Vikram Dhunta

What do Mind of Mencia, The Man Show, Yo Momma and Southpark have in common?

Well (and this is my personal opinion, though I don't see how it wouldn't occur to a lot of other people), it so happens that each of these shows appears to have a really high content of material that is pornographic/derogatory in nature (but still supposedly filed under 'Humour') to the point of being extreme and sick (again: my personal opinion), and which has no regard whatsoever to any particular section's (of society) sensibilities.

Some things that these shows make fun of : dwarf people, homosexuals, the aged, women, children, jews/muslims/christians, blacks, asians and so on.

Now, I don't care who they make fun of as long as it's all in jest. But doesn't this lead to a kind of societal trend where people get exposed to such material and lose any sense of respect for other people's beliefs? What about the effect on young children that watch these shows? In my two weeks here, I've seen two different news items about teenagers plotting massacres in their own school and kill their classmates (one of these was a huge planned bombing plus random shooting in a school in Wisconsin).

I think this kind of humour culminates in the release of Jackass Number Two tomorrow in the US - a movie where a group of people do the stupidest and most dangerous of things (most inspired from Tom n Jerry - but heck that was a 2D cartoon).

To their credit though, the shows poke fun at everyone, sparing none.

Somehow, it just doesn't seem right, though.

Labels: general, usa

Posted by Vikram at 6:41 PM | Permalink | Comments
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In my three weeks here in the US, I've seen three references to India in the news media:
1) about a man who can swallow upto 12 swords at a time
2) about a weird dance that a tribe does during this time of the year up north
3) about India and Pakistan agreeing to continue peace talks post the Mumbai blasts.

No Manmohan, no Sonia, no Delhi, no Malegaon, no Software, no IT, no Bangalore or Hyderabad or Silicon Valley or anything.

If there ever was any illusion of India being on the radar of the US media for any reason whatsoever, it's been shattered. I don't intend to sound like I'm hurt that the 'American's' pay no attention to India. It's just that the amount and nature of coverage that India gets in the media here, certainly won't help the regular American citizen upgrade his image of India from 'a nation of snake-charmers' to 'the backoffice of the world' or 'the IT powerhouse of Asia' or any such thing.

Maybe that's all a good sign though - not being in the news since every news item these days has to do with terrorists/the UN convention or kidnapped babies more or less.

Labels: india, news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments
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Or so says Bush, after about 43,000 Iraqis have died in Iraq since the war began, and about 220 bodies have been found in various parts of Baghdad over the last few weeks, each showing signs of torture and mutilation. Not to mention that the Al Qaeda is gaining a strong foothold in the country now.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had said last year and kept up his rhetoric that he'd like Israel to be wiped off the map. Iran has also missed the UN's deadline to halt its uranium enrichment programme.

Yesterday, he said that Iran doesn't need a bomb and that its nuclear programme is peaceful. He even says Iran respects the 'American people'. Naturally, the media here can't seem to make up their mind about this rebel president and his intentions. However, he's made it to Time's cover.

Neither can they pronounce his name right, with every commentator pronouncing it as 'Akhmad Makhmoudinejad'. I knew the American's could never spell Gandhi right since they consider (wrongly) the 'h' to be silent (Ghandi/Gandhi...), but how do you insert a 'k' where it doesn't belong?!

Anyway, Colbert has this NYC itinerary to recommend for the Iranian president.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments
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After Chavez called Bush, the 'Devil' yesterday leaving a trail of sulphur behind him, he followed it up with 'sick man' and 'ex-alcoholic' today. This has actually got democrats standing up for Bush. But Chavez is attracting the media right now, even calling one female news reporter pretty. Of course, the Iranian president is another media favourite right now.

And the US is paying for all this, btw, since these guys are on US soil. On a different note though - Chavez's name calling has only led to a lot of media frenzy, which is the usual since it makes for great headlines, but not for any protests by the general public. What would've been the effect if the Bangladesh PM had name-called Manmohan Singh at a SAARC conference in New Delhi?

After Armitage told Musharraf at a meeting some time back that (to the effect) 'Pakistan should be prepared to be bombed back to the stone age if they don't cooperate with the US against the terrorists', Musharraf felt it was a 'rude remark'. This, according to Musharraf himself, at the UN convention currently on at NYC. He adds that he decided to act 'responsibly' in his response. Armitage denies saying this of course. Bush did say last night in an interview to CNN that he would 'absolutely' take 'immediate action' if Bin Laden was found in Pakistan.

Labels: news, usa

Posted by Vikram at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments
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