Talking to Americans

[trevster2k]

http://home.comcast.net/~wwwstephen/americans/

Just some excerpts playing on the ignorance of some of our American neighbours.

I can't believe how Rick Mercer can keep a straight face when people actually believe what he tells them especially with the famous people. Of course, there were probably tons of people who said to Rick "you're full of crap".

It's kind of like Jaywalking on the Tonight Show.

 

[lmjhitman]

my favourite one:

'congratulations canada, on legalizing vcr's'

 

[Antilarry]

That's pretty progressive of Canada, I have to sneak around in the dead of night when i want a vcr.

 

[ladywithspinninghead]

Is this the same one that's been around for a couple years now?

I'm hoping they'll come out with a new one soon!

My favourite one is about Canada being a "retarded" nation

 

[dandy]

i loved the one where he got people to congratulate our prime minister jean poutine on his double double.

 

[melon]

Someone I know used to work on "Monday Report," so I've met Rick on a few occasions. Great guy.

Melon

 

[trevster2k]

It's on CBC tonight. Repeat but still funny every time. Borat would be beaming!!

In NYC, Rick Mercer got someone to congratulate Canada on opening it's first McDonalds. Another person congratulated us on legalizing insulin. Yet another congratulated us on 800 miles of paved road.

A bunch of people at Columbia University including a professor signed a petition to condemn the Canadian practice of putting senior citizens on ice floes to perish.

A bunch of students and two professors at Princeton signed a petition to ban the reinstatement of the Toronto Polar bear slaughter. C'mon!!

Another person congratulated us on becoming a part of North America. Another group congratulated us as their neighbours to the south.

A past governor of Iowa faced the camera with Rick and in his office stated his congratulations to Canada for switching to a 24 hour clock.

The sad thing about this is that the people he talks to aren't stupid, well, ok some are just dense. Some of the questions are loaded with Canadian place names which I guess many Americans don't ever ever ever hear. But the ignorance of the largest trading partner of the US (well, until China takes over in a couple of years) is utterly astonishing. He visits university campuses like Harvard & Princeton and state capitals where officials conduct their business. These are smart people, aren't they?

But thankfully, during one pretext trying to get opinions on the failure rate of Canadian students to point out their state and congressman on a map, a child,with mother who said it was a bad thing, said, " Hang on now, Canada has provinces"

 

[BonosSaint]

What do you expect from a country that can't figure out metric?

 

[Irvine511]

i always find these things pretty cheap.

Borat, however, is on a different level.

it's really easy to edit the hell out of hours and hours and hours of footage and sew together the dumb parts.

 

[trevster2k]

Oh I agree, he probably had to go through many many people to find people who believed some of the ridiculous things he talks about. During the commercial leadins, he shows people who call his bluff.

But ivy league university students, professors and top level politicians believing Toronto has a polar bear hunt or Canadians or anyone for that matter would set senior citizens adrift to die on ice floes? You can't make up stuff like that.

 

[Irvine511]

you'd be surprised at how people freeze up when a camera is pointed at them, as well as the kind of people who are willing to speak on camera. i also think that there's a level of politeness and willingness to give the interviewer the benefit of the doubt that leads people to give the impression of believing silly things when, inside, they're probably thinking, "well, that doesn't sound right, but what do i know ..."

i do this sort of thing for a living, sort of, and it's funny, but i wouldn't expect to glean any sort of cultural insights beyond a laugh or two.

 

[Vincent Vega]

I think the Governors in the second and third video sounded more as if the knew that wasn't true and just jumped on that joke. You can see it on their faces in i way and also hear it from their voices that it wasn't too sincere.

And with the last video, if I was asked facing a camera about the Canadian Prime Minister and the reporter said Poutine although I know it's Chrétien I wouldn't go and say: "Ey, his name is Chrétien, not Poutine!", but just give him an answer.
With the video about the Canadian company that's owning the mining rights for Mt Rushmore, would you know any foreign company having rights to something in Canada? Or be in front of a camera and just say "I don't believe you."?
I don't think so.

He's getting some really strange answers, but on the other hand his way asking te people is also persuading them to believe that it's true, and then asking for repeat, and I'm not sure if everyone could be that cool to really think about the question to give a good answer to that.

Here in Germany they also go out pretty often and ask people about politics and stuff like that, but normally they are just asking so that people don't get influenced too much. And here are many people who just know nothing even about national politics that it's sometimes a shame.

 

[Badyouken]

Some people here in Canada thought Québec had just become its own country since the "nation" motion was passed. One woman was pissed off because she thought she would need a passport to go to Québec now.

It goes both ways

 

[Irvine511]

It goes both ways

agreed. there are fools, and the fooled, everywhere.

 

[Bonochick]

It's on CBC tonight. Repeat but still funny every time.

We watched part of it last night.