Posted on 12/24/2011 7:52:59 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
South Park's creators have been accused of stereotyping Germans
Germans do have a sense of humour.
It needs saying because the country is just about recovering from the broadcast of an episode of the American cartoon series South Park which makes fun of Germans for their alleged absence of any scintilla of a sense of humour.
The episode, Funnybot, features a pistol-toting Chancellor Angela Merkel.
She, plus the German president and men in Tyrolean hats, invade a school and hold the children hostage at gunpoint.
Their righteous anger is because Germans have been called an unfunny people.
To put matters right, they unveil a robot (very well engineered, of course) that tells jokes, some of which are good and some of which are not good. 'Evil genius'
The episode was broadcast in English in the United States earlier in the year and it's just gone out in Germany.
The reviews indicate that many Germans didn't see the funny side.
"South Park pays homage to the ugly German," was one headline.
The reviewer in Die Welt said: "The laughter stuck in my throat."
It's the stereotyping which offends: "The show follows a long tradition of fascination with the German evil genius." The reviewer notes that the only boy in the class who speaks German is a notorious anti-Semite, and the robot does go on a spree of mass murder.
Die Welt's analysis is that the more Germany succeeds, the greater the vitriol against it: "The Germans are back. The economic success, the increasing self-awareness and the new leadership role in Europe, have consequences.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Whats next? Jokes about Irish who drink?
Toughen up Fritz.
Funnybot is a Dalek which is a pastiche of a German Nazi....
And Funny bot is Funny.
My dog has no nose!
South Park did a skit that involved Muhammed.
The Muslims got the message to them that it was offensive and explained to the Infidels what would happen if it continued.
I don't expect Muhammed will be in any future skits. - Tom
The truth is that until unification, other western Europeans looked at Germans as rural hicks. And the Germans were very resentful of the stereotype. This persisted even though German industry soon became world class, and the disdain then became distrust and even fear, some suggesting that the Germans needed to be put in their place.
After WWI, the French even proposed that Germany be de-industrialized and returned to an agrarian state. And by then, some Germans began a period of self criticism. One such critic was the illustrator-artist George Grosz, whose grotesque and often NSFW caricatures of Germans showed their ugliest appearances.
After WWII, the German ego was badly bruised and humbled, so it is no surprise that they are sensitive to the laughter of others at their expense.
I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to draw a cartoon insulting Mohammed.
Noooooo! I don't believe that.
Blame it on the flag...heh heh heh
ping
If they hadn’t bombed Pearl Harbor, they wouldn’t be getting the brunt of our humor!
Germans have jokes....very interesting, not very funny, but very interesting.
I always thought that picture of a German parade float with Bill Clinton molesting the Statue of Liberty was funny.
In the words of Bob Dylan, “Everybody must get stoned”
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