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| Arabia |
| Saudi TV Show Makes Fun of Terrorists - Wildly Popular |
| 2006-10-02 |
| CAIRO, Egypt — Ramadan is a time of fasting and prayer, but it is also a time for overindulgence. Once the fast is broken each day, many sip tea and feast on syrupy sweets while lazing in front of the TV. That is why the holiest month in the Muslim calendar is akin to the sweeps weeks in the United States — and why satellite and local channels spend the year producing their most compelling TV serials to fiercely compete for what are essentially captive evening viewers. And in these turbulent times, Ramadan television programming has found a mother lode of material in the biggest issue of day: Islamic militancy. An example is "Tash Ma Tash," a wildly popular Saudi TV series that is deploying satire to poke fun at the fundamentalists. Staff on the show have received death threats for what some consider brazen impertinence; meanwhile, senior sheikhs issued a religious edict which deemed it was sinful to watch "Tash MaTash" after an episode skewered religious judges for working only three hours a day. Another episode was heavily criticized by clerics and others when it ridiculed the practice of requiring women to be accompanied by a male relative or a husband when dining out. |
| Posted by:mcsegeek1 |
| #4 It all depends on what side they're cheering for. They're laughing at inept terrorists. That's about like laughing at the Nazis on Hogan's Heroes: it doesn't make the world any safer from Nazis. Yes and no. As Mel Brooks once said: "I was never crazy about Hitler; If you stand on a soapbox and trade rhetoric with a dictator you never win. That's what they do so well: they seduce people. But if you ridicule them, bring them down with laughter, they can't win. You show how crazy they are." Let's hope that's what the Saudis are doing. "Tash Ma Tash" is enraging the clerics and morals police, so they should be doing something right. Me? I think we really ought to stick with bullets and bombs for now. We can laugh and point all we want, but killing terrorists dead is the best policy. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-10-02 15:26 |
| #3 They're laughing at inept terrorists. That's about like laughing at the Nazis on Hogan's Heroes: it doesn't make the world any safer from Nazis. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-10-02 14:30 |
| #2 The moment they accepted Micheal Jackson into their society they began the slippry slide into decadence. OTOH, if they can laugh at themselves maybe there is hope. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2006-10-02 14:02 |
| #1 What did Mohammed(MTLHMOHS) have to say about humor? Anything? |
| Posted by: Korora 2006-10-02 13:01 |