We'll find you sooner or later, you ratty ferners

October 12, 2005 10:14 AM

People who want to bomb places they can't find on maps (video).
posted by leapingsheep (41 comments total)

Hardcore, man.
posted by thirteenkiller at 10:21 AM on October 12, 2005

I didn't realize North Korea had taken over Australia. We should definitely get them now.
posted by mullacc at 10:23 AM on October 12, 2005

Bah, they didn't show anyone who correctly identified a country despite the screwy names on a map. I would like to see there reaction... or the reaction of participants after they were told where the country really was.
posted by RockBandit at 10:24 AM on October 12, 2005

HeHe
posted by BrotherCaine at 10:26 AM on October 12, 2005

so that's how h.r. departments recruit for management these days ...
posted by pyramid termite at 10:36 AM on October 12, 2005

Folks, that report is from CNNN - not CNN.
posted by 327.ca at 10:38 AM on October 12, 2005

Fantastic. So now all it takes to invade is "I've noticed there's some friction". No more need for fake dossiers, finally!

I love how the reporter is an Aussie, he must have been struggling to keep a straight face when people were looking at the map.
posted by funambulist at 10:44 AM on October 12, 2005

It's slightly amusing but mostly sad that people would be that ignroant, and still feel qualified to answer the question. But it's hardly surprizing.

In a similar vein, a Canadian comedian named Rick Mercer did a recurring bit (that turned into a hugely popular 1 hour special) called Talking to Americans (link to radio interview with Mercer about the show). Not only did he pick on random dudes in the street (coast to coast!) but also Al Gore, Dub-ya, Harvard professors, Princeton students, and various other people who should know better (link to clips from the show).
posted by raedyn at 10:56 AM on October 12, 2005

There's more here with another video.

Morrow's investigation discovered almost universal enthusiasm for a war on Kyrgyzstan. "I don't think they're powerful enough to be a threat to America," one person commented when interviewed. "But we should invade them anyway."
posted by funambulist at 11:00 AM on October 12, 2005

Just so we're on the same page here, the Middle-East map test.
posted by bobo123 at 11:01 AM on October 12, 2005

In a similar vein, a Canadian comedian named Rick Mercer did a recurring bit (that turned into a hugely popular 1 hour special) called Talking to Americans

"Congratulations, Canada on your first mile of paved road!" and, of course, "your new National Igloo!"
posted by Turtles all the way down at 11:15 AM on October 12, 2005

Thanks, Turtles. That's fantastic.
posted by leapingsheep at 11:17 AM on October 12, 2005

...although a National Igloo would actually be really cool (pun not intended).
posted by Turtles all the way down at 11:17 AM on October 12, 2005

Morrow's investigation discovered almost universal enthusiasm for a war on Kyrgyzstan.

They hate us for our vowels!
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:18 AM on October 12, 2005

How about the much more boring video of the majority of interviewees who knew their world geography and didn't want to blow up or invade anything?
posted by cusack at 11:27 AM on October 12, 2005

bobo123: Damn, I thought I would do much better at that. Couldn't figure out where Bahrain went for the life of me.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:30 AM on October 12, 2005

How about the much more boring video of the majority of interviewees who knew their world geography and didn't want to blow up or invade anything?

How's it gonna get posted on 'Crooks & Liars' then, d00d?

Cusack actually nailed it. It's like any reality teevee—keep the cameras running long enough til you find something egregious, cut out the other 95% of content, package it, give it name and convince the masses it's Reality™.

See also: Jaywalking with Jay Leno. Actually don't :p
posted by dhoyt at 11:37 AM on October 12, 2005

I've seen the Talking To Americans bit before, and it seems unfunny.

He's not (mostly) finding ignorant people who sincerely believe that Canada has a "national igloo."

He's finding people who are too polite to say to the pleasant man with the camera crew and microphone -- who just insisted that Canada has a national igloo -- "What the fuck are you talking about? Canada doesn't have a national igloo, you ass. Kee-rist, you are one dumb motherfucker."
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:38 AM on October 12, 2005

Hey, we may not have a national igloo, but we have an SUV acquarium.
posted by 327.ca at 11:51 AM on October 12, 2005

Metafilter - turning the internet into on giant fucking glass crater as far as i'm concerned
posted by spicynuts at 11:53 AM on October 12, 2005

or ONE giant...
posted by spicynuts at 11:53 AM on October 12, 2005

cusack, Do you have any idea how poor the geography knowedge of most Americans is? Or most people in other countries for that matter? Its pretty bad! Execpt for the French, they are just plain weird and pay attention to shit like that.
posted by jeffburdges at 12:46 PM on October 12, 2005

Here's another from the same series. Possibly even more shocking appaling embarrassing.
posted by hypersloth at 12:51 PM on October 12, 2005

*er, appalling
posted by hypersloth at 12:52 PM on October 12, 2005

How about the much more boring video of the majority of interviewees who knew their world geography and didn't want to blow up or invade anything?

I sincerely doubt that a random sampling of Americans would have a majority of either set, much less an intersection of both.
posted by bashos_frog at 1:04 PM on October 12, 2005

Hahaha! Damn I love laughing at ignorant people.
posted by dazed_one at 1:21 PM on October 12, 2005

Just so we're on the same page here, the Middle-East map test.

After only positively identifying less than half of that map, I made myself do it over and over again until I could positively identify every country on it. Then I filled it in about 5 more times with varying patterns - alphabetical, reverse, from the center of the name list, and finally generally west to east, not letting myself look at the list of names until I could remember which one I was looking for.

Africa was the hardest... I guess we haven't had enough wars there.

I bet I'll still forget where f'ing mali is in about two hours
posted by flaterik at 1:34 PM on October 12, 2005

bobo123: You got your Middle East in my Northern Africa!

Perhaps you should have said "Arabic" or even better, "Islamic Countries". Because if all those countries are geographically the "Middle East", then that should include the countries on the other side of the Mediterranean that are just as "East" as they are, shouldn't it?

I am also tired of the "find the stupidest people you can and interview them" schtick.
posted by Eideteker at 1:36 PM on October 12, 2005

So, uh, no one is questioning whether this is real or not?
posted by Citizen Premier at 1:42 PM on October 12, 2005

CP: Here's $5 not to ask that question.
posted by Eideteker at 1:55 PM on October 12, 2005

OK, not to sound like a naif, but when I watched this, I got the impression that it was a joke that the people being interviewed were in on. I have a hard time believing otherwise. And at least one of them was clearly mentally ill.

Meh.
posted by veronica sawyer at 2:09 PM on October 12, 2005

327.ca writes "Hey, we may not have a national igloo, but we have an SUV acquarium."

My mom just told me she could see it earlier, from her office window.
posted by clevershark at 2:11 PM on October 12, 2005

He's finding people who are too polite to say to the pleasant man...

You just keep telling yourself whatever you need to, to feel better about being surrounded by so many freakin' idiots.
posted by five fresh fish at 3:42 PM on October 12, 2005

I can find Crawford on a map. Not that I think that would be a good place to invade or anything.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 4:53 PM on October 12, 2005

I can find Crawford on a map too, now. The world would be such a better place if fewer people had come to know the place.
posted by clevershark at 5:23 PM on October 12, 2005

Dude, I live in Texas, and I teach undergraduates. I'm well used to being surrounded by Grade-A certified morons of the worst order. The stuff that high-school graduates don't know 'round these parts truly boggles the mind.

But that still doesn't make the TTA schtick funny. A man delivers this stupid schpiel about an igloo, and then asks you to agree. Being polite, you say what the nice man wants to make him go away. You'd think a Canadian of all people would know how politeness works. If a stranger with a camera asked you to congratulate Puerto Rico on its admission to the Union, are you seriously telling me that you'd deliver a long-winded correction about its status as a commonwealth and the history of home rule in Puerto Rico, and not just say your line and go about your business?

It's not really finding ignorance, though Lord knows there's plenty of that about. It's mainly just preying on people's willingness to accommodate strangers who ask them to deliver a line. Which is why it bothers me.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:26 PM on October 12, 2005

Look people, if someone tried to tell me that their country's parliament meets in a giant igloo, I would laugh. Hard. Probably involuntarily. Especially if that person said they were from Canada, because I've seen those Parliament buildings, and they ain't made of ice. I'd at least expect someone to say, "I'm sorry, did you say igloo?" But none of them even batted an eye.

On the other hand, I got three of those countries in the Middle East quiz wrong. $%^&ing Central Asian countries (and Mali/Mauritania). /hangs head in shame.

I do like the kid at the end of the "Provinces" video. Wisdom cometh indeed from the mouth of babes.
posted by skoosh at 5:31 PM on October 12, 2005

Of course, now I realize I should make clear that it's possible to politely correct people, even people with microphones and camera crews. I mean, c'mon, in the FPP-linked video, "Australia" is variously labeled "Iran", "France", and "North Korea" - are you supposed to not say something? I think the worst part is that there are people who are willing to go along with bombing and invading countries they've never even heard of. We will be a fearsomely ridiculous empire indeed.
posted by skoosh at 5:38 PM on October 12, 2005

CNNNN is a comedy/spoof TV show aired on the Australian public broadcaster. It is done by the guys behind Australia's equivalent of the Onion.
It is funny. It is funnier when seen in context, which if I remember, had the spoof host introduce the segment here with a comment on how Australia and our participation in the war on terra is quite important to all Americans.
posted by bystander at 9:45 PM on October 12, 2005

Quel typiquement.
posted by deusdiabolus at 2:36 AM on October 13, 2005

ROU is onto something. It'd be one thing if the guy asked about the Canadian capitol and some dumbass came up with the idea that there's a national igloo, but having them just parrot what he already said isn't really revealing ignorance. Gullability, maybe, but not necessairly ignorance. If that had happened to me, I could see would go along with it and wait for the punchline at the end.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Canadians are far better versed in geography than Americans (among other things), but those videos are kinda lame. It's like those "liar's jokes" we used to tell in grade school--Tell a joke that makes no sense and see who actually laughs at the punchline.
posted by zardoz at 2:37 AM on October 13, 2005