Relooking America with Stephen Fry

4th July 2012

I was chatting with a friend of mine who just travelled to the States a few weeks ago. Little did he realized United States is such a vast country, like some of the more ignorant people, he did not realize that New York is a city within a state and he thought California was a city. Being there on a family vacation then he realized what a huge country it is.

We often perceived Americans as big, fat and ignorant of the world outside, and sometimes those frequent flyer bloggers does show that kind of mentality but Andre who studied in the states felt that it is probably because their country was so freaking huge that they hardly know their own country in the first place.

If there is one show that so concisely presented the vastness and the diversity of the United States, it would be none other than Stephen Fry in America. This BBC production follows one of my favourite comedians, Stephen Fry who also hosted Q.I around all the states of the superpower country in a London Taxi Cab.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California by Goh Weixiang

And I am ashamed by how ignorant I am about the United States, there is so much more going on in this country than Hollywood, New York, Frank Lloyd Wright and Washington D.C.

Manhattan, New York City, New York by Deng Songquan.

Some segments in the 6-episode long programme do raise some eyebrows such as a legalized brothel which provides a new perspective towards prostitution in Nevada. Interesting perspectives there I would say. Prostitution is shunned in many cultures as immoral and its discussion and presentation even banned in school (when the site is at Geylang Lorong 14) but here you see it treated as a credible job.

There was also a Body Farm for studying dead bodies and one of its purposes is to aid in crime fighting in the Deep South episode.

Gallatin Mountains, Montana by Burtchaell Photography

Along with these are some stunning panoramas of Montana (a little known state to Singaporeans like us) with it gorgeous mountain scenery.

Monument Valley by Wolfgang Staudt (my much preferred photographer compared to that Cho guy)

And within the same country you find a totally different landscape like the Monument Valley located between Utah and Arizona. A surreal looking valley associated with Wild West films.

Baptist Church in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire by Johan_Leiden

To the east, you will see New England with its deciduous forests that remind you of those seasonal European landscapes.

Providence, Rhode Island by Andre Wee.

While there were some errors here and there such as the wrong date for Thanksgiving or the voodoo being the spiritual core of New Orleans, it is still a very nice show showcasing the various faces of the United States.

You should be able to catch it on Youtube.

Stephen Fry in America