Keep in mind that this was shot in NYC.
Ok people, pay attention:
- 9/11 took place on NINE / ELEVEN. As is September 11th.
- And the year was 2001. I'll give you that one, 'cause I know it's very difficult for adults to remember something that took place a little less than SIX YEARS ago.
- The 9/11 attacks directly hit NYC, the Pentagon & rural Pennsylvania. Nobody in the video remembered the Pentagon. Understandable as it's such a small, unassuming place, with almost no significance.
Please remember that I live in the Vancouver area, which is - contrary to some peoples knowledge (my french cousin amongst others) - nowhere near New York City. Over 3000 miles away. However I didn't need to look up any of the three points above. Why? Well seems to me that 9/11 was a rather significant event, kinda stuck in my mind.
I could understand if Joe Average from Darfur didn't remember as he probably has a few other things on his mind. But someone from New York City?
I think that Americans - and to be fair, probably everyone - love to be on camera. Even if they don't know the answer to something, they'll spout something off, just for the airtime.
As a bit of punctuation, here is part of a CBC special: Talking To Americans
More here.
I tried to find a Canadian equivalent, but all I found was a amateurs video shot in some Canadian mall with abysmal sound quality and not all that funny. it had the potential to be funny, but suffered from a lack of editing. For fairness sake I'll post it here. Don't expect much.
Note: this video has been pulled and I haven't been able to find another version
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2 comments:
This is an old "TV trick" from the early days of radio. It's also cheaper to do than ever because of almost infinite rewind on the digital video.
You go to Times Square, where the 9/11 dummy intereview stuff was shot. A half million people go through Times Square on any given day.
If only 1 percent of them are idiots that means there's 5000 potential interviews for the "entertainers" soliciting interviews.
And of course, that 1 percent is very likely to be most receptive to the idea of making fools of themselves on air.
Simple.
Thank you for your comment Fred, and to a very large degree I agree with you. However this isn't the first time I've run across examples of peoples complete ignorance of world affairs. And I don't mean just Americans, because I've seen the same here in Canada. I guess I just found this a good example to let loose with, even though I do understand the editing process and understand that this is "entertainment" and not factual news reporting. I had someone I know tell me not long ago that 9/11 wasn't a that big deal. After all "it was just a couple of buildings". I guess I've been pissed off ever since. You have to agree that the "Talking to Americans" clips are funny, even if they are not accurate.
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