So his stand up was just on HBO and me and my muslim roommate were watching it. He's a pretty liberal guy and he spent the entire show bashing republicans and conservatives, much to the dismay of the crowd. At the end of his show he comes back on for an encore and does this bit. My roommate was pretty pissed needless to say, and I have to say I found the entire bit distasteful too. I realize that the bit is pretty old, but it was my first time seeing it and I hope you don't mind me bringing it up again if this has already been discussed.
Basically stuff like this just pisses me off. I get enough slurs and dirty looks thrown my way and I'm not even Muslim (or Arabic), and I can't imagine actually being one and having to deal with this kind of stuff everyday. Maher spent his entire stand up routine making fun of Tea Baggers for supposedly being racist towards Obama and African Americans in general and then he goes and makes a joke like this. But what can I expect right? I guess this guy is the left's version of Glenn Beck or something.
Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
I'm not getting why this is offensive. I don't see it as racist or as targeting Muslims as a whole.
I'm actually pretty bothered that non-fundamentalist Muslims would look at that and not think "Yeah, those guys are crazy." and instead identify with and feel compelled to defend the crazy, woman haters that were being made fun of.
Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
I think your overreacting grow up, this is comedy not a political talk show. This has been normal and pretty standard for years.
quote:Originally posted by MrSquicky: ... I don't see it as racist or as targeting Muslims as a whole.
As an explanation, I believe one common route to arrive at this as being racist is among the anti-"Islamophobia" crowd that groups together mockery of Muslims with mockery on racial lines, both of which are considered politically incorrect.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
eh, I'm with MrSquicky here. Islam is not what's being made fun of here, it's ludicrously extreme Islam, which along with Extreme-Christianity and Extreme-Liberalism and Extreme-Just-About-Anything, is a perfectly valid and deserving target for ridicule.
I'll note that when I see something making fun of Extreme-Liberalism (whether it deserves to be made fun of or not) I do feel uncomfortable in a way probably not dissimilar from how you friend felt. Sometimes that discomfort stems from the fact that I know enough about the idea in question to know that it's not as ludicrous as it sounds to an outsider, and sometimes it's simply from embarrassment at being related to such a ridiculous extreme.
I know there's enough Islamophobia out there that this clip may seem like yet another straw on the camel's back, but I don't think it's that bad in and off itself.
Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
I'm with Squick and Raymond Arnold. Bill Maher's going after the most misogynistic elements of Islam, and you should applaud him for it. Unless you really think it's okay that women be brutalized into wearing these things, how could you possibly be offended?
Good for Bill Maher for having the balls to target fundamentalism.