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Potter is Famous in US

Americans are probably more into entertainment than into politics. As it was showed in a recent poll, more Americans know who Harry Potter is than Tony Blair. The survey found that of the 1,213 US citizens questioned by polling firm Zogby International, 57% knew of J.K. Rowling`s boy wizard. And only the 49.5% could name Tony Blair as the "current Prime Minister of England" when asked.

Organizers of the survey insist the aim of the poll was to measure how effectively popular culture and entertainment information is distributed. "These results are not about how `dumb` Americans are, but about how much more effectively popular culture information is communicated," said Professor Robert Thompson of the Bleier Centre for Television and Popular Culture in Syracuse, New York.

The survey findings suggest Americans have a more detailed knowledge of the modern entertainment such as The Simpsons, than they do of classical literature and are more aware of Superman`s home planet than the constellations in our own solar system. 60 percent of the surveyed knew Homer Simpson`s son was named Bart. Asked to name one of Homer`s epic Greek poems, however, only 25 percent could name either The Odyssey or The Iliad. According to some other questions, too, the Americans are well-acquainted with the entertainment, but not with other subjects.