Achmed, the Terrorist.

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Just thinking about it now, I don't reckon I've ever seen, read or heard something that's ever offended me. In fact I've always been surprised that people can say that, though I understand. The only things I find offensive are when people say hurtful things in real life.
 
~BrightestStar~ said:
Like I said, I see how some would take offense, and I'm sensitive to that. But that doesn't mean I will necessarily condemn it. The thing is, much like different people find different things funny, different people have differing views on what is offensive.

Some people find imitating an accent offensive- others find any sort of religious joke or ones about patriotism offensive. Some find swearing extremely offensive. Should comedians not touch these topics at all then?

Russel Peters pokes fun at numerous races, stereotypes and cultures - do you consider him offensive? He's made terrorist jokes too.
And what about something like Harold & Kumar?

I ask these last questions out of curiosity, not as a direct attack at your personal views.
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I think these topics should definitely be worked on by comedians. I wouldn't have a problem at all with this if there was some other aim to it than just taking the piss out of a specific culture. Like, if this was a parody of the media's take on Islam in recent years then that would be different. But... just pointless culture bashing doesn't interest me. To be honest I'm not familiar with Harold & Kumar or Russel Peters, but I know alot of comedians who make 'terrorist' jokes and I think it's important with such a topic to make it clear what exactly you're getting at with the jokes. I mean, how many people here would appreciate a comedien making jokes about the victims of the holacaust? But we've all heard Hitler jokes before, and that's not the same.
I don't know, I think there's just a fine line in comedy between edgy and tasteless and this crosses it.
 
COBL_04 said:
Just thinking about it now, I don't reckon I've ever seen, read or heard something that's ever offended me. In fact I've always been surprised that people can say that, though I understand. The only things I find offensive are when people say hurtful things in real life.
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:lol: That's pretty lucky then, but are you from any sort of ethnic minority or discriminated against group? I know that by just being a woman makes me offended by things I read a lot.
 
I dont like it cause he's trying to do a comedy about a subject that just isnt funny. Of course, no one likes the subject ( no one human anyway) , but I think it sucks that someone is trying to make light of the Muslum Religion by the Virgin part and not all Muslums are Terrorists. I have the best sense of humor, but this one just stupid and not funny.
 
Yeah, the thing is.... even though others have joked about terrorism (and I'm fine with it to an extent.. I mean what's the point in going through life fearing it? It's sadly very much a part of our lives in this age, so might as well have some fun with it!), this video though.. the Achmed one kinda crosses the line a bit I think. First thing that struck me as unfunny was the name itself Achmed and he jokes about spelling it as A.c.phlegm.m... etc. Ahmed is a common muslim name so I can see muslims getting offended. Second thing was the whole repeated "I kill you" thing just wasn't that funny, at least IMO.
 
Again, the most offensive thing about this video is how unfunny it is. Murderers should be mocked, at the very least, and their culture is brought into the mix because the stereotypical terrorist is Muslim. It's not some deep-seated hatred for that religion and culture, it's just what audiences would be most familiar with. Kind of a no-brainer there.
 
Zootlesque said:
Holy shit, Bri! Those videos are hilarious! That second Russell Peters video especially.. :lmao:!!
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:lol: Glad you liked!

Russell Peters cracks my shit up. Those were just two random videos. Go to youtube and search for "beating your kids". Or any of his stuff, I find him pretty consistently funny.
I saw him live a year or so ago and it was awesome.




Also, I think I've had a bit of realization about the offensiveness of Achmed from what DMP said. See, I just view it as a mockery of terrorists (funny or not isn't pertinent, that's just a failure of the comedians skill, not the subject matter), I did not view it as an attack/mockery of the muslim faith itself - although I recognize that elements of it are involved in the "jokes".

I would elaborate more but I should probably continue studying, I have 2 exams tomorrow. :reject:

I will say however, and I hope that this does not reflect badly on me, that amongst my friends (some of whom are muslim), the idea of a terrorist finding out on the other side that his big reward that he's been promised is a bunch of star trek nerds (we did some nerdy math about ratios and such, but I'll spare you) is pretty funny.
It's based on a stereotype about motivations, of course, but I wouldn't consider it an attack on the muslim faith, as any aspects of that are utilized by terrorists I think it's fairly well recognized are a perversion of the faith used for manipulation.

I hope that came out alright...:uhoh:



ETA: Pft, in the time it took me to write this, LM came and said it better.
 
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LemonMelon said:
Murderers should be mocked, at the very least, and their culture is brought into the mix because the stereotypical terrorist is Muslim. It's not some deep-seated hatred for that religion and culture, it's just what audiences would be most familiar with.
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Exactly! As I said earlier, if the stereotypical terrorist was a white caucasian, that's who will be mocked probably. Need to attach a face to the person you're making fun of. I still feel though that some parts of the Achmed video was in poor taste. But maybe it's just cos I didn't find some of it very funny.

And yeah absolutely murderers should be mocked!! Otherwise it's like we're fearing them! At least I applaud the fact that we can do this in the developed/developing countries of the world! In some parts of the middle east, you don't even have the freedom to mock without getting a fatwa (death sentence) on your head! :|
 
It's really just a basic ventriloquist shtick. Change the puppet's face and heritage, but make sure he's cranky and bigoted and viola! You got an act. I didn't find it particularly funny, but not because it was offensive - it just wasn't funny. I don't mind offensive if you keep it funny.
 
I watched it and while it was cringe-worthy from a comedic stand-point, I did not think much more of it than that. Does it make me a litle sad that some people find it funny? Sure. Do I think that people finding it funny is surprising? Not at all. But I certainly do not think that people finding this humorous is emblematic of why Western Culture is despised: and even if it is symbolic of that hatred, I'm probably getting pretty tired of worrying all about why people find my culture offensive.

I also am probably getting tired of people losing sleep over things that are "offensive". While I don't think people should have license to offend anyone at any time, I also think that thicker thin might sometimes be required in instances like this. He's a freaking lame comedian with a ventriloquist act for heaven's sake. At the end of the day, why do we care if he's offending anyone? To satisfy our quota of weekly required moral outrage that we're supposed to feel? If I had $1 for every Jew joke I've heard in my life, I'd own my own small island by now, and if I got offended every time I heard one, I'd probably have died of a heart attack by now. Again, that does not make it "right" but I think that to expect to waltz through your life without taking or giving offense now and then is unrealistic and probably boring, too.

Anyway, I will reiterate that I don't find this at all funny, and I question the comedic tastes of anyone that does (I'm looking at you, Lazarus).....but I also think that it's a fairly harmless thing, and in no way, shape or form something to get up in arms about, doubly so when you consider the source of the material (the comedian) as well as the types of people rating the clip.

And, lastly, some of the arrogance in here is stifling.
 
No spoken words said:
I watched it and while it was cringe-worthy from a comedic stand-point, I did not think much more of it than that. Does it make me a litle sad that some people find it funny? Sure. Do I think that people finding it funny is surprising? Not at all. But I certainly do not think that people finding this humorous is emblematic of why Western Culture is despised: and even if it is symbolic of that hatred, I'm probably getting pretty tired of worrying all about why people find my culture offensive.

I also am probably getting tired of people losing sleep over things that are "offensive". While I don't think people should have license to offend anyone at any time, I also think that thicker thin might sometimes be required in instances like this. He's a freaking lame comedian with a ventriloquist act for heaven's sake. At the end of the day, why do we care if he's offending anyone? To satisfy our quota of weekly required moral outrage that we're supposed to feel? If I had $1 for every Jew joke I've heard in my life, I'd own my own small island by now, and if I got offended every time I heard one, I'd probably have died of a heart attack by now. Again, that does not make it "right" but I think that to expect to waltz through your life without taking or giving offense now and then is unrealistic and probably boring, too.

Anyway, I will reiterate that I don't find this at all funny, and I question the comedic tastes of anyone that does (I'm looking at you, Lazarus).....but I also think that it's a fairly harmless thing, and in no way, shape or form something to get up in arms about, doubly so when you consider the source of the material (the comedian) as well as the types of people rating the clip.

And, lastly, some of the arrogance in here is stifling.
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I agree with the most of this, apart from the idea that when you reach a certain point you should stop becoming offended by things. I hope I'll always be offended by things, and will therefore go about shouting at the ignorant bastards who do/say the offensive things. Else... how will they ever learn?!
I think I only posted this video because I saw it and it upset me that people find it funny. I think that's more of an issue than the video itself, although it isn't really an issue at all... You know what I mean, anyway!
 
partygirlvox said:
I agree with the most of this, apart from the idea that when you reach a certain point you should stop becoming offended by things. I hope I'll always be offended by things, and will therefore go about shouting at the ignorant bastards who do/say the offensive things. Else... how will they ever learn?!
I think I only posted this video because I saw it and it upset me that people find it funny. I think that's more of an issue than the video itself, although it isn't really an issue at all... You know what I mean, anyway!
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Hell, agreeing with most of what I say is enough for me. Carry on. :)

And I agree, what bothers me, if anything, is that people laughed. Impy the idiot clown from Austin, TX, home of the Fiesta Bowl-bound Longhorns said as much earlier in the thread.
 
NSW, I should have recognized your stench.

I said it was "pretty funny", and mostly due to the look of the puppet. So don't think I loved that clip or anything. I only got about 3 minutes into it before I got bored.

BTW, what's the object of a Jewish football game?
 
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