The Pivot Questionnaire

 

The Pivot Questionnaire was invented by Bernard Pivot[1] in the mid-1970s and is directly inspired by the Proust questionnaire[2]. The famous literary critic used to submit his guests to a series of ten (10) questions during his programs "Apostrophes"[3] and "Bouillon de culture"[4].

This questionnaire has also become famous across the United States of America thanks to James Lipton[5] and his show "Inside the Actor's Studio"[6]. During the show, the host also submitted his guests to the questionnaire and paid a vibrant tribute to Bernard Pivot with the phrase "the great Bernard Pivot". However, some questions of the Pivot's questionnaire were considered potentially offensive to US audiences and replaced by a more accepted ones. For example, the question "If God exists, what would you like Him to tell you when you're dead?" was replaced by "If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?"

» The original Bernard Pivot's Questionnaire:

1. Votre mot préféré? What is your favorite word?
2. Le mot que vous détestez?  What word do you hate?
3. Votre drogue favorite? What is your favorite drug?
4. Le son, le bruit que vous aimez/préférez? The sound, the noise that you like?
5. Le son, le bruit que vous détestez? The sound, the noise that you hate?
6. Votre juron, gros mot ou blasphème favori? What is your favorite curse, swear word or profanity?
7. Un homme ou une femme pour illustrer un nouveau billet de banque? A man or a woman to illustrate a new banknote?
8. Le métier que vous n'auriez pas aimé faire? The job that you would not have liked to do?
9. La plante, l'arbre ou l'animal dans lequel vous aimeriez être réincarné? The plant, tree or animal in which you would like to be reincarnated?
10. Si Dieu existe, qu'aimeriez-vous l'entendre vous dire après votre mort? If God exists, what would you like Him to tell you after your death?

Bernard Pivot answered his own questionnaire on the last Bouillon de culture program aired on June 29, 2001. 

• Woody Allen : Le questionnaire de Bernard Pivot dans Bouillon de Culture | Bouillon de culture 13/01/1995. Archive INA.
• Umberto Eco : Le questionnaire de Bernard Pivot dans Bouillon de Culture | Bouillon de culture 16/02/1992. Archive INA.
• Best of : Les questionnaires de Bernard Pivot dans Bouillon De Culture | Bouillon de culture: 1991 à 2001 Archive INA.

» The James Lipton's Questionnaire:

1. What is your favorite word?
2. What is your least favorite word?
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
4. What turns you off?
5. What is your favorite curse word?
6. What sound or noise do you love?
7. What sound or noise do you hate?
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. What profession would you not like to do?
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

» My answers to the questions compiled by Bernard Pivot and made famous by James Lipton:

1. What is your favorite word? Agarimo (affection).

2. What word do you hate? Schadenfreude: German word for the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another.

3. What is your favorite drug? Reading and dark chocolate.

4. The sound, the noise that you like? The sound of water (rain, flow of a river, sea waves...) and the purr of a cat.

5. The sound, the noise that you hate? Morning clock alarm and loud slurping (from a drink) sound.

6. What is your favorite curse, swear word or profanity? Merda! Putain! (Said with different intonation).

7. A man or a woman to illustrate a new banknote? Rich Uncle Pennybags (Mr. Monopoly), Gordon Gekko (character from Wall Street and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps); or Harpagon from Molière's The Miser (L'Avare).

8. The job that you would not have liked to do? A soldier.

9. The plant, tree or animal in which you would like to be reincarnated? I would like to reincarnate in: a sensitive plant (Mimosa Pudica), or living stones (Lithops), an oak in a Galician fraga or a turtle.

10. If God exists, what would you like Him to tell you after your death? "GAME OVER!!! Make jokes about me, now. You, smart-ass!!!"

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Good ideas and a good sense of humour.

What turns you off? Hypocrisy and narcisism.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? A (talented) writer.

REFERENCES:

[1] Wikipedia contributors. "Bernard Pivot". Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2021 Sep 18. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bernard_Pivot&oldid=1045109143.

[2] Wikipedia contributors. "Proust Questionnaire". Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2021 Aug 4. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Proust_Questionnaire&oldid=1037130798.

[3] Wikipedia contributors. "Apostrophes (talk show)". Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2020 Jun 25. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Apostrophes_(talk_show)&oldid=964360820.

[4] Contributeurs de Wikipédia. "Bouillon de culture (émission de télévision)".  Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre;  2021 juill. Available from: 

http://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Bouillon_de_culture_(%C3%A9mission_de_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9vision)&oldid=184506042.

[5] Wikipedia contributors. "James Lipton". Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2021 Sep 14. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Lipton&oldid=1044218929.

[6] Wikipedia contributors. "Inside the Actors Studio". Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2021 Jun 22. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Inside_the_Actors_Studio&oldid=1029942655.