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Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
Townhall ^ | November 9, 2005 | John Stossel

Posted on 11/09/2005 1:59:51 AM PST by Crackingham

Sony Pictures got upset about a "bad" word. They demanded it be taken out of the title of a movie. The word is "Muslim." Give me a break. Do we have to be that sensitive? Or fearful?

The movie is "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World." The writer and star of the movie, Albert Brooks, says he made the movie because he was concerned that, in the wake of 9/11, Americans hated even the word "Muslim." "A part of me always thought," Brooks said, "what are there, a billion-and-a-half Muslim people on this planet, and I never thought that all of them wanted us dead."

Brooks thought he could put his professional skills -- he's a comedian -- to work on the problem. "I thought, what could I do to make a movie in . . . my style to sort of soften this subject."

He imagined himself given a special assignment by the U.S. government: "Maybe the only way to really understand somebody is to see what makes them laugh," he is told. "Go to India and Pakistan, write a 500-page report, and tell us what makes the Muslims laugh."

What's controversial about that? The movie is a comedy about humor and cultural differences. Brooks performs his stand-up routine in India:

"Why is there no Halloween in India? 'Cause they took away the Gandhi!"

The audience doesn't laugh.

Says Brooks: "I steered clear of religion in this movie. There's no mention of the Koran -- the whole point of the movie is looking for comedy, not looking for God. I was allowed to film in the biggest mosque in India, and when I told the imam the plot of the movie, he started to laugh."

Sony officials liked the movie, too, Brooks told me, and planned to premiere it last month. "Posters were made, trailers were made, and then about three months later, on a Monday morning, I get this phone call, we can't release the movie with the title."

The call came shortly after a Newsweek story claimed that soldiers at Guantanamo Bay had flushed a Koran down the toilet, and rioting broke out in the Middle East. It turned out that the Newsweek story was wrong. They retracted it. And it turned out that the rioting may have been a previously planned anti-American demonstration that had nothing to do with Newsweek's story. But Sony's president still said he wouldn't release a film called "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World."

How cowardly. Hollywood used to make lots of big-star, big budget movies about Arab terrorists, like "Executive Decision," "Rules Of Engagement," and "True Lies" ... but not after Sept. 11. Tom Clancy's best-selling novel "The Sum of All Fears" is about Palestinian terrorists, but Hollywood morphed them into European neo-Nazis.

You see, the rules of political correctness are very clear: No one's allowed to associate Muslims with anything bad. Even "The Siege" -- which said repeatedly that Muslim American leaders were patriotic, featured a heroic Muslim FBI agent, and put more emphasis on a federal elite inattentive to individual rights than on the threat of terrorism -- was the victim of an "educational" campaign by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "The Siege" dared to say that a few Muslims are, in fact, terrorists.

And it came out before 9/11.

And now Sony won't even use "Muslim" in a title. Even CAIR doesn't object to the movie, although I bet they'll object to this column.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 72raisins; andthenmohammedsaid; islam; muslim; terrorism
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1 posted on 11/09/2005 1:59:51 AM PST by Crackingham
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To: Crackingham

Well, if we can't link Islam to terrorism, let's link it to pedophilia. It bears repeating that Mohammed married a 6-year-old and then took her virginity at age 9.


2 posted on 11/09/2005 2:05:27 AM PST by peyton randolph (Warning! It is illegal to fatwah a camel in all 50 states)
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To: Crackingham

"You can't spell slaughter without laughter."


3 posted on 11/09/2005 2:11:33 AM PST by kenth (Come back here... so that I may brain thee!)
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To: peyton randolph

peyton, who is this we that they are talking about? i know who the terrorists are and no amount of jackassery by losers who make bad movies or enuch politicos is going to make me forget who the terrorists are. is albert brooks a liberal israel hating jew or is he a more normal jew? and why does he want to soften this situation?


4 posted on 11/09/2005 2:12:19 AM PST by son of caesar (son of caesar)
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To: peyton randolph

Hollyweird is not reliable for good script writers/movie makers. They deserve a better place to sell their scripts. I'd like a movie called, "Club Gitmo". Maybe Rush could sell it. =]


5 posted on 11/09/2005 2:12:48 AM PST by Arthur Wildfire! March ("Every time the court veers left, the people are overwhelmingly opposed." [Laura Ingraham])
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To: peyton randolph

Wasn't it Salmon Rushdie who said in an interview that that area of the world are so uptight because they don't know how to simply have fun. You know it's pretty bad when you can't even laugh at yourself.


6 posted on 11/09/2005 2:13:09 AM PST by Ashamed Canadian (America - please invade us now!!)
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To: kenth

"You can't spell slaughter without laughter."

I'm sure bin Laden would get a good laugh out of that one.


7 posted on 11/09/2005 2:14:09 AM PST by Arthur Wildfire! March ("Every time the court veers left, the people are overwhelmingly opposed." [Laura Ingraham])
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To: Crackingham
Q: What was the last thing to go through a Palestinian girl's head when she pulls the trigger on her suicide bomb?
A: Her tampon.
8 posted on 11/09/2005 2:14:25 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: Crackingham
Q: Why do French police dogs lick their butts?
A: To get the taste of Muslims out of their mouths.
9 posted on 11/09/2005 2:15:30 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: Crackingham

10 posted on 11/09/2005 2:16:40 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: son of caesar
is albert brooks a liberal israel hating jew or is he a more normal jew?

Typical Hollywood leftist...believe he is pro-Palestinian 'homeland'...which de facto means the ultimate demise of Israel.

11 posted on 11/09/2005 2:17:07 AM PST by peyton randolph (Warning! It is illegal to fatwah a camel in all 50 states)
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To: Bon mots
Oops
What's was the last thing to go through a Palestinian girl's head when she pulls the trigger on her suicide bomb?
12 posted on 11/09/2005 2:18:04 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: Crackingham

"Why is there no Halloween in India? 'Cause they took away the Gandhi!"

The audience doesn't laugh.

Someone should have pointed out to this "comedian" that the reason why no one was laughing at his jokes was because his jokes aren't funny....here or in India.

13 posted on 11/09/2005 2:20:40 AM PST by frankiep
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To: son of caesar

Bleeding-heart libs like Brooks live, like all libs, in the world of make-believe. Instead of acknowledging the way the world actually is, they imagine the world to be as they wish it to be. That is everybody would be friendly and living in peace and harmony if it wasn't for those nasty western countries...especially the U.S. Except non-Muslims don't go around beheading schoolgirls in the name of Allah. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, libs insist that Islam is not the problem with global violence...even though 99% of all political violence worldwide is caused by Islamic terrorists. Brooks is just another reality-challenged liberal...of which most libs are.


14 posted on 11/09/2005 2:21:08 AM PST by driftless ( For life-long happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
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To: Crackingham
(Shoots self in head. Just grazes the temple. Unfortunately still conscious and able to be exposed to this cow flop)
15 posted on 11/09/2005 2:22:48 AM PST by Jaysun (Democrats: We must become more effective at fooling people.)
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To: Bon mots

lol- "Does this suicide belt make my butt look big?"

ha! new tagline


16 posted on 11/09/2005 2:26:13 AM PST by ovrtaxt (Does this suicide belt make my butt look big?)
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To: driftless
I'll say it: Islam is a mental disease that rakes in the weak-minded seeking a template. I believe it's the best argument for Darwinism ever - Islamists should be taken out of the food chain for the overall benefit of the human race. The cult of Islam suppresses all original thought for dogmatic hatred and obeisance. True Religions incorporate love.
17 posted on 11/09/2005 2:34:25 AM PST by NewRomeTacitus
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To: Crackingham
As Carlos Mencia (The Mind of Mencia) said, “They don’t have any comedy clubs over there! No wonder they go around blowing people up!”
18 posted on 11/09/2005 2:48:02 AM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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To: NewRomeTacitus
True Religions incorporate love. For Christians I see a lot of hate here. Jesus taught us to love, you can fight your enemy but hate is the true enemy.
19 posted on 11/09/2005 3:22:32 AM PST by ManifestDestiny33
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To: Crackingham
Brooks thought he could put his professional skills -- he's a comedian

You wouldn't know he's a comedian by watching him, believe me.

20 posted on 11/09/2005 3:51:35 AM PST by Hardastarboard
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