	friction (2)
axis	firm (2)	all of them
evil	Masonic	revolution
guess	mosque	reincarnation
stupid	wing (3)	based on
fry	coalition	collateral damage
damn	kidney	not necessarily
stuff	collateral	something to do with
fellow	suicide	throw-threw-thrown
diaper	willing

 

 

 
 

 

Video

 

 

 

Transcript

Now a lot of people give Americans a bum rap for being stupid, and knowing nothing about the world.

But the reality couldn’t be further from the truth, as I discovered on the streets here, asking US locals about the very world their country runs.

Journalist: “Name a country that beings with “U”.
Person 1: “Yugoslavia.”
Person 2: “With ‘U’? Utah.”
Person 3: “A country that starts with a ‘U’?”
Person 4: “Utopia.”

Journalist: “Who is in the coalition of the willing?”
Person 5: “No fricken idea.”
Person 6: “Afghanistan, Kuwait.”
Person 7: “Pakistan, Iraq . . . uh, do you know?”
Journalist: “New Zealand.”
Person 7: “New Zealand.”

Journalist: “What’s the religion of Israel?”
Person 8: “Israeli.”
Person 9: “Muslim.”
Person 10: “Islamic.”
Person 11: “Catholic, probably.”

Journalist: “What religion are Buddhist monks?”
Person 12: “Buddhist monks?”
Person 13: “Buddhist monks, Buddhist monks?”
Person 12: “Islamic. I don’t know.”

Journalist: “Who won the Vietnam War?”
Person 14: “We did. Were we even in the Vietnam War?”

Journalist: “Who’s Fidel Castro?”
Person 15: “A singer?”

Journalist: “How many sides does a triangle have?”
Person 16: “Damn, four.”
Person 17: “There are no sides. One?”?

Journalist: “What is the currency used in the United Kingdom?”
Person 18: “???”
Person 19: “What’s the currency of the United Kingdom?”
Person 18: “What is the United Kingdom? I don’t know.”
Person 19: “Possible American money.”
Person 18: “Queen Elisabeth’s Money? That’s all I know.”

Journalist: “Name a country that starts with “U”.
Person 20: “???”
Journalist: “What about this one?
Person 20: “What?”
Journalist: “United States of America.”

Journalist: “In terms of the War on Terror, who do you think should be the next country to invade?”
Person 21: “Saudi Arabia.”
Person 22: “Somebody in the Middle-East.”
Person 23: “We’ll make a big blast crater out of the f___ Middle East, for all I care.”
Person 24: “Um, I’m thinking Italy.”
Person 25: “Cuba.”
Person 26: “Iran.
Journalist: “Iran? Why Iran?”
Person 26: “I think there’s a revolution going on pretty soon.”
Person 27: “Russia, China.”
Person 28: “India and Pakistan.”
Person 29: “Indonesia, Brazil.”
Person 30: “Korea.”
Journalist: “Korea? Why do you say that?”
Person 30: “They’re trouble.
Journalist: “They’re trouble? What’s troubling about them?”
Person 30: “Their attitude.”
Person 29: “Canada.”
Person 31: “Sri Lanka? Never heard of it.”

Person 32: “South, south, south . . . where are we?”

Journalist: “North Korea? Why do you think North Korea?”
Person 33: “Probably nuclear.”

Person 34: “Probably France.
Journalist: “Why do you say France?”
Person 34: “There just seems to be friction between France and the United States.”

Journalist: “Where do you think would be the best place to invade Iran from?”

Person 35: “You know it’s amazing now that I realize that North Korea is a lot larger than South Korea.”

Journalist: “Kofi Anna is a drink. True or false?”
Person 36: “Coffee is a drink.”
Person 37: “Coffee in what?”
Person 38: “It sounds like a law firm.”

Journalist: “Who is Tony Blair?”
Person 39: “I don’t even know him.”
Journalist: “Ok, alright. Any guesses?
Person 39: “Any guess . . . a skater.”
Person 40: “Tony Blair’s an actor.”
Person 41: “Linda Blair’s brother?”

Journalist: “Which countries are in the Axis of Evil?”
Person 42: “Um. I know Germany is one of them. I’m not sure about the others.”
Person 43: “Okay, California. New York.”
Person 44: “Jerusalem.”
Person 45: “Jerusalem.”
Journalist: “Ok, there’s more than one.”
Person 45: “I think all of them.”
Person 43: “Florida.”
Person 44: “Okay, I’m mixed up with the Palestinians and the Israelis. Which ones are throwing the rocks?”
Person 26: “The fellow with the turban thing — I call it a diaper head really.”
Person 43: “I believe Mississippi.”

Journalist: “Who was the first man on the moon?”
Person 44: “John Glen.”
Person 45: “Armstrong walked on the moon, but I think it was a Russian. I’m not sure.”
Person 46: “Well, I can tell you some people don’t believe that really happen. They believe it was reincarnated in Arizona somewhere.”

Journalist: “What is a mosque?”
Person 47: “Don’t have any idea.”
Journalist: “Want to guess?”
Person 47: “An animal.”

Person 48: “I have no intelligent guess.”
Journalist: “Wanna make a stupid guess?”

Journalist: “How many kidneys does a person have?”
Person 49: “One.”

Journalist: “What is collateral damage?”
Person 50: “Well they made a film about it. It probably has something to do with what the movie was about, but not necessarily related to the movie. Do you know what I mean?”

Journalist: “How many World Wars have there been?”
Person 51: “Three.”

Journalist: “Which state does KFC come from?”
Person 52: “What the chicken? I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Journalist: “Okay, do you know what KFC stands for?”
Person 52: “Kentucky Fried Chicken, right?”

Journalist: “Star Wars is based on a true story. True or false?”
Person 53: “True.”

Journalist: “What are Hiroshima and Nagasaki famous for?”
Person 34: “Uh . . . judo wrestling?”

Journalist: “How many Eiffel Towers are there in Paris?”
Person 53: “I’d say about ten.”

Journalist: “What is Al Qaeda?”
Person 54: “Al Qaeda is a suicide group in Israel, in the Middle East, that does suicide bombings and stuff. And the president of that is Yasser Arafat. Everybody knows that.”

Person 55: “Listen to my answer: Al Qaeda is a wing of the Masonic Order.”

Journalist: “Where was the Berlin Wall?”
Person 56: ” . . . Believe me, I don’t know the answer to this question; but I’m thinking . . . Israel?”

Journalist: “The language they speak in Latin America is Latin. True or false?”
Person 57: “The what?”

Questions

1. People named some countries that began with “U”. Is this correct or wrong?

2. The answer as to the religion of Israel was unanimous. True or false?

3. Are “What religion are Buddhist monks?”, “What state does KFC come from?” and “Where was the Berlin Wall?” trick questions? What do the replies reveal about the answerers?

4. Are people more familiar with politicians or celebrities (singers, actors)? Do they read or watch the news?

5. Do they know basic geometry?

6. Because Great Britain is the Mother Country of the US, Americans know everything about the UK. Yes or no?

7. Was there only one target country people thought the US should invade?

8. People said that Kofi Annan was the UN Secretary General. Is this right or wrong?

9. Someone didn’t believe man went to the moon. Is this correct or incorrect?

10. Did the old man know history?

 

A. Did you know the answers to most of the questions?

B. Was this a recent video or was it filmed many years ago?

C. What does this tell you about Americans? Do you think they are representative, or did they only show the funny responses? Why were they so ignorant?

D. Do people in your city or country know or care about the outside world? Are they more knowledgeable than the people in this video?

E. Is it important for citizens to know about the outside world?

F. What advice would you give to people?

G. What will happen in the future? Will people be better informed?