How would you have fared on 21? Try these authenic questions
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andrewsk8s — 21 years ago(November 08, 2004 06:42 AM)
Scored 7, but would have gotten 5 without the multiple choice answers.
On question 1, I got thrown off because I met a Russian survivor of the horrendous siege of Leningrad who mentioned the Germans specifically (and hatefully). Perhaps she was confused as to their true nationality.
Was question 8 answered by Ralph Fiennes in the movie? -
torreydeluca — 21 years ago(December 21, 2004 01:47 PM)
But in real-life Charles van Doren got that one wrong. Obviously he got it wrong on purpose to add to the drama. I believe he and Stempel tied each other two or three times before Herbie was told to blow it on the Oscar winner for Best Picture from 1954.
I'm recalling this from interviews with Stempel I've seen, as well as from books I read on the quiz hows scandals back in college. Charles van Doren comes out a little bit better in the film than in real-life, and the opposite for Stempel.
Herbie really did have an unhealthy obsession over van Doren becoming more famous than he had become, but he wasn't that much of a stereotypical nebbish in real-life. Also, his wife knew all along that he was getting the answers. But I guess it made for a more interesting character.
Back to the questions - I'd have gotten them all right if I were given the answers ahead of time, just like on the show!!! But with the multiple choice I was able to get 11 of them right. -
marlie1013 — 21 years ago(December 28, 2004 06:50 PM)
That's a broad assumption, how about people have a lot more to do now and by the time they get to watching tv they don't want to use their brains, they want mind numbing crap so they don't have to think about what they are watching. It's all about ratings-not about how dumb everyone has gotten.
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torreydeluca — 21 years ago(December 30, 2004 03:24 PM)
People aren't considerably smarter or dumber since the late 1950s. It's just that now-adays we have much more media concentrated on celebrity "news".
Also, when TV first came along so-called intellectuals chided it as "the idiot box" and "the boob tube". They'd also regularly brag about how they didn't own a TV because they knew how to read books and newspapers. One of my freshman year roommates was always acting that way, saying he didn't own a TV with a tone of moral/intellectual superiority. Of course he used to listen to reggae all day long, so
Anyway, back in the late 1950s TV networks tried to win over people into believing that they could produce intellgient programming. That's a major reason why they went after van Doren to be on the show and why the questions were so hard.
Today with networks like PBS, Discovery Channel, and The History Channel, there is enough knowledgeable programming out there that it is no longer necessary to do such things. -
chickenblood — 19 years ago(August 08, 2006 03:47 PM)
Also, when TV first came along so-called intellectuals chided it as "the idiot box" and "the boob tube". They'd also regularly brag about how they didn't own a TV because they knew how to read books and newspapers. One of my freshman year roommates was always acting that way, saying he didn't own a TV with a tone of moral/intellectual superiority. Of course he used to listen to reggae all day long, so
so what?
"Your mother's in here with us." -
chickenblood — 19 years ago(August 10, 2006 08:44 AM)
Wow calm down. I'm not trying to bait anyone, just asked a simple question
I was just wondering how the fact that a man listens to reggae, means that his opinion on something completely unrelated is invalidated.
"Your mother's in here with us." -
torreydeluca — 19 years ago(August 10, 2006 09:18 AM)
I don't need to "calm down". I'm just making the rational choice to avoid a stupid, immature fan-boy war on these boards.
If you don't have an agenda as you claim (which I don't believe based on your smart-ass posting regarding what W.A.S.P. stands for) then I will answer your question:
My freshman roommate categorically derided everything that was on television as being idiotic, and everyone who owned a television as being an uncultured moron. Yet he found no hypocrisy in the fact that he'd skip class and sit in the room listening to music with lyrics that incessantly repeated, "no woman, no cry". He even blasted me for watching a documentary on the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge on PBS while he listened to the homphobic rantings of Shabba Ranks.
Do you see the relation now? -
chickenblood — 19 years ago(August 10, 2006 09:45 AM)
I don't need to "calm down". I'm just making the rational choice to avoid a stupid, immature fan-boy war on these boards.
If you don't have an agenda as you claim (which I don't believe based on your smart-ass posting regarding what W.A.S.P. stands for) then I will answer your question:
Since you want to drag a completely unrelated post into this one, I'll say this: It is not fanboyism to simply make a JOKE. Also - look it up. W.A.S.P is also the name of a band and We Are Sexually Perverted is what the initials stand for. So it had nothing to do with being a smartass, just offering a valid alternative interpretation in a lighthearted way. Don't jump to conclusions. You will often be wrong.
My freshman roommate categorically derided everything that was on television as being idiotic, and everyone who owned a television as being an uncultured moron. Yet he found no hypocrisy in the fact that he'd skip class and sit in the room listening to music with lyrics that incessantly repeated, "no woman, no cry". He even blasted me for watching a documentary on the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge on PBS while he listened to the homphobic rantings of Shabba Ranks.
The vast majority of songs have repetitive lyrics (I'm sure some that you listen to too). You may however be right about Shabba Ranks homophobic rantings, but either way, your point is a non-sequiter - you cannot judge someone's disdain for television on the basis of their taste in music. It sounds like your roommate was simlarly small minded if he really did think that
all
television was idiotic. Only 90% of it is
Do you see the relation now?
Yeah, you don't like reggae.
"Your mother's in here with us." -
torreydeluca — 19 years ago(August 10, 2006 11:57 AM)
"Don't jump to conclusions. You will often be wrong."
- And what do you know of the music I listen to? How perfectly wonderful it must be to know everything
All I know is that you love reggae like a fanboy and therefore can't tolerate any criticism of it, as my post was obviously a light-hearted joke that no one else felt it necessary to take personal offense to.
If you want to keep your little statements going on then please send to them to me directly and don't ruin this message board.
- And what do you know of the music I listen to? How perfectly wonderful it must be to know everything