Harry Potter better known than Blair in US, survey finds
More Americans know who Harry Potter is than can name British Prime Minister Tony Blair, according to a new survey.
Some 57% of US citizens correctly identified JK Rowling’s fictional teenage wizard.
But just 50% could say who Britain’s leader was, despite his staunch alliance with US President George Bush.
The poll, commissioned by producers of an interactive reality game show based on modern pop culture, also found that, while more than three-quarters (77%) of Americans could name two of Snow White’s seven dwarfs, less than a quarter (24%) could identify two Supreme Court justices.
Six out of 10 respondents knew that Homer Simpson’s son was called Bart, according to the survey by Zogby International. But only 21% were able to name one of the ancient Greek poet Homer’s epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey.
Professor Robert Thompson, of the Bleier Centre for Television and Popular Culture, said the findings were not about Americans being stupid, however.
“These results are not about how ‘dumb’ Americans are, but about how much more effectively popular culture information is communicated and retained by citizens than many of the messages that come from government, educational institutions and the media,” he said.
“There are important lessons to be learned here.”
:: 1,213 people across the US were interviewed for the survey.
