Monday, February 21, 2011

Juay De Rito

Once in a while, a catchphrase (I think they are called memes nowadays) captures the public's imagination, like Where's the Beef, remember?
The most recent case happened in Mexico as television anchorman Joaquín López Dóriga interviewed Sir Anthony Hopkins live about his latest movie, The Rite.
López Dóriga's English leaves much to be desired (apparently he more or less understands, but can't speak for shit), but for some reason no one thought to have a capable translator on hand. So this guy is talking to Hopkins in Spanish as if the actor is Cervantes himself, putting Hopkins in the very uncomfortable position of not understanding while trying to act gracious, and the first question he asks is the now infamous "Juay De Rito?" Translation from English into English: Why The Rite?
Twitter exploded. Juay De Dis, Juay De Dat? Juay Ask Juay?  The mashups didn't take long to appear. There seems to be a new one every day.
Mexicans have a very ingenious sense of humor. Now that You Tube exists, it will take us to the heights of hilarity. Here are two examples:


And continuing the tradition of making fun of poor Hitler and his downfall, jir is Jitler and Juay De Rito:


The subtitles made me cry with laughter. I can't do justice to Hitler's answers because the vernacular they use is impossible to translate accurately. But believe me, it's hilarious to hear Hitler speaking Mexican vernacular in your head:
Soldier:
The interview with Sir Hopkins has been confirmed.
Hitler:
Qué a toda madre! Awesome! Find the best (the most motherfucking) and most competent interviewer we have... I don't want us to look like those idiots at Televisa. We are better (más chingones) than them...

Now, besides the fact that it is a bit of a disgrace that a well known journalist like López Dóriga can't speak English, what is interesting is that this struck such an embarrassed national nerve, to which people reacted with the biggest collective joke in memory. People made fun of him with reason, because he reflects, not only a shaming ignorance, but worse, what we know we are capable of and dislike in ourselves: a useless flair for amateurish improvisation, which makes us look like hicks in front of a foreigner (never mind that he is starring in a crappy, tacky movie. He is a Sir).
In any case, this one is for the ages. It's the joke that keeps on giving. And we have to thank López Dóriga for providing us with years of laughing caustically and uncomfortably at ourselves.
Apparently, not without a sense of humor himself, (if indeed it was him) he tweeted:

"So now you know. If someone needs a simultaneous translation service, do not hesitate to call me".

2 comments:

  1. Ha! I literally posted these 2 links on my FB page about the same time you did! The Downfall parody was hilarious indeed... and I completely agree with you... especially with this:

    "what we know we are capable of and dislike in ourselves: a useless flair for amateurish improvisation, which makes us look like hicks in front of a foreigner (never mind that he is starring in a crappy, tacky movie. He is a Sir)."

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  2. actually he did have an interpreter but the earpiece on mr hopkins was off or something, you can see that as he asks "no hay sonido?" wich means "is there no sound?"

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