"We're offended? Again?" -- Of humour, symbols, and pop-culture

Two new instances in which we are seemingly 'insulted' and we should get offended, huff and puff, and boycott someone.

In the first instance, a B-class US cinema production titled "I love you, man" -- I can already picture the semi-illiterate audience that will watch that -- pictures a dog named "Anwar El Sadat" because, as the dog's owner explains, they look "exactly" like one another.

In the second - which is just starting to bubble, you read it here first! - it's a German football song of the FC Schalke 04 club that includes the lines -

Muhammad was a prophet who understood nothing about football
But of all the lovely colours he chose [Schalke's] blue and white.


Now what I think, very quickly:

a) For the "Anwar El Sadat" case, it's just a bad joke. Given how badly the name was mangled anyway, that the vast majority of the film's audience will likely be unaware of the existence of a man named Sadat - let alone who he was, no one will remember that this joke was made by the times the credits roll.

Plus, the number of jokes that involve various world leaders is innumerable. The number of times Hollywood picture their own president(s) as a complete hillbilly of is innumerable. (I mean, people, Hot Shots? Harold and Kumar? Everything with Leslie Nielsen?). Kim-Jong Il as a puppet in Team America, GW Bush as a monkey (in every possible occasion)?

And I don't see Obama suing for the recent 'Joker' photos either.

Obama's wife, daughters, mother-in-law, and welad el giraan w ahl el 7etta will be suing someone. Oh wait..

Plus I cannot begin to count the number of the 'presidents/kings = animals' jokes circulating around Cairo. (Most popular quadruped comparisons involve donkeys and cows, as you may have guessed).

Many people have put forward other arguments why there's no conspiracy behind the Sadat dog joke, at least because he was - and somehow still is - the quintessential Middle Eastern leader in the eyes of the Western political analysis establishment. (see Kabobfest, or the comments on Zenobia's post).

It's not that big a deal. Really.
And Sadat is not above mockery or sarcasm.

Live with it. Personally, the lawsuit the Sadat family wants to bring before court is more embarrassing to me than the film. Stop making us look like such an intolerant, humourless
bunch already!

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b) The second one is more interesting, primarily because it's about the Prophet, pbuh, not a politician.

Now mind you, like your 'average Mo', I have the same gut reaction to religious insults (Aaaah, the danish cartoons...:) as I would to family insults. And I have a very low tolerance to people harbouring ill-will towards me or my community. The cartoons, since we mentioned that, were meant to insult (and hence confirm the 'right to offend', as was put forth at the time).


Yet herein lies the entire the decision factor: intent. I sincerely doubt there's any in this case. I'm not the least bit insulted - puzzled, sure, but not insulted.

First, the song dates from the 1920's - at a time when probably Muslims and all that were far more 'exotic' than they are now.

Second, I can totally see them using 'Abraham' or 'Jesus' instead of 'Muhammad' in that song: I don't think it'd be out of ill-will or hatred.

Third, I really don't see any insult in what was said per se. People didn't know much about football 1400 years ago, did they? :)

Plus, there is something to be said in favour of Islamic symbols being integrated in pop-culture.
The use of the word 'mecca' for 'convergence point' (as in, "MIT is the mecca of tech nerds") is a very positive example of that.

For Muhammad, Islam, prayer, fasting, hijab, etc to be normalised, banalised, and commonly referred to in conversation or in jokes - and you know how powerful a medium jokes can be - is the best thing that can happen to Muslims living in the West, and to Muslims at large.

And, more than the Talibans, it's random explosions of anger on the part of our irritable masses that scares non-Muslims, and further isolate us as 'problematic' populations (or minorities).

We need to grow up and learn to stomach a little bit of harmless humour at our own expense. It will be better for everyone. And who knows, we might get a laugh or two out of it, too.