Erm. Not exactly. For a moment I almost thought that the comic genius Sacha Baron Cohen was about to make an appearance in Malta in the guise of a developmental psychologist. It was this article on today's Times that triggered off my suspicions - in particular the announcement that Professor Simon Baron Cohen will be delivering a lecture in Malta. It turns out that Simon does exist and he is not a spoof character. He is a leading professor and deals with the latest developments in autism.
The surname is no fluke though. For us lesser beings, the greatest thing that Simon Baron Cohen has going for himself is the fact that he is the cousin of the comic genius behind the characters of Ali G, Borat and more recently the lemur King Julian in the comic strip Madagascar.
Incidentally, now that we mention Baron Cohen, do look out for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, a forthcoming full feature mockumentary that is meant to make its debut on the silverscreen in November 2006. It risks being banned in America but that is because, like the Maltese, they have difficulty distinguishing humour from reality - they lead such a parody of a life already.
Bigup yourself... yakshemash!
lundi, août 28, 2006
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4 commentaires:
I've used google, and can't find anything about the film you referenced being banned in the US. Where did you hear that from? Also, not for nothing, but I'm pretty sure that the Ali G Show was originally produced by an American company and was first aired in the good old USA by HBO. I could be wrong, though. In any case, the superciliousness won't ever stop, eh? :)
Sorry - I was a bit ungenerous. You didn't exactly say that it would be banned, but left the impression that there was a non-trivial movement of individuals who desired it to be. My apologies for the incorrect assertion, though I'd still really like to know where you got your information from.
It is always amusing to see USApologists at work. Busy contradicting yourself today?
Where do we begin? You discovered your first error yourself... they threaten to ban it and have not banned it yet.
Who are they? Oh the myriad intelligentsia inhabiting the great unwashed land of star spangled banners. they don't like Baron Cohens anti-semitic swipes. They cannot begin to understand that it is a Jew who is making the swipes with a semi-serious intent of uncovering the crass hypocrisy that lies at the base of the ultra-christian American West.
Ali G show originally American? Don't they just wish it was true. No no. You are wrong again. HBO took up the Ali G show and marketed it in America. That's not the same. It's like taking a really good idea and reaping its benefits... not the same as coming up with it in the first place.
But Duhmericans are good at that too... look at Big Brother, Who wants to be a Millionaire, The Weakest Link and others... they all began on the old continent. America just makes them louder and more in your face.
Supercilious? I don't need to raise any eyebrow to feel superior... they do a good enough job of lowering themselves below the general standard without needing any help.
Incidentally, did you read the Sunday Times' special on US deserters from Irak? Makes some lovely bed-time reading.
'Great unwashed land of star-spangled banners'? Er...all right, then. Try visiting D.C, New York, Los Angeles or Chicago - or Maine, Vermont, or heck, even North Carolina or Virginia - and maybe you'll be able to do better. I could just as well talk about the great unwashed land of Malta, where for many simple pastizzi are considered a delicacy and where obesity is ubiquitous...where many people complain about paying five pounds for a ticket at the Manoel and where cultural mediocrity is ubiquitous...what was that which was said, exactly, about people who live in glass houses? Alas, if American culture and American norms of behaviour are so abhorrent, what does it say about China, for example, where they are consumed and adopted as if they were manna dropping down from the heavens?
(this is another way of saying that it's a matter of class, not geography)
About the stealing of t.v ideas...again, are you trying to say that it doesn't go both ways? What does it say about Italy, for example, that its four major tv channels feature hours and hours of American (and therefore, non-indigenous) programming? I don't even want to try to argue with you about cultural exchange; if you want to keep to your jaundiced view of the world, you're more than welcome.
Incidentally, when the short-lived and bastardized version of 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' was being run in Malta (in other words, outside of the country where the concept was originally developed) were you similarly dismissive? Your archives don't stretch back that far...
Two final notes; about the Ali G show you appear to be correct, and I fully acknowledge my error. As far as being a USApologist - if it pleases you to think so, then by all means do not let me stop you; but the truth, alas, is a tad more complicated. I don't believe that my distaste at what I perceive to be as a constant stream of anti-Americanism that emanates from your end ipso facto makes me an apologist for American excess.
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