Contains Sarcasm-Approach with Caution

“I can’t believe he would make a movie with that in it!” I listened carefully, as any good friend would. I braced expecting a long-winded explanation of how foul the nude wrestling scene was, or how ridiculous the bear in the ice crème truck was. I chose to see Borat, but my friend was oh too happy to oblige, having heard plenty of the scandalous reputation the movie had accumulated.

                “To think, he, a Jew, could do that in his own movie. It’s unthinkable!” I sank my head into my hands, also in disbelief. My friend, thinking I was in agreement, continued chuckling over the situation-little did he know that I was shocked that he could be so dense.

                 Sarcasm, it seems, is a comedic art form that the general public has yet to grasp. Borat is a prime example of this. Cohen was not making fun of Jews or their practices-he was making fun of people who are anti-Semitic. By showing ant Semitics in such an outrageous fashion, which paints them in such an ignorant light, Cohen was hoping to poke fun at them. Unfortunately, this caused outrage for many who viewed the film (not just for the apparent anti-Semitism). Sarcasm, it seems, is too advanced for some.

                The same dangerous line is straddled in the writing of Salman Rushdie. His collection of stories, East West, is full of unbridled sarcasm that brushes a variety of topics.  The Prophets Hair, one of the stories within the collection, deals with among other things religious fanaticism. God help poor Rushdie, because I’m sure he has felt the same fire Cohen has.

                One issue that those who read the story might find very troubling is that the main character, Hashim, “converts” to a strict religious routine after his epiphany. Upon finding the hair of the prophet Mohammed, a very valuable object, Hashim sees the opportunity as a sign to start living a better life. This, if it were the main story, would be great. Religion being the catalyst for a person acting better towards others would be a great deal-it wasn’t.

                Hashim, in a classic move by those who have led lives of questionable intent, began blaming his family for his lack of faith until finding the hair. “An end to hypocrisy!” Hashim thundered, which followed by a scathing indictment of the rest of his family’s character. Everyone had led poor Hashim astray-thank God for that hair. Hell was surely around the corner.

                Rushdie, on one layer of the story (there is no one thing he points to), is rejecting the hypocrisy of people using religion as soul means of acting good. Hashim, by the way, did not act like a truly good person-he only thought he did. The fact that a hair could inspire so much change in someone is very humorous, and it does scrape many religions. People take issue with this sort of thinking because it hits close to their place in the world. People hate when their comfort zone is breeched.

                  Sarcasm does this quite unapologetically. It causes people to ask questions where questions aren’t normally asked. Religion is sacred, and there is no questioning its place in society directly. Using humor, however, to expose some of its darker sides (which almost all are side notes that humans drive into the equation) is a healthy way to leech out its problems.  

                Now if people would remove the veil of their own ignorance, we might get somewhere. To my friend, you know who you are, now watch the movie again. Oh, and please drop your lawsuit. You’ll look like a fool in court.