British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen attended the American Academy Awards ceremony this week dressed as his latest character "The Dictator". At his publicity stunt, he brandished an urn supposedly containing the ashes of the late North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-il. He proceeded to pour the ashes over a celebrity. This former leader is very much loved by his nation, and such actions may be compared to US soldiers burning the Koran in Afhganistan, if only North Korean's had access to Holllywood tv.
Normally such an prank would draw a wrath of criticism so soon after a state leader's death. Highly bigoted comedy is funny when sarcastic, and Cohen has approached many issues with his original pazazz. For example, his charactors participating in homosexual acts in the mixed martial arts ring watched to the horror of the redneck audiance. But the shocking thing is that such snides are so easy to get away with for this Hebrew-speaking British Jew. His attacks are wide ranging, and it is easy to go along with his comedy. It can easily become the norm. He may be able to make jokes about dead leaders like Gaddaffi or Kim Jong-il, which he does, but have you ever seen him target Zionist human rights abusers like Sharon or the Apartied system of the Israeli state? Maybe he will make a political parody of such "close to home" topics in the future, we don't know what this brilliant comic has up his sleeves.
The danger with such sofiticated comedy is that many people may not understand his actual humour and take him too literally, too racially, and develop hatred. Or be lead into hating the common enermy without really knowing facts.
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