You mean the celebrated comedian whose most famous schticks are the generic Muslim Middle Eastern dictator who is terrible in every way and the Central Asian anti-Semite who is sexually deranged and borderline uncivilized?
Why, it's almost as if this was inverted and a Muslim man from the Middle East played a grossly stereotyped depiction of an Israeli Jew for cheap laughs that there would be an immense outcry against what clearly amounts to open bigotry and racist caricature...
I think there's a discussion to be had about satirising the in-group vs satirising the out-group, especially when it comes to how privilege intersects with this stuff.
Obviously there's the whole both-sidesism thing and also how equal opportunity bigotry primarily serves the interests of the dominant groups.
Imagine if SBC had better politics and he used that character and his brand of irreverence to get some real mask off reactions about the current situation.
i want to make a joke about like PFLP biden wearing a keffiyeh and hijacking a plane bound for tel aviv but it's actually insane that this fucking mummy is openly encouraging netanyahu to commit genocide and these stupid fucking Celebs are like "uhh sir mr president when are you going to tell Hamas to Stand Down sir" idk they gotta be cutting the adrenochrome with bleach or something
That was tone deaf, but at least it wasn't trying to contain political content. Writing an open letter on behalf of the status quo to the president, and phrasing it like that is just so dumb.
They like mumbled okay when their publicist said they needed to do a thing. I don't know if that counts as real political action. We should all hate them for being libs, them doing lib shit is just kinds tedious though
with that large collection of names, i imagine there's a bit of a "we're adding your name to this list unless you tell us not to, and if you tell us not to... well, maybe you / your cousin gets dropped as a client" type of arm twisting going on. the MIC and hollywood are intimate partners after all, and our angry little puppet state is a very important client of the MIC.
the mechanism for blacklisting people has probably become a lot more clever in the last 60 years, not to mention a lot of big names know their fame is fragile.
I'm just happy Seth Rogan isn't on the list, he came out against the apartheid regime amidst the whole eve fartlow thing and it's nice to see that he meant it
Looking at the people that have signed it, I have to assume it was the kinda thing were they don't really know what the contents were, and they're sorta being peer pressured a bit by their manager or whatever "Oh hey it's not really a big deal signing this, but if you don't sign this people are going to notice". It's the only way I can square still enjoying le funny "MY WIFE" guy.
I can believe this because celebs are fucking stupid.
I'd buy SBC signing it, but it's possible some of these people have signed away rights for stuff like this to a PR firm in order to get work/get insurance (I'm sure PR crisis insurance is a thing).
SBC literally made a full propaganda show for israel where he plays a mossad agent. Also Borat is just a minstrel show that's acceptable because in America because Kazakhs are Central Asian.
I'm literally calling him "le funny MY WAIFE guy". I don't think he has good politics or is even a good/clever dude. But I like Borat, I like watching American politicians say fucked up shit into the mic of the most obvious and racist charicature known to man. Therefore I need to maintain a personal illusion that he is in fact not a moron or evil.
Reaching by calling WHo is America a full propaganda show for israel tbh, it clearly satirizes the character to show islamophobia in the country rather than spread it.
There's also a (smaller) ceasefire letter. Pretty lame petition but I'm assuming most of them mean well. Some of the big names:
Mark Ruffalo, Jon Stewart, Joaquin Phoenix, Jessica Chastian, Cate Blanchett, Quinta Brunson, Rosario Dawson, Oscar Isaac, Alyssa Milano, Channing Tatum, Florence Pugh, Alyssa Milano, Kristen Stewart, Dua Lipa, Sandra Oh, Jeremy Strong
Full letter
Dear President Biden,
We come together as artists and advocates, but most importantly as human beings witnessing the devastating loss of lives and unfolding horrors in Israel and Palestine.
We ask that, as President of the United States, you call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the last week and a half – a number any person of conscience knows is catastrophic. We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.
We urge your administration, and all world leaders, to honor all of the lives in the Holy Land and call for and facilitate a ceasefire without delay – an end to the bombing of Gaza, and the safe release of hostages. Half of Gaza’s two million residents are children, and more than two thirds are refugees and their descendants being forced to flee their homes. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach them.
We believe that the United States can play a vital diplomatic role in ending the suffering and we are adding our voices to those from the US Congress, UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, The International Committee of The Red Cross, and so many others. Saving lives is a moral imperative. To echo UNICEF, “Compassion — and international law — must prevail.”
As of this writing more than 6,000 bombs have been dropped on Gaza in the last 12 days – resulting in one child being killed every 15 minutes.
Beyond our pain and mourning for all of the people there and their loved ones around the world we are motivated by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity. We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people – and a deep desire to stop more bloodshed.
We refuse to tell future generations the story of our silence, that we stood by and did nothing. As Emergency Relief Chief Martin Griffiths told UN News, “History is watching.”
Signed:
Riz Ahmed
Mahershala Ali
Mo Amer
Cate Blanchett
Quinta Brunson
Farah Bsaiso
Jessica Chastain
Margaret Cho
David Cross
Cherien Dabis
Rosario Dawson
Ayo Edebiri
Fatima Farheen Mirza
America Ferrera
Dominique Fishback
Andrew Garfield
Ilana Glazer
Oscar Isaac
Shaka King
Elvira Lind
Aria Mia Loberti
Macklemore
Michael Malarkey
Rooney Mara
Darius Marder
Vic Mensa
Alyssa Milano
Hasan Minhaj
Indya Moore
Sandra Oh
Joaquin Phoenix
Mark Ruffalo
Hend Sabry
Susan Sarandon
James Schamus
Amanda Seales
Anoushka Shankar
Alia Shawkat
Wallace Shawn
Sebastian Silva
Jon Stewart
Kristen Stewart
Jeremy Strong
Wanda Sykes
Michael Stipe
Amber Tamblyn
Bassam Tariq
Channing Tatum
Dominique Thorne
Michelle Wolf
Shailene Woodley
Ramy Youssef