From The Onion:
Study: Majority Of Americans Not Informed Enough To Stereotype Chechens
WASHINGTON—Following FBI reports this morning that the suspects implicated in Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing are of Chechen descent, efforts to thoughtlessly stereotype the alleged terrorists were impeded by the majority of Americans’ lack of basic knowledge about Chechnya or the Chechen people, a new study has confirmed. “Our research shows that, while many Americans would like nothing more than to make sweeping, insensitive generalizations about these two individuals based purely on their ethnic identity, this process is largely impeded by the fact that 9 out of 10 Americans truly know next to nothing about Chechnya, including even the very barest details of what or where Chechnya is,” said lead researcher Dr. Tim Kinane, adding that a majority of American citizens are almost totally unaware of Chechen history and culture, how to locate Chechnya on a map, whether Chechnya is a country or a city or a region, or that a person from Chechnya is called a Chechen. “Clinical trials show that most individuals will make brief, fumbling attempts to stereotype Chechens based on what little they know about Russians, but eventually drop the subject entirely after running out of anything to say within seconds.” Kinane’s team was able to confirm, however, that once research subjects were told Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim region, they were “usually pretty good to go from there.”
It's not as if Hollywood doesn't employ Chechen stereotypes: There are vicious Chechen gangsters in The Dark Knight, Eastern Promises, and The Other Guys, all pretty good movies.
It's just that The Onion is now cowardly.
TheOnion has been completely unfunny since they had their deal with IFC. The whole thing became more corporate looking and slick. It ceased to have the somewhat subversive element it used to have at times as well.
ReplyDeleteI guess there's a triple bank shot laugh here when one considers that the Onion pretty spends most of its pixels trafficking in stereotypes of conservatives.
ReplyDeleteWhile the NYT and Los Angeles Times are reading more and more like the Onion, the Onion is reading more and more like those papers. Is this regression to the mean?
ReplyDeleteEastern promises had "russian" "mafia' with Christian orthodox cross tatoos..oh the irony.
ReplyDeleteI'd say the Onion article is pretty accurate. I hear the Czechs are pissed off now because lots of Americans think that the bomber brothers came from the Czech Republic.
ReplyDeleteI only remembered the ones from Eastern Promises.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 4/23/13, do you think there are no orthodox Russian vory? According to Wikipedia orthodox iconography actually has specific meaning among them. The movie singled out Chechens as being known killers who carry on feuds, so it wasn't completely ignorant about who all is in their criminal underworld.
"The Dark Knight"?
ReplyDeleteWith the exception of a lone Chinese national, I don't remember any reference to the ethnicity of the gangsters.
Sad what happened to The Onion.
ReplyDeleteThe Onion was started by some middle class centre left guys from Wisconsion and it reflected those sensibilities.
Now the Harvard Lampoon mafia have wrecked and polluted it as they have with the Simpsons(a capital offense IMO)
re Dark Knight and Chechens
ya I remember the Chinese guy and Russian gangsters- yes these "Russians" are often Chechen,Georgian and yes "Scots Irish" but it wasnt specified as such
In Sum of All Fears(a meh movie at best) ,the poor Chechens were pawns of the ever reliable neo Nazis into their plan of establishing the 4th reich by nuking Baltimore or was it Philadelphia..too lazy to check
In the original Tom Clancy, it was Muslim terrorists but our tolerant Hollywood wouldnt have that!
I think there were Chechens in the awful Air Force One movie as well.
I hear the Czechs are pissed off now because lots of Americans think that the bomber brothers came from the Czech Republic."
ReplyDeleteI doubt that! Im not aware of any mass confusion between chechnyan and czech! I just think the Czechs are doing a little pre emptive PR.
" I hear the Czechs are pissed off now because lots of Americans think that the bomber brothers came from the Czech Republic."
ReplyDeleteOh please. A few retards manage to get on twitter and suddenly the Czech ambassador is issuing statements. I'm embarassed for the Czechs to be honest.
There were Russian, possibly Chechen, gangsters in "Limitless" (2011). The Albanians in "Taken" are a close approximation. Gangsters from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics are in vogue because they're white but menacing. Here's a list of movies featuring Russian gangsters.
ReplyDeleteThere's a documentary called "Immortal Fortress: A Look Inside Chechnya's Warrior Culture" available at Amazon.
From a review: "Russia's war in Chechnya is a puzzle to most westerners, an obscure but somehow notable conflict appearing periodically on the nightly news. This documentary, which features combat footage shot within Chechnya and interviews with Chechen fighters and civilians, does much to untangle this riddle. The first thing an outsider has to grasp is that any distinction between fighters and civilians is blurred, as the Chechens consider themselves warriors first, and farmers or oil-field workers second. This traditional warrior culture, with its roots grounded in centuries of conflict with Russian adversaries, is deeply entrenched. And it's intensified by the deep Islamic faith of the Chechens, which holds that falling while defending the homeland earns the warrior martyrdom. Much of the footage in this documentary is shot with handheld video gear in the field during actual combat operations, and what it might lack aesthetically is more than made up for with its immediacy and a distinctive atmospheric quality. The warriors profiled, including the Chechen hero Shamil Basayev, are unique characters, and hearing them speak and seeing evidence of some of their exploits provides invaluable insight into the conflict that has become a thorn in the side of modern Russia."
This is from another review: "I was disappointed in the fact that they rarely discussed tactics, the only one I recall is about street fighting, and how the Chechens would find two Russian squads at both ends of a street and one of them would run through the middle and fire in both directions and the Russians would end up shooting at each other for 30 minutes...they only realized they were fighting their comrades when they called in for artillery fire."
A much funnier conceit would have been "Whole world shocked, SHOCKED to find out that Chechens committed a senseless act of mass murder."
ReplyDeleteChechens were also the villains of "Executive Decision" in which Steven Seagal was killed off early, leaving behind a crack macho commando team of... Oliver Platt, BD Wong and John Leguizamo (what, BlEmmanuel Lewis and Sean Hayes weren't available)???
ReplyDeleteThe Wall Street Journal had an article yesterday saying that the bombers's mother was not an ethnic Chechen, but one of the local Dagstani ethnicities. It also said that she was the one who pushed the boys to be more Islamic, and that in fact the parents' marriage broke up at least in part because the father disapproved of the hyper-religious stuff. He wanted his son to concentrate on boxing.
ReplyDeleteIt all made the sons sound less less like Chechens being Chencheny, and more the classic story of people with blended identities not being able to find a balance between them all.
Guy Ritchie's Rock n Rolla featured Chechen gangsters as well.
ReplyDeleteThe Onionused to lampoon everything, everyone. It now exists for the tee-heeing of SWPL types. No thanks. That kind of crap is everywhere and is so predictable as to be unfunny.
ReplyDelete"Edgy" humor doesn't exist anywhere, except for maybe South Park, although I haven't watched that in a long time.
"The Onion Movie" had an execrable series of jokes about "Little-known Ethnic Stereotypes". How the heck can a stereotype be "little known", if a stereotype is defined as: "a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment"? What they wanted to say was something like "Little-known ethnic traits", but that might imply that there is really such a thing as an average group difference on a particular measure.
ReplyDeleteI know that Steve has said that lots of liberal comics use "meta-stereotyping" jokes as a way of getting away with using ethnic humor while pretending they are making fun of "you know, the idea of stereotypes". "The Onion Movie", unfortunately, did this with absolute sincerity.
The Onion may well be cowardly but I don't think this is a good example. I'd be surprised if 1 in 10 Americans knew anything about Chechens. If they did know anything about Chechens they would not be vulnerable to the leftist narrative-spinning that is going on.
ReplyDeleteIt's not as if Hollywood doesn't employ Chechen stereotypes: There are vicious Chechen gangsters in The Dark Knight, Eastern Promises, and The Other Guys, all pretty good movies.
And if you were to ask moviegoers an hour after seeing these films what nationality the gangsters were would they say Chechens, Czechs or Russians? Even if they did say Chechens would they know that they are Muslims?
A few retards manage to get on twitter and suddenly the Czech ambassador is issuing statements. I'm embarassed for the Czechs to be honest.
Having listened to questions and comments made by Anglos (Brits mostly) on a walking tour of Prague (they thought Czechs were Islamic!) I can understand why the ambassador would want to get out ahead of this.
Our ignorance of other societies and peoples makes it so much easier for our ruling class to get away with what they are doing. If Brits and French knew that countries without colonial empires like Norway and Sweden were also being invaded by immigrants they wouldn't so easily fall for the "it's our fault for having an empire" argument. If Americans could distinguish a Czech from a Chechen maybe they would also be aware that any politician telling them Mexicans today are just like Italians and Germans of last century is lying to their faces. I don't see how being defensive and dismissive about our ignorance helps us in anyway. The David Sirotas and Ben Steins of the world depend on us not distinguishing between different groups of peoples.
Chechens were also the villains of "Executive Decision" in which Steven Seagal was killed off early
ReplyDeleteEver heard of a Spoiler Alert? Guess I'll be watching Persona or Solaris tonight instead. Thanks a lot.
There's a Tom Hardy/James Gandolfini movie, Animal Rescue, currently filming, where Chechen thugs figure prominently. I have a Croatian friend of classic Balkan looks and accent who has a bit part.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how being defensive and dismissive about our ignorance helps us in anyway. The David Sirotas and Ben Steins of the world depend on us not distinguishing between different groups of peoples.
ReplyDeleteJust how informed is the average American supposed to be regarding the various ethnic conflicts of the world? If the next attack comes from Chinese Ouigours will our ignorance of them and their conflict with the Han be yet another opportunity to tsk?
How many ethnic conflicts exist in the world today? That's why the Onion bit falls flat--there's no reasonable expectation of Americans being up to speed on Chechnya. Give me a break! Here's the real Onion-esque headline:
Satirical Magazine Finds no Stereotyping, Chides People for Ignorance
Screw you, Onion.
Remember Sam Bacile? He shouldn't even have been here, yet here he was waging his own war against foes back home--and we drew fire. Why? Because Muslims were ignorant of the realities of American residence, thinking anything that comes from here comes with our sanction.
Sorry, but "defensive" is not what I'm feeling. Remember how the narrate-o-matic works: the tolerance and calm with which Americans received this appalling attack by two Muslims who were welcomed into our country goes in, out comes the gruel of popular ignorance.
Yes, Sirota et al depend very much on our not being up to speed on every conflict that might make its way here. What's their answer? Open the gates to more.
However feeble, unfunny, and conventional this piece in the Onion disparaging Americans, it does make the point, inadvertent but correct, that stereotypes are based not on ignorance, but on knowledge.
ReplyDeleteMatra is right - the tone of the article may be PC, but the truth that Americans know nothing about Chechnya is certainly true. Not everyone is an ultra-observant movie critic.
ReplyDelete"Having listened to questions and comments made by Anglos (Brits mostly) on a walking tour of Prague (they thought Czechs were Islamic!)"
ReplyDeleteI can only believe that if the Brits were young people on a boozy holiday (Prague's big for stag dos and the like). It's possible that they're ill-educated enough.
Older Brits know about Munich - some may even remember who Jan Palach was.
Norway and Sweden were also being invaded by immigrants they wouldn't so easily fall for the "it's our fault for having an empire" argument."
ReplyDeleteNorway and Sweden were knucklheaded enough to have an empire where they derived no benefit but only costs. Their "empire" was an SWPL Council of Foreign type NGO and UN Troops and mediation of conflicts in places such as Iraq,Sri Lanka(Norway was heavily involved in mediating the LTTE truce) and Somalia.
Not exactly invade the world, invite the world but..
Given that one of the Tsarnaev brothers actually complained on Twitter about Muslims being stereotyped as terrorists, this gem from 1997 seemed particularly germane:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theonion.com/articles/crazed-palestinian-gunman-angered-by-stereotypes,1651/
'Al Hamad also stressed the importance of understanding and celebrating the cultural differences between crazed Palestinian gunmen and non-crazed, non-Palestinian non-gunmen.
"All the different peoples of the world have something special to offer each other," he said. "Our diversity is our greatest strength. Let's not make a weakness out of that strength."
To emphasize his point, al Hamad fired into a crowd, killing nine.'
That guy Valery, the interior decorator from the Pine Barrens episode of the Sopranos, killed 16 Chechen rebels single handed.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw this episode I laughed my ass off because Chrissie thought Tony had said the Russian was an interior decorator. Actually he was from the Russian Interior Ministry. I think that they are quite different.
C'mon, Onion.
ReplyDeleteIf I wanted to avoid laughter by reading PC propaganda disguised as jokes, I'd read cracked.com
it's more like the opposite; liberals havent known enough about Chechnya to come up with b.s. smokescreens for accurate Chechynan generalizations, so their defense has been clumsy so far (eg, he Is LITERALLY CAUCASIAN)
ReplyDeleteI can only believe that if the Brits were young people on a boozy holiday (Prague's big for stag dos and the like). It's possible that they're ill-educated enough.
ReplyDeleteOlder Brits know about Munich
The Brit who first the subject up after being surprised to see churches in Prague was over 60. Most of the others (British and Australian mostly) were between 40 and 55. The Brits on stag weekends rarely leave the pubs and whorehouses long enough to notice any historical sites unless they are arrested for vomiting or urinating on them.
There was a Sopranos episode making fun of this: Tony tells Christopher the Russian they've kidnapped is a special forces guy who killed a bunch of Chechens, but this is misheard as an interior decorator who killed Czechoslovakians.
ReplyDeleteShe swooned over the doe-like gaze and Byronic mane in his mugshot, but when the SWAT guys lifted his shirt to check him for a suicide vest, the sight of his rippling abs sealed the deal.
ReplyDeleteThe Crystals said it all:
"He's a rebel and he'll never ever be any good
He's a rebel 'cause he never ever does what he should"
But just because he doesn't do what everybody else does,
That's no reason why I can't give him all my love