Yesterday night I watched a TV comedian who used a cross with the crucified Christ on it, to make jokes and mockeries about Him, which I will not describe here. At Christmas our queen Beatrix held her annual Christmas Speech in which she warned that there must be freedom of speech and religion, but that nobody had the right to insult. Well, what this "comedian" (Theo Maassen) did in his theatre, watched by thousands of people, was more insulting than the Danish cartoons made of Mohammed. His face near the cross reminded me of the ugly heads of the people who crucified Jesus in medieval paintings. He also plays a role in the movie "Zwartboek" ("Report of Bad Facts"), where he is one of the leaders of a mob that emptied a bucket full of shit over a girl suspected of having a relationship with a German military. These kinds of roles suit him better I think, than the role of a "comedian".
I wonder if there will be any protest actions or media scandals as a result of this, I don't think so. Dear muslims, can we swop: we get part of your anger, and you get part of our over-tolerance.
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3 comments:
It seems that fanatics are doing a good job of muzzling free speech everywhere.
My question about the queen's comment is this: where does one draw the line between satire and insult? Are Danes, in effect, being cautioned against satire, parody and other forms of expression that, by design,sting their subjects, albeit humorously?
The queen also said in her speech that the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech (expression) but there are unwritten rules of behaviour that must be obeyed by civilised people. You may satirize a cross or Mohammed, but be aware what the effects will be on the minds of people who have not learnt to ignore (e.g. Dutch Calvinists). Well, Theo Maassen deliberately chose his way to ridiculize a Christ image, I find it disgusting but other people might agree with him. So I give my opinion, and he gave his, and I regret that no public debate will follow. In the meantime I see the queen's comment as a request, a warning: whatever is cherished by other people as holy please don't ridiculize or abuse it. It's simply not civilized.
I guess the eternal question is this : at what point do satire and parody cross over the line of good humored fun to hurtful or insulting statements? The follow-up question is: who determines whether a comment, image, etc., is satire or insult?
I think Westerners, in general, have developed thicker skins than some others have. We also decided that free speech is such an important right that it's worth risking occasional bruised feelings. Unfortunately, in the current political and social environment, we seem to be backing away from that hard-won position. I just hope we don't wake up one day to discover that we can't say anything!
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