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lifeisliterallylimited:

The Dictator and The Zionist - The Trouble with Sacha Baron Cohen.

This morning, Sacha Baron Cohen is on my mind. Not a pleasant image to have to confront, but he’s been all over the place with the press for his new movie, The Dictator, which premiered in London earlier this week. He plays a composite character based on Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi - but I also see a lot of Iran’s Ahmedinijad in there. I don’t even really know what the plot of the movie is, but SBC’s movies have never really been big on plot.

I read this blog on CNN by Dean Obeidallah which calls out Cohen on the racism he displays in “browning up” to play an Arab man. Obeidallah’s argument is that Arabs and Indians themselves should be in movies that make fun of them. Fair enough. He doesn’t go far enough, in my opinion, to address all the stereotypes of Arabs that come out to play in the movie, but that’s because he hadn’t seen the movie when he wrote the piece. I wonder if he will.

What bothers me is that nobody’s addressing something more complex and, in my mind, more dangerous. So I’m going to attempt to do it. I know what I’m going to say is controversial, but I believe in speaking my mind when I see something that bothers me.

You see, SBC is a Zionist, a very publicly declared one. Which is not a problem for me personally, really. He’s got the right to hold his political views even if they are very bigoted ones that have been the root of most of the strife in the Middle East since 1948. But he’s got a very deliberate agenda which he expresses not-so-subtly in all his movies, and it’s not being said by commentators because of the fear that they will be called anti-Semitic.

Zionism is the belief in a Jewish nation, and the accompanying fierce loyalty to that nation, no matter what it does in the name of protecting itself and perpetuating its survival. It’s Zionism, not Judaism, that has seen the worst atrocities committed against the people of Palestine. Now, SBC doesn’t go around spouting things about the greatness of Israel in his movies. But if you look carefully, each one of his productions - from Ali G to Borat to Bruno to now, The Dictator, advances a certain element of Zionist propaganda against Muslims. Which is that Muslims are laughable, unintelligent, idiotic people with no intellect at best, and terrorists at worst. And Cohen uses buffoonery to do this.

How? By taking the stereotypes, derived both from Orientalism and from anti-Islamic Zionism, and playing them out to such ridiculous extremes, that his audiences laugh. And in laughing, they feel entertained. And in being entertained, they swallow the stereotypes and the racism whole, without pausing to critically analyze what they’ve been presented with. You could call this SBC’s particular genius. Yes, it’s pretty clever. But it’s also dangerous.

With Ali G, Cohen presented a fairly innocuous character: a rudeboy of uncertain ethnicity* (but everyone assumed he was Asian, or at least an Asian persona taken on by a white man for even more irony and laughs) who was stupid, racist, anti-Semitic, and sexist. A genius comedic character who made people laugh and believe that Asians, especially Muslim ones, of a certain age, class, and educational level, are all like this.

With Borat, I almost don’t have to say anything. We all know the buffoon he played who was from Kazakhstan who went to the United States and displayed all sorts of inappropriate behavior. He spouted off truisms about life in Kazakhstan, which included some pretty nasty jibes at village life - “My sister is best prostitute in village” - implying that again, Kazakhs - who happen to be Muslim - are backwards, idiotic yokels who engage in incest and bestiality. Of course it’s ridiculous, you say, we know it’s not true. Yes, but when you pick a country that most people know virtually nothing about and you assign values and mores to it, you know that because of the vacuum of knowledge, people will subconsciously adopt those values, or at least associate them with the country in the absence of better knowledge. Again, very, very clever.

In Bruno, the story of a gay Austrian fashionista, there’s no overt racism against Arabs or Muslims for a while. But then Cohen pulls the stunt of interviewing a Palestinian man who he claims is a dangerous Muslim terrorist. The man, in real life, is a Palestinian Christian who has nothing to do with terrorism. Cohen made him sign a release form before appearing in the movie, and didn’t tell him that he was going to brand him as a terrorist. On screen, this is a big joke, but in real-life Palestine, this can result in your death at the hands of Israeli security forces.

Most people think of Sacha Baron Cohen as a comedic genius, as I said before, as a trickster, someone who stands conventions on their heads to get laughs. I see him as someone else: a very intelligent man with a political stance and a stage on which to make that stance known. That he’s being subversively funny about it and using comedy rather than straight political discourse to do so is a sign of his brilliance, but also of his duplicity. He is advancing the worst of Zionist propaganda against Muslims with his movies, and the worst part is, you’re paying $15 each time to see him do it.

*I’ve had several people tell me Ali G was a parody of whites who want to be gangsta, Jamaican, or black. This wasn’t revealed until later in the series, though - and to be honest, when I saw him, the first thing that popped into my mind was that he was a parody of an Asian. Perhaps it was the name “Ali” (which was later revealed to be short for Alistair), a Muslim name that is very common amongst British Pakistanis, not so common amongst Afro-Carribbeans. Anyway, even if it was a white wannabe, critics rounded on him for making it “safe” to laugh at that culture from an imagined politically correct stance because it was buffoonery. I stick to my original claim that he was lampooning Asians (in addition to blacks, a more definite identity that I think evolved and became clearer as the series went on), and that his Zionist, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab stance has become more bold over time and become more and more overt in his films. And one thing people don’t know is that when he talks in the supposed language of each character, he’s actually making in-jokes in Hebrew.

(x)

word, SBC & his brand of humor bug me generally but this in particular is why i was so frickin uncomfortable when my dad (Zionist As Heck™) got disappointed when i didn’t want to see it with him

I was waiting for Tumblr to get its panties in a twist about The Dictator. I must say, I’m impressed. It took it two days for the hate to show up on my dash. I thought it would have been sooner.

***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

I’m also surprised that the first I’ve seen of The Dictator and Sacha Baron Cohen anger was about his “Muslim portrayal” and not the rape and suicide jokes. I’m probably going to come off as sounding pretentious, but when I was in film school (majoring in film production and screenwriting), we had a whole quarter on Cohen and analyzing his films. A good story, if that is written or visual, is something that sends a message to its audience. It is something that tackles a pressing issue in the world that needs to be fixed. It is something that brings up a problem and presents it to the viewers.

I’m sorry, but I think you’re* missing the big picture here with SBC’s films. It is NOT an attack on Muslims. It has been a while since I’ve watched Ali G, Borat, and Bruno, but I don’t recall Islam being brought up much in those productions (if at all?). I remember with Borat, the character said something along the lines of “I follow the bird” for his religion.

If you want to get offended about something, you should get offended about the right thing (I wonder how many people just got offended at me saying that). Yes, you are free to get offended about whatever you want in life, but when you’re trying to make something up that isn’t there in a particular instance to be offended about, that seems kind of asinine.

Again, going back to film school. I had professors that actually work in the industries. Professors that write TV and film for a living that presented this study with their students….and if you actually watch Sacha Baron Cohen’s movies as a whole, you’ll see that he’s not giving a message the Muslims are stupid. His works actually “attack” America and Americans (or corrupt government in The Ali G Movie). He mocked Christianity in Borat, if you want to say he’s portraying a religion in a bad light….but you know what? He mocked A LOT of things. It goes back to the golden rule that is now becoming so blasphemous in the world: Either you can make fun of everything, or you can’t make fun of anything at all.

Satire is a beautiful method of humor and writing, because satire takes (most of the time) a serious issue that people are ignorant about, and presents it in a humors light so that it becomes gentle for the person to absorb and then later think about…well, if that person has a bit of intellect.

In Cohen’s films, he exposes the ignorance and bigotry of the majority of the American people. Yes, his characters contain some stereotypical traits, but that’s what they are: Stereotypes. They HAVE to be stereotyped for the reason that he places them (the character) in the world of the ~~American~~ people. His writing then displays the truth on how American’s think of and perceive said person (The ‘unknown’ foreigner, the gay, the Arab), and then how they get treated by people because they believe things like “All Arabs are going to blow up your city”. There’s a really good scene in The Dictator, where Aladeen and his scientist are talking about a car in front of “typical American’s” …and the citizens and the police arrest them based on the assumption they were talking about a terrorist attack.

You* feel like SBC is singling out Arabs and Muslims (which is silly), because his representation about them is so strong (yet it’s strong about other people and things as well)…because what is a pressing issue in these past few years? The way the world, mostly Americans, feel threatened by ANYONE of Middle Eastern decent. The general people has a stereotype about them, and SBC is mocking the stereotype with his stereotypical displays of them…however, that’s just on the surface. If you strip down the layers to what you are actually watching, and what he is trying to say, is that these people (the forigner, the gay, the Arab) are STILL people who face undeserved intolerance just for being them.

In The Dictator, it is constantly talked about how “you have to look and appear American, so that they don’t think you’re a terrorist”. There is also a voice of reason character in the film, Zoey, who has SEVERAL monologues about how it’s not right to stereotype and treat people difference based on where they come from or how they look.

You may argue that it’s STILL not right for Cohen to act “buffoonish” with his characters, because it’s offensive to Islam (or whatever else you want to feel offended about), but it goes back around to what I said before about WHY a writer needs to use comedy and simple jokes if they want to get a serious issue across.

You know why Sacha Baron Cohen is praised for being a comedic genius? Because that’s exactly what he does; he takes on SEVERAL serious issues in one film. He is also praised for having good writing and acting, because every single one of his characters in his films go through “the fall”.

The fall means that you have a character who is arrogant and/or strong…then an event happens to /change them/. For a while the character is at a low, feels helpless, wrong, and suicidal even. They then realize that instead of being brought down, they can arise a new and better person. They learn a lesson.

This is character development. If Cohen was trying to say that all Arabs/Gays/whatever were nothing more than stupid buffoons to be laughed at, then he would still have them just a “stupid” as they were in the beginning of the film. You can argue that Aladeen didn’t have a change, because by the end of the film he was talking about Zoey getting an abortion if she was pregnant with a boy, but in the beginning of the film, the character of Aladeen wouldn’t even THINK of being with a person like Zoey at all, let alone allow someone else to stand by his side like that in his country.

The main point of The Dictator was not to make fun of Arabs and Muslims, it was to once again give a “fuck you” to corrupt government, mainly the American government.

Using an Arab person (Aladeen) as the main character as the portrayal of evil and stupid, is because that’s what -most- American’s believe to be true about Arab people and their politics….or anything other than democracy. And, in recent years, the Middle Eastern countries have been the spot light for having “evil and stupid” leaders and government in the eyes of America.

You cannot say that it is not true that American’s write and speak constantly about how those countries /need/ democracy. The US Government seems to have a crusade to get democracy into every country. They preach about how much better democracy is, and how it’s not fair to the people of said country to be ruled under dictatorship or communism, because the people get treated poorly.

America glorifies itself in it’s democracy, and the government has pride in how great it is for the citizens.

When you watch The Dictator though, Aladeen talks about how great dictatorship is, because it allows “your rich to become richer, it allows your government to come in to control press and freedom of speech, and rig elections.” There was much more he said, but it was a spot on talk about how….despite the American government having democracy, they are acting like dictators themselves. Can you argue that it’s not true? It’s everything OWS was standing against.

One of the main, yet appearing simple, growths in the film, was the missile.

In the beginning, Aladeen wanted a pointed missile. He was enraged when the scientist gave him a round missile…because he was convinced that it HAD to be a pointed missile in order for it to do its job. The scientist argued that it could work the same with being round as well, but Aladeen wouldn’t listen.

By the end of the movie, the scientist is excited because he finally made him a pointed missile, but then Aladeen didn’t care at all. He said something along the lines of “It doesn’t matter how it looks, it can still do what you want it to.” Which WHOA! HOLD THE FUCK UP! It’s such a simple line, and it appears to be nothing more than a little joke…but it’s actually so much more than that…it’s reinforcing the lesson of the film, that “even though it is labeled democracy, you can still be acting like a dictatorship”.

So before getting offended at joking about things, if that is rape, abortion, suicide, religion, or ethnicity, think about WHY it is being joked about, and WHY it is presented in such a manner. It may make YOU offended and angry if YOU have the belief that “not everything is okay to joke about”, but as YOU wrote*…it makes people laugh, and to make people laugh is to make people pay attention to you if you have something important to say.

*You’re and you is referring to people in general who are having issues with being offended. I’m not trying to single out one person or the tumblr op.

Reblogged from qichi

source: lifeisliterallylimited

May 21, 2012

naked-in-eden:

sociallyunacceptableart:

“Obama is screwing America over.”

Just thought up this idea for a political cartoon, I like it xD

Its based off of my thought/quote thing.

I hope you all like it! I know I do

NOTE: Please no flaming. If you support Obama, fine. I could care less. Just dont rant on it please. Your comment will be removed.

I like Obama but this is fucking hilarious. Look at this. Look at this political cartoon.

It’s beautiful.

This person is right. Obama is screwing over the USA. He’s screwing up everything America is made up of: The American Dream. He’s screwing up the idea that a woman’s single purpose is to find a husband, pop kids out, and be a stay at home mom.

He’s advocating her being an independent woman, getting an abortion if she wants one, and getting equal pay at work.

He’s screwing up the American view of marriage being just for a man and a woman, too! He’s going to let lesbians and gays wed!

He’s screwing up the easy way the American government can come in and control what you look at on the Interent.

He’s screwing up our holy educational and health system by wanting to distribute it to everyone!!!

If Obama is allowed to continue fucking America like this, then there is a chance he could even screw up the numbers of American’s who suffer from mental health problems! Due to his messed up ways, that number of 57.7 million people could lower!!

If women’s rights are accepted, if gays are allowed to get married, and if everyone can attain health care, then people in America may not feel the need to commit suicide so much. HOW DARE that man screw this all up!

Reblogged from metatrons-deactivated20121021

May 19, 2012

SOPA Emergency IP list

burt-reynolds-xmas-special:

kshandra:

underwatermess:

So when these assfucks in DC decide to ruin the internet, here’s how to access your favorite sites in the event of a DNS takedown

tumblr.com 174.121.194.34
wikipedia.org 208.80.152.201

# News
bbc.co.uk 212.58.241.131
aljazeera.com 198.78.201.252

# Social media
reddit.com 72.247.244.88
imgur.com 173.231.140.219
google.com 74.125.157.99
youtube.com 74.125.65.91
yahoo.com 98.137.149.56
hotmail.com 65.55.72.135
bing.com 65.55.175.254
digg.com 64.191.203.30
theonion.com 97.107.137.164
hush.com 65.39.178.43
gamespot.com 216.239.113.172
ign.com 69.10.25.46
cracked.com 98.124.248.77
sidereel.com 144.198.29.112
github.com 207.97.227.239

# Torrent sites
thepiratebay.org 194.71.107.15
mininova.com 80.94.76.5
btjunkie.com 93.158.65.211
demonoid.com 62.149.24.66
demonoid.me 62.149.24.67

# Social networking
facebook.com 69.171.224.11
twitter.com 199.59.149.230
tumblr.com 174.121.194.34
livejournal.com 209.200.154.225
dreamwidth.org 69.174.244.50

# Live Streaming Content
stickam.com 67.201.54.151
blogtv.com 84.22.170.149
justin.tv 199.9.249.21
chatroulette.com 184.173.141.231
omegle.com 97.107.132.144
own3d.tv 208.94.146.80
megavideo.com 174.140.154.32

# Television
gorillavid.com 178.17.165.74
videoweed.com 91.220.176.248
novamov.com 91.220.176.248
tvlinks.com 208.223.219.206
1channel.com 208.87.33.151

# Shopping
amazon.com 72.21.211.176
newegg.com 216.52.208.187
frys.com 209.31.22.39

# File Sharing
mediafire.com 205.196.120.13
megaupload.com 174.140.154.20
fileshare.com 208.87.33.151
multiupload.com 95.211.149.7
uploading.com 195.191.207.40
warez-bb.org 31.7.57.13
hotfile.com 199.7.177.218
gamespy.com 69.10.25.46
what.cd 67.21.232.223
warez.ag 178.162.238.136
putlocker.com 89.238.130.247
uploaded.to 95.211.143.200
dropbox.com 199.47.217.179
pastebin.com 69.65.13.216

Added LJ and DW.

Here’s a tip for the do-it-yourself crowd: Go to your computer’s Start menu, and either go to “run” or just search for “cmd.” Open it up, and type in “ping [website address],” like so:

Once you have the IP for a website, all you really need to do is enter it like you would a normal URL and hit enter/press go. Typing in “208.85.240.231” should bring you to the front page of AO3, for example, just as typing “174.121.194.34/dashboard” should bring you straight to your Tumblr dashboard. Since we’re obviously bracing for the worst case scenario which would involve you not being able to access Tumblr regularly, you should, like, save this list, I guess.

Guess I better print this out, because….like….when SOPA happens and takes down tumblarg, then we can’t access our blogs to get this list!

Reblogged from beeseverywhere

source: underwatermess

Dec 18, 2011

razzledazzy:

toplaughingalonewithdonuts:

momlaughingalonewithvodka:

drtanner:

handgrenade2:

abandonedatspacecamp:

Senate votes to make US a military state

The military was just given permission to arrest and detain American citizens on US soil and hold them indefinitely, without charge. There are about a thousand things wrong with that previous sentence.

I know I post alot of petitions and things, but please, if you have a facebook or an email address, sign this petition to tell Obama to veto this bill.

Basically the first thing they’re going to do is round up all the Occupy protestors and put them in one big, federal pen, but I wouldn’t count on it stopping there. Our country’s in bad enough shape as it is without arresting more innocent people. Spread the word and, please, sign the petition. Make your voice heard.

Holy shit.

Source.

So glad to be English right now. This is horrifying to watch from a distance.

Please sign.

kind of taken aback by the “So glad to be English right now” cause how do you think it feels to be a foreigner stuck in America

either way i’ll signal boost this every time

yeah it’s…an awful feeling u__u I feel like I’m in some weird twilight zone half the time. enemy territory or something. home plz. *reaches*

Reblogged from hotbutterpopcorn

source: abandonedatspacecamp

Dec 7, 2011

lovelymetalhead3:

Let’s Act Against NDAA

For those of you that were raging against this bill.

For those of you that don’t know about this bill, this bill was passed by Congress on Tuesday. Basically put, this allows the military to detain, torture, interrogate, and assassinate citizens without reason and without fair trial. A member of the military could shoot you down right on the street for the simple fact that they don’t like you. This bill is unconstitutional and would destroy our freedom. As Americans, we have the right to act against this bill (whilst we still can).

Even is Obama vetoes this bill, without our voice, Congress can override it with the overwhelming amount of support it received (97-3 in favour of the bill).

Call, email, write your representatives and tell them that you do not want this bill put into play. It violates the constitution, people will misuse their power if this bill got an overriding vote, it denies the basic American freedoms in the First Amendment.

Here are directories that give information to contact your Senators and Representatives.

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

http://www.house.gov/representatives/

And here’s how you can figure out the congressional district in which you belong: http://www.govtrack.us/ congress/ findyourreps.xpd?state=CA

It may take some navigation on the pages.

We must act against this if we wish to continue enjoying our simplest American freedoms without worry.

Reblog to spread the word. Most importantly, contact your representatives. If their voicemail is full, wait a day, and call again. Use all possible routes of communication to let them know that you are serious.

We can do this folks. The simplest thing we can do is act.

_{brb, moving to Sweden.}

I’m sure this bill was highly inspired for OWS, too…

Reblogged from magnushammerass

Dec 6, 2011

deepredroom:

aelur:

the-nmmi-nut:

ennish:

nevver:

The New Yorker

#implying that every family back then was perfect #implying that every family now is closed off and distant from each other

This artist should totally make a Tumblr account.

…my family watches football on thanksgiving, and we have lively interactions during it. Before people stereotype the tech additions of modern life, maybe they should go home for thanksgiving once.

How it actually plays out:

someone asks to change the channel, after a bit of discussion channel is changed to the news*

important piece of information regarding social happenings*

son/daughter asks for clarification on something

dad answers

mother discusses the posibility that dad may be wrong or injects new information into the conversation

polite discussion starts

someone says something stupid

discussion turns into heated arguement

family ends up throwing food against each other

the neighbours join in

someone kills the president with a taco

WWIII happens

My house:

Dad comes in and turns on the news

Him and mam talk about someone in the village who died or something

Something interesting is being reported on

I ask “What did that guy do?”

He replies “WHY DON’T YOU PAY ATTENTION FOR FUCKS SAKE!?”

Sports news comes on, no talking at all

Dinner finished, return to my room and go on the internet

Thank the lord I don’t have to talk to my family due to all this media I have

I don’t know…seems pretty accurate to me. However, I have only been to two families’ house holds for Thanksgiving in my life…one being my sperm doner’s side of the family, which was the spitting picture of the illustration featured below…except I would be the girl in the corner with a sketch book instead of the phone.

It was obnoxious, all about football, low-quality beer, unmatched tables/chairs, and really bad food that drowned in oil.

The next family was my brother-in-law’s parents. Pretty much the same, except the food was a bit better quality (not by much), drunkness with bad beer, and men screaming over football.

This year I am attending my future parents’ in-laws house. I am expecting much better, because my fiance and I are making 80% of the food, and although I haven’t done Thanksgiving over there yet in the past, our other dinners there have been like the photo featured above.

If the TV is on, it’s CNN, where we then proceed to have intelligent conversations about politics, but most of the time it’s all of us just laughing with one another and playing games after dinner.

I am very lucky to have in-laws like that, ~~save for their clingyness~~ ♥

Reblogged from deepredroom

source: nevver

Nov 23, 2011

I lost a child to the Occupy movement.

itsallgone:

Just thirteen days ago I was eight months pregnant.

Everyone loved rubbing my belly.

I even wore my “Baby On Board” shirt over my gigantic stomach.

Read More

Yeah uh…you should know the sort of danger you could potentially be putting yourself in if you go to the OWS lines.

I’m sorry, but I just can’t feel sympathy for this woman.

It just feels like it goes back around to people assuming they are entitled to special treatment because they are pregnant/have a baby, and that they should be exempt from the rules.

That’s.not.how.it.works…as much as they would like it to, and as much as some people enable their catering thinking.

If you are 8 months pregnant, and you willing throw yourself into something where you KNOW brutalities are being committed, then you are a dumb one.

~~I have no heart.~~

Reblogged from

Nov 22, 2011

mizuki-takashima:

empyrealwolves:

bromancer:

wordsaremyberetta:

invinciblething:

eunoshin:

fabulous-sharpies:

coffee-and-paperbags:

bigkkkat:

skreamfilter:

jensnstuff:

chineseelectricbatman:

mageofd00m:

kaytree:

uwu:

themelancholyofquinnfabray:

wha

gonna go pick some pizzas from the pizza plants

I honestly think Congress is losing it

damnit.

1) Try to censor entire Internet

2) Pizza is vegetable

3) ?????

4) PROFIT!!

^^^^^^^

Of course pizza is a vegetable
You guys didn’t know that?
Y’all are behind on the times

does this mean that I’m eating healthy now?

Congress you are losing it.

I CAN NOT PLANT PIZZA.

ಠ_ಠ

Did you try to plant pizza?

But…like. Tomatoes are technically fruits…
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN.

I can get a better body from this right

If this is real then I don’t even know…

I’ve been seeing this post on my dash all day.

I heard that Tomatoes really are vegetables, (they were like “nope it’s a fruit now”, but then they put it back in the veggie category) but…if Pizza is also a vegetable

does that mean that Pasta is a vegetable too?

I know Ravioli has a full serving of vegetables in it, and Pasta looks like it has as much Tomatoes in it as a Pizza…

…lol I’m just over-thinking it, CONGRESS YOU SO SILLY C:

Oh man, I thought, and hoped, this was fake…so I did a quick Google search, and it seems it’s not.

Parent: Bratly, Eat your vegetables!
Bratly: OKAY! GIMME PIZZA!
Parent: Yes, sweetie.

America has a bright future, indeed.

Reblogged from mizuki-takashima

Nov 18, 2011