After reading all the controversy surrounding the Borat movie, two things have become painfully clear. One, some Americans lack a sense of humor and two, alcohol is a bigot's truth serum.
If you've been keeping up with pop culture, you have heard about comedian Sacha Cohen and his mock documentary chronicling a Kazakhstani reporter and his studies of American culture. I've seen Cohen's antics before on his HBO series "Da Ali G Show," where he poses as a psuedo-b-boy who loves hip-hop. He even parlayed the success of the character into a cameo in a Madonna video.
The guy is hilarious! But then … I find the humor in everyday life. Some of the best comedy comes from getting real reactions from staged scenarios a la "Candid Camera." I'm not so uptight that I can't laugh at myself, even if I look stupid. Unfortunately, not everyone is in touch with their comedic timing.
Former WAPT morning show producer Dharma Arthur worked for such a person. Though she never named her boss in Clarion-Ledger interviews, she intimated that he lost confidence in her after she put Cohen on the air when he was in Jackson. The comedian launched into his trademark improvised humor, and as is usual with less seasoned personalities, the anchor and weatherman didn't know how to handle themselves.
I sympathize with Arthur. She faced some hardships since leaving Jackson, but her apology doesn't need to come from Cohen; the apology needs to come from her jackass boss, if he did blame Arthur for WAPT being made the butt of a joke. It's that arrogance that makes Americans unpopular in other countries. I guarantee you, if it had been him, he would have been duped as well. Besides I'm sure the episode was a nice change of pace.
Then, you go from the sublime to the ignorant. Two frat boys are suing Twentieth Century Fox because they were captured on film making crude comments about women and minorities. They have the nerve to blame the film company for getting them "liquored up." Please! Let me tell you what really happened.
Two white fraternity brothers went to a couple of bars, got drunk, and ran their mouths for a documentary that they figured would only be shown overseas. When they discovered that their racist and sexist ramblings were on display for the country to see (the movie topped the box office two weeks in a row and pulled in almost $70 million), they decided to do what most folks of privilege, black or white, do—sue.
Somehow, Cohen's crass humor has a way of making folks reveal their true selves. The unfortunate thing is most people would rather keep their true essence hidden. Whether your motives are political or social, some folks don't want a "comedian" to out them.
America, get a damn sense of humor and stop taking yourself so seriously. From your reactions to Cohen and "South Park," you do realize that the rest of the world views us as uptight, stuffed-shirt squares (L7's if you prefer). Lighten up.
If we can dish it out, we need to be able to take it. And that's the truth ... sho-nuff.
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