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Concerned Israeli Citizens Determined To Make People Hate Their Country More
To show that they have a sense of humor about their government's killing people, Jerusalem Post columnist Caroline Glick and some fellow defenders of the Israel's stance on the flotilla fiasco have made a spoof of the "We Are the World" video. It is the opposite of funny.
Well the important thing is that they kept it tasteful.
And that's the key to a good comedy because Bill Cosby never worked a blue room.
I am relieved to see that other countries must deal with domestic political forces even more insane than those in my own.
I would also be relieved, but I read this earlier today. Nope, we're still the insaniest.
wow.
The YouTube ad on this invited me to Friend BP on YouTube.
Can't we get the Friar's Club to revoke their Judaism or something?
I apologize on behalf of rational Jews everywhere.
also: LOOK OUT BEASTIE BOYS!
I apologize on behalf of people who suck at rappelling out of helicopters everywhere.
also: LOOK OUT BELOW!
Jews and Comedy: In a Nutshell
So the Jewish (nay, Yiddish) sense of humor is born out of a group of people existing in the diaspora and trying to make it in the world. Without much as far as power and control goes, they eek out a life and identity doing lots of tasks most folks would never do: I won't go over that list. But being "funny" is one way out.
Out of the world of Yiddishkeit comes comedy. You get your "Three Stooges", "Marx Brothers", Jerry Lewis and all that from there. Being an outsider and having wit mixed in with a Jewish sensibility most don't have (we are funny!) makes us the chosen people of laughter.
Then Israel comes along. You see, the world of Jewish comedy just couldn't exist without Yiddish. With all of the ridiculous words and passive intonation, this wouldn't exist. And in Israel (and now outside) Hebrew is the main language of Jews. It's assertive, commanding and not passive. You really cannot tell jokes in Hebrew; you just sound like an asshole.
So out of all of that comes this train wreck of a video which is a direct product of all I said. No humor unless polemics make you giggle. Which is stating the obvious.
Which is all to say: I have this crazy theory about Jewish survival in a post-Yiddish world… You need to embrace Yiddish again! And embrace the diaspora again! Without the humor, the charm and the culture that exists outside of Israel, Jews are cutting themselves off from the number one source of charm that has kept them around for centuries. I mean, has Israel produced any decent comedy ever? Nope! The Yids of New York filled the world with comedy.
Embrace all sides of your culture, Israel! We need to charm folks again. And this raiding ships, killing folks and making bad videos ain't charming.
I assume you have read The Yiddish Policemen's Union? If not you probably should.
Nope I haven't. But I've heard and read enough about it to say, yes I should read it one day. I'd read it if being a coder didn't destroy my ability to look at reading as a form of pleasure.
@SM: could you clarify one thing for me please? if "the chosen people of laughter" threw a "fakakta" or "mishigas" into this vid, do you think it would be any LESS offensive?
Charlie, you miss the point. Anyone with a real sense of humor would not have made this video to begin with.
Just throwing in Yiddish words into something doesn't naturally make anything funny; that's superficial and borderline anti-Semitic.
Spy, i see your point. i'd just like you to qualify the assertion that jewish people are "the chosen people of laughter." humor has been used the world over as a means to address/criticize/deal with oppression, etc. right? it's not a JEWISH thing.
That is true Charlie, but I can see the point that because they've been a diaspora so long, it's embedded particularly deep in their culture. So while it's certainly not exclusive to Jews, it's really strongly evident there. "Chosen people" was just a self-deprecating Jew joke.
Charlie, technically speaking you could say the same thing about musical theater, but without Jews Broadway would me "Meh"-way. You miss the point of Yiddish culture. Much in the same way lots of folks miss the point that U.S. culture is mainly a Christian culture even if you are not yourself Christian.
We could go on and on for hours, but "Marmaduke" is opening today and I need to laugh. Bye!
@DD: thanks for the explanation, doc d. perhaps, had he translated his "self-deprecating Jew joke" into yiddish, I would have laughed.
Oy vey!
But seriously, I probably don't agree with most people about this situation but I found this to be in terrible taste.
Aww, sweeeet. If the day ever comes that we can't kick sand in the face of the head we're holding down with our other foot, well, I don't want to be around on that day.