tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post116368922449408833..comments2024-03-19T01:52:00.810-05:00Comments on Althouse: Sacha Baron Cohen, working as a tool.Ann Althousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163740688061878932006-11-16T23:18:00.000-06:002006-11-16T23:18:00.000-06:00Borat is just a 21st Century revival of Polish Jok...Borat is just a 21st Century revival of Polish Jokes. Then Baron Cohen and the critics make up a lot of cant about how his Stupid Foreign Person humor is really about fighting anti-Semitism so that means it has Moral Vitamins in it and is good for you.Steve Sailerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920109042402850214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163708084974350922006-11-16T14:14:00.000-06:002006-11-16T14:14:00.000-06:00Re Lipton's manner: he talks about it a lot on the...Re Lipton's manner: he talks about it a lot on the audio clip. Listen to the whole thing and you might think better of him. It's about the fact that he's teaching a class and he's not a journalist. He's extremely intelligent, he does no pre-interviews, and he develops all the material on the cards himself. The class, which you see an edited version of, goes on for 4 or 5 hours, and is done for the benefit of the students.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163706874652520822006-11-16T13:54:00.000-06:002006-11-16T13:54:00.000-06:00And I had no idea that James Lipton was such a pol...And I had no idea that James Lipton was such a polarizing figure!Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03071928294799081845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163706005788072902006-11-16T13:40:00.000-06:002006-11-16T13:40:00.000-06:00'Course I'm predisposed to amusement this morning,...'Course I'm predisposed to amusement this morning, given the highly comic nature of this blog today and how one can thread together a theme for one's own entertainment.<BR/><BR/>(That's a compliment, and, yeah, I acknowledge that my sense of humor can be odd, if not obscure. Still.)reader_iamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17352836883752091339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163705171036607692006-11-16T13:26:00.000-06:002006-11-16T13:26:00.000-06:00The title of this post has to be right up there am...The title of this post has to be right up there among my favorites from Ann's blog.<BR/><BR/>Coupla hours later, and I'm still chuckling.reader_iamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17352836883752091339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163702495745369422006-11-16T12:41:00.000-06:002006-11-16T12:41:00.000-06:00Not only does Lipton seem "preening and self-impor...<I>Not only does Lipton seem "preening and self-important," to me. The thing that causes us to turn the channel around here is that he's such a sycophant of anyone he interview</I><BR/><BR/>ugh, I agree. That show is intolerable.knoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13231876226573540476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163698488755513932006-11-16T11:34:00.000-06:002006-11-16T11:34:00.000-06:00I felt a chill when the Borat character faced the ...I felt a chill when the Borat character faced the audience during a Fox & Friends interview a couple of weeks back and said he had something for everyone, including -- "for the children" -- anti-semitism.<BR/><BR/>I saw in his smirk the Joel Gray character of the Cabaret Master who turned his dancing partner -- a gorilla -- to the audience at the end of his performance, saying "If you could see her through my eyes, you wouldn't think she looked Jewish at all."Sissy Willishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04316411260777111360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163698386927090102006-11-16T11:33:00.000-06:002006-11-16T11:33:00.000-06:00"We've been through a lot these last 15 years or s..."We've been through a lot these last 15 years or so."<BR/><BR/>True. And only five years ago, we were supposed to be at "the end of the age of irony." <A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4699357-103425,00.html" REL="nofollow">Isn't that ironic?</A><BR/><BR/>"To know inauthenticity isn't the same as being authentic [...and] just because you ironically know you're wrong doesn't make you right."Meadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03316388500723034455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163694522894120022006-11-16T10:28:00.000-06:002006-11-16T10:28:00.000-06:00I agree with you, Ronin and other non-Cohen fans. ...I agree with you, Ronin and other non-Cohen fans. I watched Ali G a few times and hated it. This type of "humor" is a hamhanded attempt at postmodernism, but it's really manipulation and abuse.PatCAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08920623662477828662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163694332107752772006-11-16T10:25:00.000-06:002006-11-16T10:25:00.000-06:00Not only does Lipton seem "preening and self-impor...Not only does Lipton seem "preening and self-important," to me. The thing that causes us to turn the channel around here is that he's such a sycophant of anyone he interviews.Mark Danielshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18205344762960756655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163693448353107442006-11-16T10:10:00.000-06:002006-11-16T10:10:00.000-06:00And I cannot watch James Lipton without seeing Wil...And I cannot watch James Lipton without seeing Will Ferrell <I>as</I> James Lipton.KCFleminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00124201866124646626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163692680072812802006-11-16T09:58:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:58:00.000-06:00I have always been skeeved by James Lipton and his...I have always been skeeved by James Lipton and his show. There's something so preening and self-important about him, even as he debases himself and fluffs his guests, who are so often big celebrities with little talent.<BR/><BR/>I can't help thinking that Lipton was wise to Baron Cohen because, in many ways, his own performance on Inside the Actor's Studio is very similar to what Cohen is doing but turned inside out.StrangerInThesePartshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04931100317608231220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163692050414924032006-11-16T09:47:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:47:00.000-06:00To some teenagers in the Middle East, suicide bomb...To some teenagers in the Middle East, suicide bombers are like rock stars. They watch their last-will-and-testament videos on the internet. They watch terrorist recruiting videos on the internet They admire the courage of the suicidal fighters.<BR/><BR/>Of course, the people blowing themselves up are simultaneously blowing up Arab and Muslim societies in the process.<BR/><BR/>Cohen is our version of a suicide terrorist. He destroys our sense of social cohesion, desensitizing us to the humiliation of others. <BR/><BR/>Like a lot of good people in the Arab world, many of his victims find security in silence or grim chuckling complicity.Legacy Userhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01684438484774689233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163691868064833982006-11-16T09:44:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:44:00.000-06:00The first time I saw Andrew Dice Clay, before I he...The first time I saw Andrew Dice Clay, before I heard anyone else's opinion of him, I thought he was brilliantly spoofing male chauvinism. People just didn't have such a sense of humor about these things back then. We've been through a lot these last 15 years or so.Ann Althousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01630636239933008807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163691506287848572006-11-16T09:38:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:38:00.000-06:00James Lipton is an extremely perceptive man. (Alwa...James Lipton is an extremely perceptive man. (Always a pleasure to find out that one's assumptions were correct.)<BR/><BR/>As for Cohen/Borat: No interest in the movie or its aftermath. Cruelty, gross behavior, and the greediness of useful dupes just aren't my thing.Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03071928294799081845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163691470607588322006-11-16T09:37:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:37:00.000-06:00http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dutJ31sIW68http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dutJ31sIW68Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07835164854514314231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163691358413069112006-11-16T09:35:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:35:00.000-06:00Andre Dice Clay lacked that "loveable" side that C...Andre Dice Clay lacked that "loveable" side that Cohen seems able to generate even while being obnoxious. Cohen is like Andy Kaufman's Latka's older brother. <BR/><BR/>I thin Cohen mistakes being non-confrontational for apathy. A foriegn boor like like Borat is tolerated, partly to get along and in hopes he will soon leave. Cohen is careful, and seems to have learned over time when the line gets crossed and in what crowds this occurs.<BR/><BR/>Cohenis like Kaufman, who later seemed to lose his mind testing the point at which humor crosses over into mere cruelty.KCFleminghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00124201866124646626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163691296830197892006-11-16T09:34:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:34:00.000-06:00In fact, in that interview he talks about the Jame...In fact, in that interview he talks about the James Lipton interview. He claims that James showed him topless pictures of an attractive asian woman---and then that woman walked in the room, to be introduced as James' wife :) Sacha did not seem to ackowledge that James had been "on to him".Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07835164854514314231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163691214148284052006-11-16T09:33:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:33:00.000-06:00He did one on the Daily Show as well. Perhaps YouT...He did one on the Daily Show as well. Perhaps YouTube still has it :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07835164854514314231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163690939204881182006-11-16T09:28:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:28:00.000-06:00I could have sworn I heard Sacha Baron Cohen do an...I could have sworn I heard Sacha Baron Cohen do an out-of-character interview on NPR some months ago.Mark Danielshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18205344762960756655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163690664792356362006-11-16T09:24:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:24:00.000-06:00But to me it revealed something about that bar in ...<I>But to me it revealed something about that bar in Tucson. And the question is: Did it reveal that they were anti-Semitic? Perhaps. But maybe it just revealed that they were indifferent to anti-Semitism.</I><BR/><BR/>Or maybe, as a society, we've become accustomed to accepting, or "tolerating" these kinds of views from foreigners.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329595.post-1163690176826940182006-11-16T09:16:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:16:00.000-06:00I must say I've been surprised that Borat has fare...I must say I've been surprised that Borat has fared so much better than Andrew Dice Clay. Is there much of a difference between what the actors behind the characters were doing?JohnFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05405509006240173648noreply@blogger.com