From my review in Taki's Magazine:
The Dictator is Sacha Baron Cohen’s fourth and—surprisingly—funniest movie, a definite improvement over his biggest hit Borat. But critics, who raved in 2006 about how Borat exposed the anti-Semitism throbbing in Red State America’s heart, are now having second thoughts about Baron Cohen. As the Great Girls Whiteness Crisis of 2012 suggested, during the serious business of Obama’s reelection campaign anybody with a sense of humor is automatically suspect. ...
Baron Cohen, a sterling British comedian who is a sort of elongated Peter Sellers, plays Admiral General Aladeen, strongman of the North African rogue state of Wadiya, which is trying to build a nuclear missile to menace Israel.
What’s the common denominator behind Baron Cohen’s four movies, Ali G Indahouse, Borat, Bruno, and now The Dictator? This conundrum has baffled the best minds in the film criticism business.
Find out by reading the whole thing there.
Posts
62 comments:
"weapons-grade animus" - perfect!
I saw that Taki sponsored conservative comedian Ramzpaul to do a video response to the Derbyshire mess.
I watched it on Youtube. It was hilarious. My brother thought so too.
Somembody needs to get him some scratch so that he can do a film sending up the multiculturalists and other enemies of Whites in the same way SBC satirizes the traditional enemies of the Hebrews.
I would definitely pay to see it.
I am surprised you haven't posted or referenced any of his videos on your blog. When he is on he can be damn funny.
I also noted that Ali G was originally a British Muslim "youth" maybe not too different from the French "youth" Mohammed Merah...
I
Here is the link to the Ramzpaul video on the Derbyshire issue that Taki sponsored (God bless Taki).
www.ramzpaul.com/.../how-to-have-talk-without-getting-fired.html
It's hilarious.
Steve, I have a few random comments, but first let me say that describing Sasha Baron-Cohen as an "elongated Peter Sellers" is pure gold. Did you chuckle as you wrote that? Anyway...
Larry Charles also directed "Religulous."
Cohen provided the voice of an unflattering Israeli tourguide on an episode of "The Simpsons".
In light of the above, and of my gut feeling as someone who looks a lot like Cohen and also lived in London as a child, I'm not convinced that he has any nationalist/political stance that ties his work together.
Rather, hailing from a Jewish half-Israeli household in London, the characters he portrays are probably just caricatures of those types that he naturally encountered (either in his neighborhood, in his parents' kvetchings, or in the news) and considered most ripe for comedy.
(By the way, Ali G's speech patterns require that "th" sounds become "d"s: Da Voice of Da Yoof.)
Oh, also, check this out, it's bizarre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazonian_Guard Apparently Cohen showed up to the Oscars with some Amazonian Guards of his own.
I'm not convinced that he has any nationalist/political stance that ties his work together.
I think Steve is saying that it's visceral. Not some long thought out stance.
Rather, hailing from a Jewish half-Israeli household in London, the characters he portrays are probably just caricatures of those types that he naturally encountered (either in his neighborhood, in his parents' kvetchings, or in the news) and considered most ripe for comedy.
I have a hard time believing he ran into gay Austrians, dictators, Kazakhs, chavs, etc. more frequently than all those other types of people that aren't targets of his caricatures.
Larry Charles also directed "Religulous."....In light of the above
What are you trying to say? That since Charles made an anti-religion movie, he must be anti-Jewish or neutral at best?
In light of the above, and of my gut feeling as someone who looks a lot like Cohen and also lived in London as a child
Maybe this "gut feeling" makes you biased on this matter. Have you considered this?
Hostility? Judging by your review, this Aladdin person seems to be a portrayed sympathetically.
Anonymous said: Maybe this "gut feeling" makes you biased on this matter. Have you considered this?
Yes. That was the dry sarcastic joke I was going for.
His four main characters have been animated by his weapons-grade animus against present or past foes of the Jews.
Do you mean animus against present or past IMAGINED foes?
Hostility humor is rarely funny. Laughter is involved, but only as part of the sneering and jeering at the out-group. Not much funnier than events that provoke nervous laughter or when you all laugh at the same thing, which isn't funny, just to build a sense of camaraderie.
And hostility humor is never lastingly funny. Once the object of derision is no longer a relevant enemy, audiences won't get the references at all.
The only exception is if the audience "never forgets," i.e. is incapable of forgiveness and permanently burns with resentment. Then, yes, the enemies of 500 years ago are still alive in memory and worthy butts of a joke.
True funny has to examine the foibles or challenges of the in-group itself.
It's like the concept of sin -- evil things happen in this world not just because of some wicked out-group preying on us, but because we too are tempted by and succumb to sinful behavior. Notice that Jews also do not focus on sin really at all. They're only harmed because of Borat & Co.
That same idea of "we are often our own worst enemy" is the basis of truly funny stuff, where we get ourselves into the frustrating predicaments. Network, Ghostbusters, Vacation, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Heathers, Back to the Future, and so on. Those are really funny and will always be funny.
Here's a recent interview of Sacha Baron Cohen as himself and not one of his characters:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18105176
The interview begins with Cohen saying that "Jews have a tendency to become comedians".
When asked why he says that it's due to "a history of persecution". The interviewer remarks that "but you (Cohen) didn't feel persecuted, did you", to which Cohen responds, "no, not really, but I think you come from that tradition".
He also talks about the first time he did the "Borat" character and how the character was originally named "Alexei" and from Moldova.
The "Borat" character was also named "Christo" early on:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borat_Sagdiyev#Origins
There was a book published called The Many Faces of Sacha Baron Cohen: Politics, Parody, and the Battle over Borat by an academic.
A review of the book suggests that the author may have made a similar connection as you did between Cohen's ethnocultural background and his comedy:
http://southwestjournalofculturescinema.blogspot.com/2009/02/many-faces-of-sacha-baron-cohen.html
"The first chapter, the only one specifically on Sacha Baron Cohen, focuses mainly on the comedian’s Jewish background and connects it to a tradition of ethnic humor and satire. Baron Cohen’s interest in the history of the Civil Rights movement and interracial activism as an undergraduate at Cambridge also influences Saunders’s contextualization of his comedy. In this chapter, Saunders argues that Baron Cohen’s outrageous anti-Semitism continues the Jewish tradition of counter-aggression, that is, “a moral response to the aggression of others.”"
I like the idea that it is possible to laugh with SBC at his targets, while laughing at him for his unintentional grotesqueness.
Gilbert Pinfold.
OT:
Steve, are you going to comment on the recent revelation that Obama's former literary agent said and published that Obama was born in Kenya and maintained this for 16 years:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/17/The-Vetting-Barack-Obama-Literary-Agent-1991-Born-in-Kenya-Raised-Indonesia-Hawaii
Pat Buchanan is quite good humored and comes off as a friendly, good natured guy in his interview with Ali G:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwEd_tcKBfU
In the Bruno movie he interviewed Ron Paul and set him up in an awkward situation where he basically sexually propositioned Paul, angering him greatly and causing him to flee the hotel room.
I wonder if he was hoping to catch Paul expose himself as greatly homophobic, and if Cohen was motivated by a suspicion or dislike of Paul for his isolationism and goyish old school Republicanism.
He doesn't seem to just mock the people represented by his characters. He also seems to mock the ordinary folk his characters interview and interact with and that act as straight men/comic foils to his characters. He mocks them as being unsophisticated, naive, rubes, hicks, goyische kopfs, etc.
Sacha Baron Cohen did suffer actual persecution.
"I wonder if he was hoping to catch Paul expose himself as greatly homophobic, and if Cohen was motivated by a suspicion or dislike of Paul for his isolationism and goyish old school Republicanism."
You wonder?
Gilbert P.
which is trying to build a nuclear missile to menace Israel.
I really, really, hate Cohen. He's nothign but an ethnic bigot with a free pass from his co-religionists.
I have never been a fan of SBC, because from the first it was fairly plain to me that his "humor" was merely based on animus stemming from his Judeo-Centric world view (Jews and mondernism good/Goys and tradition bad). Pretty boring and predictable and completely lacking self-awareness.
Not all Jewish comedians are like this, of course, and some of them can be quite hilarious especially when they satirize some widely held beliefs at the expense of their ownn group...Gary Schandling, Seinfeld, and some others come to mind.
I enjoy Mike Judge's King of the Hill and the Simpsons and South Park on occassion (Air Amerca was very funny). Particulary, when they lampoon some traditional liberal shiboleth. The Friday movies by Ice-Cube are also so damn funny, because they are so politically incorrect (as was Richard Pryor in his stand up routine).
The fairly recent Tucker and Earl versus Evil movie was also funny in this regard as is Ramzpaul.
Do the posters know of any other movies or comedians that poke fun at liberals, multi-culturalists, etc.. who they can recommend?
Don't want to hijack the thread, but if they do it would be greatly appreciated if they could mention them in a posting.
I like to laugh (it's better than crying)
Thanks in advance.
He's an IRL troll who just enjoys pissing people off.
Ron Paul doesn't believe that Israel should be supported by the US so clearly some tribesmen have an issue with him.
An earlier poster said:
the character was originally named "Alexei" and from Moldova
____
Moldova makes more sense as the origin of Borat.
As most students of history know, Moldovans were famously ethno-nationalist, and rejected the idea of a high IQ meritocracy.
Contrast them to Danes, who accept IQ based meritocracy.
They represent completely different memes within Europe
If Jewish culture is being hostile to enemies, wasp culture is being hospitable to all its enemies.
I'm going to have to take your word on this one Sailer. Maybe I'll see the movie when I can for free.
"Borat" was loathesome. It was cheap, mean humor for the coastal elites, basically by shitting on the dumb rubes in flyover country.
Other people in the theater were laughing, and I was sitting there wondering what in the hell they were laughing about.
And, I'm not averse to heavy handed Jewish humor... love Mel Brooks.
"Shouting Thomas said...
And, I'm not averse to heavy handed Jewish humor... love Mel Brooks."
Yeah, fart-jokes, really funny.
Cohen is a nasty little creep. I wouldn't pay a dime to see any of his movies.
Anna Faris used to be cute - now she looks grotesque. Bad plastic?
Borat the Moldovan?
Makes sense. Moldovans are genetically white European, but have a relatively strong sense of ethno nationalism. Moldovans were known to be most enthusiastic about exterminating minority groups living inside Moldova that happened to have higher IQ than the majority.
In Denmark the majority population came together to protect high IQ minorities from extermination
Moldovans also face direct invasion from the steppe and from Ottomans
If we acknowledge difference between Italy and the North, it is not strange to realize differences between Moldova and the North. Between Greece and Germany
Do the posters know of any other movies or comedians that poke fun at liberals, multi-culturalists, etc.. who they can recommend?
May we assume that you are aware of the classics: The various Monty Pythons [BBC, Holy Grail, Brian, Meaning, etc], the near-Monty Pythons [Time Bandits, Brazil, Wanda, Munchausen, etc], Fawlty Towers, early Blake Edwards Pink Panthers, and so on???
The elitist hypocrisy which those guys were lampooning amounts to modern-day SWPL nihlistic insanity in a nutshell [i.e. the hypocrisy, not the lampooning - SWPLs don't have a funny bone in their entire bodies].
PS: Count me as one hopelessly backwards hayseed redneck shegetz who has never heard a single [even mildly] funny crack out of a Scots-Irish "comedian" in his entire life.
Turkish man's 1999 website source of some Borat movie elements.
Mahir Çağrı
The Daily Show Walls - Turkish Delight
http://istanbul.tc/mahir/mahir/
"Yeah, fart-jokes, really funny."
Fart jokes will never die. Neither will schlong jokes, another of Brooks' specialities.
"Men in Tights" was pretty good, too.
The urge to murder high IQ minorities is certainly not limited to Europeans.
Famously, in Uganda the Indian population had dramatically higher IQ than the rest of the Ugandans and the result was murder and expulsion.
Similarly, if you read Amy Chua's book World on Fire you will see that Chinese, who genetically have a 20 point IQ advantage over many Southeast Asian peoples, have been subject to pogroms by those people, most notably in Indonesia.
In fact, I would say that lower IQ people that treat high IQ minorities with respect and admiration are decidedly unusual.
Borat's Guide To Politics
"Borat - Jagshemash. Pepsi Max. In Kazakhstan, we fight for sixty year to get rid of Communism. Here in England, after eighteen year of rule by Maggie Thatcher and other English Gentlemen they put in a Communist. I come here to Bournemouth, to sunny seaside to see why politics fifty year behind Kazakhstan. Chenk yeu."
Enh - Bruno is from Austria because Hitler was? Kazakhstan ~ Cossacks? Unless you can back it up that's ignorable ranting kook territory.
"Enh - Bruno is from Austria because Hitler was? "
Why else would he randomly pick Austria as a target to lampoon? He also mixes in with Bruno a lot of Nazi/HItler jokes, as well as jokes in general about German (speaking) people. Bruno is supposed to be this queer Aryan superman.
"Kazakhstan ~ Cossacks? Unless you can back it up that's ignorable ranting kook territory."
Kazakhstan is a central Asian country that's sort of like a Muslim Mongolia. But in Borat's portrayal of it, its distinctly Eastern Europe. There's a reason for that.
SBC mocking the enemies of the tribe:
Ali G = the modern hip-hop Euro-muslim yoof... could be a terrorist in the future.
Bruno = The blonde Euro fag that isn't going to shed blood for Israel.
Borat = The inbred hick eastern Euro anti-semite.
Alaaden = Arab muslim dictator... whats more to say?
Cohen is hilarious, for the most part. Sellers was too, because Sellers hated the French. Thus the humor of Inspector Clueseau. Rick Moranis for some reason hated Merv Griffin, thus the hilarious lampoons of him on SCTV. I suspect the same was behind Eddie Murphy's James Brown impressions.
As for Zionism, given that all the "right people" hate it, I'd suggest its a good role model for American Nationalists. As is Winston Churchill.
If you really want to tick off the Leftist/Gay/Feminist/Black/La Raza alliance, show up at a rally waving the Israeli Flag and flashing the V for Victory sign, ala Churchill.
Borat was not really funny, SBC's basic schtick until now has been to act horrible in provoking a funny reaction from people. Kimmell and Carolla did this all the time on the Man Show (famously impersonating drunk pilots at LAX).
HOWEVER, SBC got sued by a number of people in both Borat and Bruno (which was funny btw) and had to drop that stuff.
Bruno was hilarious not the least of which was the lampooning of the gay fashion world and celebrities.
If you really want to tick off the Leftist/Gay/Feminist/Black/La Raza alliance, show up at a rally waving the Israeli Flag and flashing the V for Victory sign, ala Churchill.
Except most people these days, especially leftists, gays, minorities, etc., don't associate the "V" sign with Churchill. They'd think it was the peace sign. Lots of blacks and La Raza types probably couldn't even identify Churchill.
As for Zionism, given that all the "right people" hate it, I'd suggest its a good role model for American Nationalists. As is Winston Churchill.
You do realize that Churchill would be considered "anti-Semitic" today, don't you?
You do realize that when guys like Churchill viewed Zionism positively in the past, they did so in part because they believed it would mean most Jews emigrating and settling in Israel, thereby resolving the "Jewish question" - a view which you and most Jews today would consider anti-Semitic?
Do the posters know of any other movies or comedians that poke fun at liberals, multi-culturalists, etc."
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" seemed to take great joy in goofing on leftists and was very good at doing it, that's why I think despite its success and loyal cult like following it was never embraced by the hipster holier than thou comics with pull in NYC and LA.
"Shouting Thomas said..
Fart jokes will never die. Neither will schlong jokes, another of Brooks' specialities.
Men in Tights" was pretty good, too."
Well, I suppose it's a matter of taste.
Yours is bad.
In Denmark the majority population came together to protect high IQ minorities from extermination.
... and was nicely rewarded.
"Do the posters know of any other movies or comedians that poke fun at liberals, multi-culturalists, etc.?"
The funniest people tend to be reactionaries. You just aren't supposed to mention that.
The funny thing about gayness and 'equality'.
It seems the rise of gay power is a sort of resurgence of aristocratism but hidden behind the rhetoric of equality and such. Though gays are politically allied with 'equality' and 'progress'--as are Jews--, gayness has always been culturally closer to aristocratism. Just look at old aristocrats, and what is the first word that comes to mind? GAYISH.
All those fluffy wigs, powdered faces, snuff up the nose and sneezing, stockings for men, curlywurly fabric around the neck, ribbons for men. I mean it's soooooooo gay. Take the movie ROB BOY. Rob is a man-man, big hearty dude with muscle and simple personality. But the villain is an aristocrat and so gayish. He dons a wig and fancy clothes and is into all that froopity poop and whoopsy doo stuff. Even his fighting style is feline and stylistic(like a fashion of war). Men are doggish, gays are feline-ish, and cats are natural aristocrats.
Though gays had to stay in the closet in the past, we know that much of art and fashion in the aristocratic age came from froopity poop and whoopsy doo gays, especially in the French court(which influenced all the other courts in Europe). Even the Founding Fathers, with quasi-aristocratic backgrounds, were sort of gayish in style. It was with Andrew Jackson that American presidents really began to dress and act like real men. Thus, gayinshness is at odds with real male populism and true democracy. In a way, the rise of the new mass political order meant the decline of aristocratic gayism. Since most people didn't have fancy manners, fancy tastes, and finicky attitudes, they didn't take to gayishness.
Now, what we are witnessing is the rise of the new haute elite class. Despite all their PC yammering about 'equality', the new rich are haute fancy ass elites. I mean just look at the elites of San Fran and NY.
Sure, there is a certain 'casualness' to SWPL-ness, but these folks are extremely class consciousness and finicky about what kind of cars, what kind of houses, and what kinds of clothes they wear. It may not be ostentatiously fancy like in the past, but it's very haute, very expensive, very 'this is what set us apart from all the others'. Rich people may send their kids to learn PC values but it's in fancy kindergartens meant for the rich. SEND MY KID TO A PRINCELY PALACE TO EMBRACE EQUALITY.
Then, it makes sense why gayness is so hip among the new elites. Rise of gayness is the revival of aristocratism. But since aristocratism is officially 'reactionary', it has to be packaged and marketed as 'equality'.
If you think about it, 'gay marriage' is not about 'marriage equality' but gay privilege. It means WE--most of us--have to follow traditional rules to get married but gays can violate those fundamental rules and make up their own rules and get married. That's not equality; that's privilege. And Jews are no different. In the new order, Jews can attack and criticize us in the name of 'equality', but we cannot equally criticize them cuz we'll end up blacklisted. Jews say they're all about equality but they're really about privilege for themselves.
The new elites are richer than ever and more privileged than ever. And despite their veneer of casualness and 'equality', they are into haute fancy things that only they can appreciate and afford. Since gays have a long history of making fancy stuff, the new elites favor gays just like old aristocrats did. So, the rise of gayness in our society is less a sign of equality than neo-aristocratism.
So, even though elites repeat endless 'gayness and equality, gayness and equality, gayness and equality', what we are really witnessing is GAYNESS AND NEO-ARISTOCRATISM, GAYNESS AND NEO-ARISTOCRATISM, GAYNESS AND NEO-ARISTOCRATISM.
Thanks for the review Steve. I'm going to go see it now!
NEO-ARISTOCRATISM
Here at iSteve, we call it "neo-feudalism".
Just FYI.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/05/17/is_the_dictator_racist
"I have a hard time believing he ran into gay Austrians, dictators, Kazakhs, chavs, etc. more frequently than all those other types of people that aren't targets of his caricatures."
Yes, but the difference is that most Jewish behavior actually manages to make sense, even that which we consider loathesome.
The black/Mid-East penchant for crime, intolerance, drug abuse, and embracing violent, kleptocratic thugs not so much - except as it's a form of behavior that manages to keep other people from wanting to live in your country or neighborhood. Which, come to think of it, given the way Western tolerance has led to our being overrun, might make the most sense of all.
http://youtu.be/8NUBVcit5VM
Also true to jewish form, Cohen takes it easy on the young black males he befriends in Borat. This despite the fact that every study shows that American blacks are more anti-semitic than American whites. But, no, sucker some drunken frat boys in an RV to expose the dark underbelly of American antisemitism. What a hero!
"Hostility humor is rarely funny. Laughter is involved, but only as part of the sneering and jeering at the out-group. Not much funnier than events that provoke nervous laughter or when you all laugh at the same thing, which isn't funny, just to build a sense of camaraderie.
And hostility humor is never lastingly funny. Once the object of derision is no longer a relevant enemy, audiences won't get the references at all."
So true. Many a truth in gest is said, but why not many an untruth too?
What I recall about Borat is the part where a socialite lady is trying to teach the visitor etiquette and he wants to show her pictures of his son's private parts. Very weird scene. I do think SBC gets points for surreal scenes. The lady and her other guests are very nice to this grotesque person and while I understand Borat is supposed to be "East European" you don't get that unless you are aware of the history. Most young Americans would see him as a "Kazakh" (whatever that is.)
In fact my general impression from the film is that of people who were more gracious and normal than Borat. The explicitly anti-Semitic scene was so bogus. How could anyone take it seriously? And that girl he moved in with in the fairy tale house? You could see this was not an American writing this movie. A sweet, black (ish) cowgirl complete with hat & pink fringe, in charming little house that would be at home in the Alps? Not just weird--non-existent.
If he's funny it's because he's so unreal. Otherwise an underwear bomber would have got 'im by now.
Ali G didn't start out as a Muslim character. He was largely based on a late 1980s/early 1990s Indian DJ and musician who went under the stage name of Apache Indian, and who was brought up in England.
Apache Indian got himself on TV a few times, and was memorable for his enthusiastic and seemingly naive persona.
NEO-ARISTOCRATISM
Excellent comment. Question: are cops smart enough to discern the distinction between "homophobic" and aristophobic? That's going to be crucial.
I see the Jew paranoia is growing to unseen heights. So Borat, Bruno and Ali G are all a Zionistic scheme to create sympathy for Israel? Wow.
You tell us. The White paranoia grew past the clouds years ago. So all of history is a WASP scheme to destroy Jewry and PoC?
So Borat, Bruno and Ali G are all a Zionistic scheme to create sympathy for Israel?
I don't know that there's any "scheme" involved, but it's certainly a fairly de rigueur canon of Scots-Irish obsessions with [and seething hatreds of] the shkotzim.
It's undoubtedly true that a huge percentage of Sacha Baron Cohen's humor is spurred by a desire to attack the people he perceives as enemies of the Jews.
But that only makes me wonder why Borat sought out antisemitism where he did!
I mean, in Europe, Cohen wouldn't have to go undercover- he could just take a camera and a microphone and directly ask people on the street, "What do you think of the Jews?" And people there would have been only too happy to spew vile antisemitism openly!
But no, in search of antisemitism, Cohen came to America, the place where Jews have been more welcomed, more embraced, more integrated and more successful than anywhere else in the world! (Dennis Prager put it well: "In Europe, our problem was Christians who hated us and wanted to kill us; in America, our problem is Christians who love us and want to marry us!")
Now, of course, there ARE some rabid antisemites in America- but the worst of them are NOT where Cohen sought them out. Cohen assumed, stupidly, that the most vile Jew-haters would be devout Christians in the South or in small towns of the West and Midwest. In reality, Southern fundamentalists tend to LOVE Jews- they reserve their true animosity for us Catholics!
If Cohen truly wanted to hear some Americans dissing the Jews, he SHOULD have egged on the black guys he encountered. Instead, he just used them to show how unhip Borat was. But if he'd asked THEM what they thought of the Jews, he might have learned a lot more than he wanted to about where American antisemitism really lives.
While filming Bruno, SBC approched my husband and his cousin in our smallish midwestern city. My husband said he wore some sort of raccoon costume. SBC ran up behind him and put his hands on his shoulders to jump up on him and made a bunch of crazy noises.
His cousin said "So, I didn't know that get the Ali G show in Kazakistan." At which SBC looked discombobulated and went on to assualt/harrass someone else.
He is a hostile a-hole
Post a Comment