३१ जुलै, २०१८

Sacha Baron Cohen must be desperate for footage. He uses this sequence with Roy Moore even though he gets nothing comical or embarrassing from Roy Moore.

I forced myself to watch this whole thing, because WaPo did an article on it, "Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest prank: Using a fake pedophile detector on Roy Moore":



It's very slow going, with Cohen in ridiculously thick and expression-impairing makeup and a very heavy accent. Cohen tries to get Moore to say something embarrassing about "freedom-loving" Alabama, but Moore remains stable and reserved and uses abstractions that give Cohen nothing to work with. Moore sat down for this interview because he was led to believe that he was being honored for his support of Israel.

Cohen brings out a device that, he says, the Israeli military uses to detect pedophiles, and it goes off when it's held near Moore. This might have been funny if Moore had become very angry or upset, but Moore was stoical for a little while, then says, "I am simply cutting this conversation right now. Good night. I support Israel. I don’t support this kind of stuff."

It's quite simply a prank that failed and should not have been used unless Cohen wants us to conclude that he can't succeed in his tricks anymore. This is another perspective on the Era of That's Not Funny. It's harder for comedians to derive comic material from non-comical characters like Moore. Moore knew enough to keep a pleasant smile, then a poker face, and then to walk away. That's not funny.

७२ टिप्पण्या:

rehajm म्हणाले...

Now do Hillary!

AustinRoth म्हणाले...

Or Obama! But we are talking an alternative reality for that to happen

rhhardin म्हणाले...

Veep (Seasons 1-6) is still funny. You can see it from the left or right and get something slightly different out of it.

Is it mocking the cynicism of the politicians or the idiocy of the news electorate.

Chanie म्हणाले...

Ann, you must not be the target demo for this stuff. My left-winger coworkers were raving about this at lunch yesterday. They thought it was absolutely, slap-your-thigh hilarious.

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

If Moore really was a pedophile then how is it funny?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

Now do Democrats... Oh yeah, nevermind.

Jaq म्हणाले...

Now do Bob Menendez!

RMc म्हणाले...

I guess simply having someone like Roy Moore on your show is enough to display one's liberal bona fides, even if Moore doesn't actually do anything interesting.

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

If he's not, then how is it funny to slander him as a pedophile?

Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...

I wonder, in cases like these where a politician is being interviewed under false pretenses, if they could sue for fraud for the wasting of their time.

If I was a politician, in response to an interview request, I would state that my normal appearance fee is $1,000,000, but I would be willing to waive that fee since you are representing -insert good cause here-.

Then, if the interview turns out to be fraudulent, sue to recover my appearance fee.

Qwinn म्हणाले...

Bob Boyd,

What's funny to the liberals is that they slandered him as a pedophile and won the election because of it. To them, it's funny that they got away with it, and amazingly clever and hilarious to not only not be ashamed about it, but to spike the football in his face for everyone to see. Comedy gold, to them.

Gojuplyr831@gmail.com म्हणाले...

Maybe Cohen could pair up with Kathy Griffen. Sort of a remake of Burns and Allen. Without the grace, wit, humor and intelligence. The sum total of leftist thought.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

I guess I could laugh at Cohen straining so hard to hurt Moore and not being able to get anything.

Kevin म्हणाले...

They left it in simply so the minions could have a gif of Moore being gone over with a pedo wand and it has the "beeep" in the closed captions.

Kevin म्हणाले...

Chanie is right, you're just not seeing it how a lefty sees it. They see nothing but win here. They are in it for the long haul. Every chip out of the block, no matter how small, furthers The Cause and is therefore So Good.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"What's funny to the liberals is that they slandered him as a pedophile"

This is the real Dem "narrow strategy," not discussed in the Barbaro podcast, I believe.

"Now do Bob Menendez!"

Some more suggestions:

Jeffrey Epstein.

Sandy Berger.

Lisa Page.

Maxine Waters.

Alcee Hastings.

Keith Mohammed Ellison.

Valerie "VJ" Jarrett.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

And what Kevin said.

Ralph L म्हणाले...

It would have been funnier if he'd made the wand not beep for Moore but beep for him. That might have gotten a rise out of Moore. SNL would have done that on a good year.

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

All is fair in love and war. But how attacking Roy Moore advances the Brits culture war to destroy Trump's America is a mystery. I guess they ran out of victims.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

What I saw on Drudge, using a tablet:

Mueller needs a win at Manafort trial...
He stashed $100 WALMART steaks in his pants, then fled on moped...

Dust Bunny Queen म्हणाले...

I don't think the Era of That's Not Funny has much to do with Sacha whatever.....

He has never ever been funny.

stlcdr म्हणाले...

It would be funny if this was a generic prank type comedy, which some find funny, but it is an obvious attempt to simply smear political opponents usingfalsehoods.

This would be like tripping up a woman in the street, watching her fall flat on her face, to demonstrate how clumsy and inferior women are.

daskol म्हणाले...

trump handled Ali G masterfully back in the day.

Trump kept his cool but they used the footage anyway. I like that they use the footage of the failures along with footage of those who fell for the shtick.

daskol म्हणाले...

this is just the Trump interview without the setup.

n.n म्हणाले...

The detector was triggered by someone in proximity. Is Sacha Baron Cohen a pedophile?

n.n म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

I didn't bother to watch the clip. At this point any public figure has to believe that they will be subject to the sort of pranks Cohen pulls by somebody at some time. So when the outrageous behavior begins you simply leave.

n.n म्हणाले...

how attacking Roy Moore advances the Brits culture war to destroy Trump's America

They're exposing a latent but progressive pedophile undercurrent in America, hoping to force people out of the closet, from underneath the bed, to change the politically congruent ("=") modulus. So, what do they gain by sexualizing boys and girls before the age of majority? Perhaps a progressive culture, social dysfunction, and dodo dynasties. A fiction manufactured under the pretense of comedy works for people on the left-hand side of the moral curve. Well, there is always Planned Parenthood.

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

My left-winger coworkers were raving about this at lunch yesterday. They thought it was absolutely, slap-your-thigh hilarious.

I think South Park best portrayed left-wing "comedy."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGl1CCprCeU

tola'at sfarim म्हणाले...

Whatever happened with his accusers? Seems weird the press dropped the stories and haven't done any follow up

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

I didn't realize Sarah Palin and Roy Moore were in office and not private citizens.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

I agree Cohen didn't get much from Moore, which was especially noticeable having just watched the Jason Spencer interview (google it if you haven't seen it).

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

If being attracted to young attractive women makes a man a pedophile, then over 95% of all men are pedos. And yes, mid-to-late-teen females are biologically women. Most men won't admit being attracted to them, but most are, probably even Cohen.

The species wouldn't have survived this long, or maybe at all, if most men were attracted to Chelseas, Caitlyns, successful independent feminists, and middle-aged cat ladies.

narciso म्हणाले...

The unfunny part was Cohen misrepresented himself to the speakers bureau as a legitimate veterans charity

Vance म्हणाले...

Back in the days when most people died before 30, you had to get married by what, 15 or so?

I know I was attracted to several smoking hot 12-14 year old girls. Of course, I was 12-14 at the time. Now that I think back, even then I had a type I liked--and that has never changed.

Exactly when are men or women supposed to stop finding people attractive that they used to like, I wonder? The bus drivers daughter haunted my dreams for years.... and I still look back on her with fondness. She's still hot, right? In my memory anyway. And is that a bad thing?

narciso म्हणाले...

The other thing, if it was all an act, like Camelbert some years ago, why did Spencer have to resign?

Leland म्हणाले...

So about pranks and not so funny; we had an incident happen in our neighborhood. A 14yr old boy was dropped off to visit a friend. He was told the friend's house was "the one with the truck out front". So he walks up to the house with a truck in the drive way and decides to play a prank on his friend. He bangs on the door, yells "Open up! It is the police!", and then tries to open the fortunately locked door.

He was at the wrong house. The retired couple inside were initially startled, and when the kid tried to open the door, the husband decided to go get a weapon. They had video, which helped them see it was just a kid, but that fact was not immediately disarming, because we've had problems in the neighborhood with kids stealing stuff from cars or packages left on porches. This could have been an escalation. Alas, the kid must have figured out he was at the wrong house and left before the couple confronted him.

This prank almost went horribly wrong.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Slow and unfunny. Where is Chuck Barrister when you really need him and his Gong?

narciso म्हणाले...

You what would be funny, if Cohen tried that on the head of the shariah court in a place like tower hamlets, how long would his head remain attached?

Ken B म्हणाले...

He thinks his audience will find the detector bit funny. He's right. Have you ever seen a Colbert or Stewart audience?

Ken B म्हणाले...

What Qwinn said.

rcocean म्हणाले...

The amazing thing, is how our politicians will put up with anything if it regards Israel. Evidently, not one of them had the brains to do any double checking with the Israeli Embassy or contact any Israeli officials. They were just so happy to be thought of as "Pro-Israel", common sense didn't apply.

rcocean म्हणाले...

"The unfunny part was Cohen misrepresented himself to the speakers bureau as a legitimate veterans charity"

Yep, the same old targets. Cohen's a wealthy English Jew - he has no "skin the game" when it comes to American politics, yet he despises all the same Conservative/Populist Pols that the Liberal Democrats do. Of course, Showtime may have provided him with a "Hit List" of people to go after.

Of course, you don't hear a peep from the Republicans in Congress, or faux-conservatives like National Review or Bill Kristol's magazine. As long as Cohen doesn't attack THEM, they're Jake.

rcocean म्हणाले...

BTW, hat tip to the WaPo and Mitch McConnell for destroying Roy Moore and costing the R's a Senate Seat.

Who would've thunk digging up a 35 year old so-called "scandal" - based on nothing more than unprovable allegations from less than credible women - would've worked?

Not me, but then i constantly underestimate the intelligence of the Republican voters.

Drago म्हणाले...

Look, LLR Chuck and his dem pals have so few wins these days, can't we just let this one go for their sake?

Ralph L म्हणाले...

I believe the age of consent is 16 in the UK. I remember they lowered it to that for teh gays some years ago.

narciso म्हणाले...

Seems lower the way these grooming gangs have been operating in the UK for a decade.

Che Dolf म्हणाले...

traditionalguy said... But how attacking Roy Moore advances the Brits culture war to destroy Trump's America is a mystery.

The Brits' what? You're missing the point. Moore is a gentile nationalist and therefore the enemy:

"[Sacha Baron Cohen] represents Jewish comedy at its most traditionally ethnically hostile. For instance, Borat isn’t really about Kazakhs, it’s about Cossacks, or any Slavic eastern European Christians whom Jews long considered brutish, unmannered, and stupid. Borat was inspired by a Russian Baron Cohen had met, who then became an Albanian character named Christo, who later was changed to Borat.

"Similarly, Ali G is an immigrant-stock Muslim Pakistani yoof (note Ali’s recurrent references to his Uncle Jamaal) assimilating second-hand into African-American hip-hop culture. Bruno is an Austrian fashion nazi: i.e., Gay Hitler. (Here’s Larry David with an 8-year-old American version of Bruno.) Admiral-General Aladeen is a leftist anti-Israel Third World Dictator in the mode of Kadaffi and Saddam.

"In other words, all of SBC major characters are seen from the perspective: Is it good for the Jews? SBC was vastly praised for extracting (with vast effort) a few vaguely anti-Semitic remarks from Bush voters in Borat..."

Left Bank of the Charles म्हणाले...

The joke is how long Sacha Baron Cohen keeps the gag going before Roy Moore walks out. And he does get Roy Moore to say that he is not a pedophile.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

More and more when I hear about Sacha Baron Cohen, I'm reminded of the scene in Django Unchained when Samuel L. Jackson explains the con to Leonardo DiCaprio and he responds:

"Goddamn time wasting sons of bitches!"

Cohen's a one-trick pony who's one trick was never very good.

johns म्हणाले...

"My left-winger coworkers were raving about this at lunch yesterday. They thought it was absolutely, slap-your-thigh hilarious."

there's no mystery here. left-wingers feel transgressive and giggle when a prankster succeeds in landing an interview with one of the left wing's boogeymen. it's funny to them whether it "succeeds" or not. It succeeded in that Moore bought into it for at least part of the time.

Rocketeer म्हणाले...

The joke is how long Sacha Baron Cohen keeps the gag going before Roy Moore walks out.

Patience, grace, and forbearance to the point of longanimity is funny? Forcing someone to state plain fact is comedy?

Drago म्हणाले...

Left Bank of the Charles: "The joke is how long Sacha Baron Cohen keeps the gag going before Roy Moore walks out."

Roy Moore, guilty of Politeness in the First Degree....

mccullough म्हणाले...

Ali G is too Islamophobic now. It would be funny for Ali G to interview the Muslims in Rotherham about the scum rapists among their people. But Cohen is a coward and not funny. It won’t be Roy Moore throwing Cohen’s people into the channel houses again.

William म्हणाले...

In the beginning of the interview, Moore said Alabama had a legacy of freedom. That's a comment that begs further discussion or even mockery, but Cohen blandly lets it slide. He's hunting big game, not Confederates in the attic.......Here's how Cohen can use his celebrity for a comedy gold set-up. He interviews Kathy Griffin or Samantha Bee for a speaking part in his next picture. It's going to be a big production. Leonardo's already on board. But here's the catch. They have to perform oral sex to land the role. And then here's the switcheroo. The oral sex isn't on Cohen but on his fat, hairy agent. I think that would be pretty funny, and it would say something meaningful about America and it's comedy stars.

Jim at म्हणाले...

I didn't realize Sarah Palin and Roy Moore were in office and not private citizens.

Yeah. That's the thing I don't get, either.

The left is that desperate for something - anything - they have to resort to this?

It's rather pathetic. But, so are they.

JAORE म्हणाले...

I live in Alabama. I think Roy Moore is a joke. But this was not funny.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Sasha Baron Cohen is apparently a man with a one-trick pony in dire need of veterinary care.

The man should be arrested for animal cruelty.

Gunner म्हणाले...

Ann doesn't understand lefty humor. Calling Roy Moore a pedo to his face IS THE JOKE. They want to get in the face of everyone they disagree with and call them names like their Daily Show heroes. It's what they live for.

Bricap म्हणाले...

I don't think he's only going after conservatives, if this is any indication.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Bilwick म्हणाले...

I prefer the video in which Cohen, pretending to be a Hungarian immigrant (although his costume, wig and fake facisl hair make him look like a skid-row habitué), enters a gun store, apparently intending to embarrass the store owner and, by extension, gun owners; only the store owner and his associates recognize Cohen almost immediately, and embarrass him to the extent that he does a rapid about-face and practically runs from the store. "Goodbye, Borat!" the store owner calls after him.

CJ म्हणाले...

Whatever happened to Roy Moore’s accusers, BTW?

Drago म्हणाले...

CJ: "Whatever happened to Roy Moore’s accusers, BTW?"

They've served their purpose, got paid off by "dark money" lefty benefactors, and went away.

As predicted.

n.n म्हणाले...

"Whatever happened to Roy Moore’s accusers, BTW?"
...
got paid off by "dark money" lefty benefactors, and went away


The Twilight Amendment contains a clause to establish Trial by Press. It's not just for secular rites and color diversity.

The Godfather म्हणाले...

I have a VERY low opinion of Roy Moore, but it's 10% higher after seeing how he handled the Cohen thing. If Cohen had spent a month in Alabama before the election, Moore might be a Senator today.

The same principle will re-elect Trump.

Be म्हणाले...

OMG! This is Pretty darned Funny.

chickelit म्हणाले...

I’ll die laughing when SBC pratfalls.

Sam L. म्हणाले...

You'll never get that time back.

EsoxLucius म्हणाले...

So let me get this straight: the Era of That's Not Funny began when Republicans were being laughed at. Sounds like Trump snowflakes to me.