Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Layers of Stupid?

My Grade 5 teacher told my mom, "Lori does not suffer fools lightly." I've tried since then to mitigate that, and have attempted to be open to the less-than-fully-bright in my life.

I'm not that patient.

Got talking to a friend online tonight...she and her kids were watching WipeOut. Oh my.

But I got thinking about a show I used to actually almost enjoy -- partly because I saw it as an amusing observation of the different layers of stupidity.

"What show?" I hear you ask. Ah, well, Street Smarts is the show. Did you never watch it while it was on?

Here's part 1 of an episode for you:



Now, right away, you see the premise: studio audience and contestants (from the studio audience) make fun of the stupid people on the street that the host has interviewed. Will these dumb people know the answers to the incredibly simple questions asked to them?

Ah, but wait.
This episode features Ben the Bronx stud, Molly the future newscaster and Ben the construction worker. These people interviewed on the street know the show, and are thrilled to be on it! Huh? Don't you guys know that everyone is laughing at you?!

But wait...they get some answers right. So they're not utterly hopeless. The contestants, Calysta and Yaron, think they're the shit, 'cause they're the contestants, not the putzes on the street.

But wait...they can 'dunce' each other. That's when one of them challenges the other to answer the question themselves first. Watch Yaron when he 'dunces' Calysta -- he really doesn't know the answer!

So who's really stupid? Who's smart? Those of us watching, laughing knowingly and feeling superior at the absurdity that is this public display of moron-hood? Those in the studio audience, enjoying the excitement and laughing? The person who won the round? The people on the street who got their 15 minutes of fame?

Probably I'm the dumbest, as I've just spent 40 minutes of my life blogging about this.

Enjoy Part 2 (actually, the 'duncing' is in this part):



Do watch the show...I think the host is a hoot!

Lori