Why is it that Bob Griese gets suspended by ESPN for making an unscripted joke that Juan Pablo Montoya was "out having a taco," but Larry David can get away with creating an episode of his TV series that involves his character urinating on a picture of Jesus?
From FOX News:
Comedian Larry David is under attack from critics who say he pushed the mocking of religion and Christian belief in miracles over the edge in the latest episode of his HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which the cable network defended as "playful."
On the show's most recent installment, which aired Sunday, David urinates on a painting of Jesus Christ, causing a woman to believe the painting depicts Jesus crying.
Deal Hudson, author and publisher of InsideCatholic.com, said he doesn't find any humor in the episode.
"I don't think it's funny," Hudson told Foxnews.com. "Why is it that people are allowed to publicly show that level of disrespect for Christian symbols? If the same thing was done to a symbol of any other religions -- Jewish or Muslim -- there'd be a huge outcry. It's simply not a level playing field."
Hudson said an apology from the show's producers and writing team should be issued.
"Somebody should [apologize]," Hudson said. "When is it going to stop? When is common sense going to dictate that people realize this willingness of artists to do to Christianity what they would never do to Judaism or Islam?"
In a statement to Foxnews.com, HBO downplayed the controversy.
"Anyone who follows Curb Your Enthusiasm knows that the show is full of parody and satire," the statement read. "Larry David makes fun of everyone, most especially himself. The humor is always playful and certainly never malicious."
Has David ever done anything on his show similarly "playful" regarding Islam?
Noel Sheppard, NewsBusters, describes the controversial episode:
The set-up is the show's star and producer Larry David is taking some medication that is making him urinate quite forcefully.
...At one point in the show, David goes to the bathroom in a Catholic home and splatters urine on a picture of Jesus; he doesn't clean it off. Then a Catholic woman goes to the bathroom, sees the picture and concludes that Jesus is crying. She then summons her equally stupid mother and the two of them fall to their knees in prayer. When David and Jerry Seinfeld (playing himself) are asked if they ever experienced a miracle, David answers, "every erection is a miracle." That's what passes for creativity these days.
I think this crosses the line.
The splattered urine is bad enough but what really is offensive is that the women are mocked for their faith.
Obviously, the drips of urine aren't the tears of Jesus. So the women are depicted as fools for their misinterpretation.
It's the mocking of their beliefs that bugs me.
It also bugs me that David, and Jerry Seinfeld, for his part, feel comfortable finding humor in something that understandably could offend Catholics.
Would these libs do an episode about urinating on the Qur'an?
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Here's video.
TheShwaNerd posted it on YouTube with this comment:
Bill Donohue hates this, which means you automatically love it, regardless.
8 comments:
Mary, the ESPN broadcast was non-fiction. The CYE script is fiction. That means it was made up.
The same distinction holds when you realize that Montoya is a actual person.
I highly recommend that you read this. It provides some common sense perspective on the Griese incident.
Furthermore, I don't appreciate your condescension.
Are you suggesting that there are no boundaries in terms of appropriateness just because the depiction is fictional, or as you so helpfully point out -- "made up"?
If so, I disagree with you.
Fictional representations, especially involving real people, in this case Jesus, can be offensive, too.
Hey, Grumps!
Check out this tweet from Montoya.
In the show, Larry didn't urinate on the picture purposefully, it was an accident. And its not like he sprayed all over it - it was just a single drop that splashed off the toilet bowl.
In my opinion, Curb not once ridiculed the Christian religion, but ridiculed the ridiculous faith people put in "signs" and the ways these people exploit them. The woman in the episode was prepared to tour the country, profiting off people, just by showing a painting with a small drop of water coming from Jesus eye as if it was some kind of "miracle". This mirrors situations in real life where people's blind faith leads them to believe things like condensation on a car window looking like the Virgin Mary.
As a Christian myself, and a huge Curb your Enthusiasm fan, I found this episode funny and in no way offensive, and anybody out there wanting to condemn this hilarious show without even seeing the "incident" in context is a bloody idiot.
I provide the video and an explanation that offers the context of the incident.
Rather than calling people "idiots," perhaps you should be a bit more tolerant and sensitive to the reactions of others to the episode.
You're entitled to your opinion just as others are entitled to theirs.
As the "Oh-So-Ever-Unbiased" Fox News was the only MAJOR news network to run with this farce of a story, its obvious that no one cares, and thankfully most people on this planet aren't fools.
Gives me a little faith that the world isn't really filled with nit picking bloggers venting their opinions on the unimportant minutiae of life.
Quotes from Mary:
"You're entitled to your opinion just as others are entitled to theirs."
"It also bugs me that David, and Jerry Seinfeld, for his part, feel comfortable finding humor in something that understandably could offend Catholics. "
It seems like these comments contradict each other
No contradiction.
I'm entitled to voice my opinion. I have the right to say what bugs me.
There is nothing in my post suggesting that David and Seinfeld should be stripped of their right to voice their opinions.
Of course, everyone is responsible for their words and actions.
Free speech is a two-way street.
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