Are these American Vox Popsgenuine?.

[veg]

I have a Japanese colleague who is working on a documentary about American culture in 2007. We are keen to find out whether or not this video is a spoof or for real......Any opinions?.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

We're still waiting for a response from the original poster on Youtube.

[bluegrass]

I have a Japanese colleague who is working on a documentary about American culture in 2007. We are keen to find out whether or not this video is a spoof or for real......Any opinions?.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

We're still waiting for a response from the original poster on Youtube.

I doubt that you're going to get a truthful answer from the poster of that clip. I didn't listen & watch the whole thing, but just by the fact that someone is hacking the number of plays (come on - muti millons), comments, etc and the fact that a lot of spoof crap is showing up on YouTube, I wouldn't use the information you gather from this clip to be anything meaningful about typical Americans. I know some people exist like the ones in this clip but I don't believe they are typical. It's kind of like the people that show up on Jay Leno's show segment "JayWalking". I think most of those folks are acting. They really can't be as stupid as they act on that show segment.

[Erik Bien]

Surely your Japanese colleague understands the concept of a "shooting ratio." In this case, I'm certain the editor made his choices to prove the interviewer's point, that Americans are, if not dumb, at least shockingly ignorant. Who knows how many interviews that DIDN'T reinforce that idea ended up on the cutting room floor? 75% or more? That's only a three-to-one shooting ratio, and I'd guess it could easily go higher.

Plus it looks as if they may have stacked the deck in other ways -- you don't find too many MBAs and PhDs waiting for a bus in America (one of the only things we do worse than public education is public transportation).

But, all that said, I'm American born, mostly educated in American public schools and I'd have done pretty well on that quiz (save for the "coalition of the willing", especially if I had to exclude all the countries that have already pulled their troops out), but I must unfortunately attest that quite a few of us really are that ignorant. Even the dumbed-down "BBC World" newscast does a better job of covering international events than the "big three network" evening newscasts or even the 24-hour cable news networks here.

Sad, and certainly biased, but unfortunately I doubt it's a spoof.

[Mal]

No spoof, just someone with time and an NLE.

Although I admit that the US is way too US-centric (i.e. too little news or information is filtered in from the outside), you could, of course, do such a video in ANY country, and produce an equal statement.

If I'd be making a docu on American (USA) culture, I'd DEFINITELY not include any of that video, or use any of it as a basis for a point being made in the docu.

More interesting I find the culture of other countries' need to make these videos showing the US as idiots, in the first place.

Best of luck and much success with your docu though; an interesting subject for sure...

[veg]

Well we followed this up by sending out two strawberry filtered crews to ask the same questions. One in London and one in Tokyo and, sad to say, we got very similar results. Tokyo kids just got the edge. Difficult to get accurate comparisons though as Vox Popping is very random.

[Mal]

Well, well......THAT is more interesting than you can imagine.

In fact, it would merit its own documentary. I think you have a REAL winner right there.

I know it's not the docu your friend in Japan had set out to do; but since you obviously have the ability to conduct this vox populi in several countries, I think that is FAR FAR more interesting than being just another US-people-are-dumb piece.
What would make for interesting viewing, however, would be to show how dumb the whole [western] world really is.
But I agree with you; it IS very random, and in all seriousness I am not really sure what can be achieved with vox popping other than make that one statement about us being dumb humans, and doing it in a sort of humorous way.

Anyway, just my twisted and random opinions...

(any chance we can see/hear your Japanese and UK versions? :))

[veg]

"Well we followed this up by sending out two strawberry filtered crews".
We have a code in UK news when the director or journo doesn't want the cameraman to record something but 'fake it', they ask for the strawberry filter to be used.
So we didn't actually record the vox pops. We just wanted to see if Japanese and UK ppl were similar to Americans. Interesting indeed!.

[Mal]

Well, take that Strawberry filter off, and show us them clips!
:)

http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/media/image/l/n/strawberry_(o)_large.jpg

[veg]

Mal!.
It's only because you're a junior member and currently 'unsacked' with only 78 posts.... (can't wait to see how many posts you've made tomorrow!).... that I'm going to be tolerant with you!.
"So we didn't actually record the vox pops.".
:hv20-smilie29:

[PWHerman]

The people directing this video are more ignorant than the ones in it. If they believe that taking a handfull of random people and asking them stupid questions proves any point, it doesn't. I'd like to see them show the intelligent people they spoke to in the interview, to be fair of course. I know for a fact that I could've gotten just about anything right on there, and I'm probably younger than anyone else in that video. Stupid stuff. And as other people were saying: go to ANY country and go ask a few hundred people random questions, giving them really no time to think...then take all of the "stupid" ones and put them on a news segment in your country. All of the people watching the news will believe it (they believe anything they see on the news usually). Knocking on other people/countries is totally uncalled for, and that's sad that a news station would even put that up, whether it be in a serious or joking matter. Idiots.

Veg: when you put up exclamation points (!) and question marks (?), you don't need a period (.) after them. I'm not trying to be a teacher or anything, so sorry if it seems that way...it's just a VERY simple mistake.

<sarcasm> Whoever added in the subtitles had quite a few misspellings. What an idiot! </sarcasm>

[veg]

I'll have my periods wherever I choose!. Thank you very much PWHerman!!.

[veg]

....in fact you've prompted me to have nice bright red periods!.

[Mal]

So we didn't actually record the vox pops.


LOL, yeah, I got that the first time, Capt. Obvious! :)

[PWHerman]

....in fact you've prompted me to have nice bright red periods!.

Uhh...ew? Can you say stubborn? Heh, just jokin' around. To each his own...

[veg]

"Uhh...ew?"...Exactly PW!. We call them 'Full Stops' in English. A period is something altogether quite different!.

[PWHerman]

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4118/crazy20old20manor0.jpg

^ = Vegasarian?

[veg]

A bit like Einstein, don't you think?.
Thank You!.
PW?.Would you say your postings as a moderator here on HV-20.com are typical of moderators?.

[PWHerman]

More like Einstein's retarded cousin Larry...

And yes, they are. Moderators should be funny, personable, and up-front, while being informative at the same time. Notice the picture Mal posted a little up? Exactly. Read what every other moderator writes a little more, too, and you might get a better picture on what a "typical" mod does. We're all cheerful guys who like to JOKE around (all in good fun). If you feel that the joking around here has gone a little far, then just let me know. I'm having fun going back and forth with you, though. No hard feelings whatsoever here. ;o)