Anderson Copper Giggles at Dyngus Day on American TV
17April 12, 2012 by Aleksandra Łuczak
Here is another story in which an American journalist and TV personality Anderson Copper laughs at Poles cultivating Dyngus Day.
Have you ever wondered how bizzare the custom of pouring water at people on Easter Monday may seem to foreigners?
Watch the video and have your say!
Category USA | Tags:
Actually i think that it was just an unsuitable joke. Everyone laughs at something. We laugh at Hungarian language and German women so they can laugh at our tradition of Dyngus Day. For me it was just a joke, if somebody wise will see this will think about this situation created for needs of TV shows not about our nation anyway…
Actually I think that it was just an unsuitable joke. Everyone laughs at something. We laugh at Hungarian language and German women so they can laugh at our tradition of Dyngus Day. For me it was just a joke, if somebody wise will see this will think about this situation created for needs of TV shows not about our nation anyway… On the other hand this situation wasn’t pleasant for us. Our nation is known as one that is a little bit queasy at its point. But we also have to be carefull not to use bad stereotypes 😉
In my opinion this joke, was not any kind of racist behavior. For Anderson Copper there were two funny things, Polish translation of the word “bazie” which in English sounds funny (if you know what I mean 😉 and a situation when people often adults are running, screaming and they are pouring water on each other. We must admit, that for the man who doesn’t know this custom such behavior may seem funny and weird
Wet Monday is folk tradition. It used to be celebrated in the countryside very often. It was believed that unmarried women who were poured water were suppose to get married soon. This tradition was distorted in a city childres, youngsters started red fights and battles using water against unknown pedestrians It started to be more violent and less pleasent. In my opinion it is worth cultivating such tradition in a modest way. The reflect our culture that we should remember.
Its tradition so it should be cultivated, moreover its fun, especially for kids. The more funny it is and the more smiles it brings its ok and no one should ever argue with that. Someone may say that sometimes fun transforms into assaults but thats a different story. Was this joke offensive ? I dont find it like that, joke its just a joke.
Each country has its own characteristics, which may make laugh different nationalities. Yes it was, is and will be. Just as Poles amuses us even questionable beauty of German women, drunkenness Russians and British each day at exactly 5 are drinking tea. Stereotypes are an important part of culture, they are usually wrong, but their main role is to help people understand and classify the world around them. And as for the Dyngus Day, I think it’s a beautiful, old Polish tradition, and personally like it very much.
I agree with “filkop”. He has right that it is our Polish tradition and it is really important.
Our nationality should be proud that it is cultivate in modern time. We shouldn’ t forget about this because the future will be “grey” …
I think that it is also healthy, because we can spend time on fresh air:)
I think that it was just a joke. Polish people laughs at Germans and Russians so I don’t see anyting strange in this joke. “Wet Monday” is a polish folk tradition and I don’t think that is so funny but mayby for foreigners it can be strange. Every country has its own culture and it makes us much more interesting!
Well, I assume, that it’s not the last (nor the first) time someone is making fun of polish traditions. I think there is nothing to worry about. As someone said before me – Poles are also making fun of Russians, Germans etc., so it’s just a matter of sense of humour. What is more bizarre for me is the fact that in our “Ultracatholic” country all those religion-devoted families are letting their children celebrate Dyngus Day, which comes from… Pagan tradition. 🙂
Dyngus day is a part of polish tradicion wchich is very amusing, mainly for youngsters. Its should be cultivated because its uniqe. Dyngus should not be taken seriously (because it’s only about fun) and so shoud not be this joke created for the needs of TV show. We have to accept that we have some stereotypes about diffrent nations and so they have stereotypes about us.
First of all I have to say – if Polish people hear someting in movies, TV shows etc. about our country, they are overdramatic. Anderson Copper is well respected american journalist. In my opinion it was obviously a joke. Look at this objetcively – for foreigners Dyngus might be funny holiday. We walk around and throw water at strangers. If they knew the background of this holiday – when young men showed in this way that they like some girl – maybe they wouldn’t seem so funny for them. Anyway we shouldn’t care what others think about our holidays, because this is what makes our culture – holidays and traditions.
For me it was just a joke. Like for polish people it’s common to make jokes about other nations such as Germans, Russians etc, so the foreigners can do the same. Every country has it’s own culture nd traditions what can be strange or funny for other states but this is what makes us polish people and other the parts of their nation.
And in a matter of fact, no one should care about what others say. Just be who u are and be proud of that.
This custom comes from our tradition, pour water boy girl who he liked. Now it has faded and this is one big war on the water. This custom may seem strange, but it’s better to be drenched with water than with paint as in India Holi festival. Or the Spanish battle for tomatoes. In my opinion it depends on a person’s sense of humor and knows whether or not to follow.
We shouldn’t consider this as an act of racism. In my opinion it was just a joke. All countries have their own customs and their own events. Some for us might appear funny or silly, but for the people who live there its natural and they really enjoy participating it these kind of events. I really dont know a Polish child that doesn’t like Dyngus Day. As an adult i remember how it was to build fortifications on my street, create teams and fight all day. He laughs at it because he didn’t ever had those memories that we have from our childhood connected to Dyngus Day.
It is not suprise that the TV programme about Smingus-dyngus organised by American Polonia made Anderson Cooper laught. When I watched this film I couldn;t help laughing either. It is far from what we know in Poland, rather a cheap American immitation of Polish tradition. Well, white and red flags and decorations were gardly acceptable but when it came to „pussywillow” simply nobody could help laughing.
After watching the video shown in the material above I believe that American journalist and TV personality Anderson Cooper laughed at the name of a flower, not at the custom of pouring water at people on Easter Monday. It seems to me that his laughter was caused by connotation with one of the elements of this word. On the other hand it could be the only way to explain his laughter and to apologize for offending the Dyngus Day and hurting other people feelings, who are associated with this holiday. I have never wondered how bizarre the custom of pouring water at people may seem to foreigners, because this is one of our traditions. I think that our native and foreign traditions and customs should be respected by the others, because they originate from the cultures of the countries. To sum up, I think Anderson Cooper was laughing from the name of the flower and his reaction made me laugh too.
I have to say that the movie was so funny. I laughed for a long time. I dont consider it as intentional, I quess it was just a joke. Smingus-dyngus is folk tradition and honestly i didn;t know that in USA there are so many polish people worship this feast. Anderson Cooper left the situation properly, he apologized for the controversial situation but both sides accepted is as a funny joke.