1 yankee understands us muslims!!!!!!!

[MoroccanColumbo]

American comedy pokes fun at U.S. ignorance of Islam Saturday December 17, 03:24 PM

DUBAI (Reuters) - It may seem odd for an American to go to Asia, and not the Middle East, to learn about Islam after the September 11, 2001 attacks by al Qaeda.

But U.S. comedian Albert Brooks said this peculiarity underscores the basic premise of his satirical film "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World", which pokes fun at U.S. ignorance about Arabs and Muslims.


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The 19 suicide hijackers who struck New York and Washington in 2001 all hailed from the Middle East, which is also the birthplace of Islam.
"One of the subtle things I think the movie was trying to say is that the U.S. government really makes no distinction ... between Arab Muslims and South Asian Muslims," Brooks told Reuters in an interview in the Gulf Arab emirate.

"To the United States -- and it's unfortunate -- all Muslims are the same. Once 9/11 happened, they're afraid of all of them."

In the movie, which premiered in Dubai this week, the U.S. government sends Brooks to India, which is predominantly Hindu, and Muslim neighbour Pakistan to find out what makes Muslims laugh to understand them better.

But his mission fails, mainly due to his inability to comprehend local culture and social nuances -- the basis of humour around the world.

Brooks' character, who is charged with writing a 500-page report on comedy among Muslims, arrives in Asia with preconceived notions of what constitutes comedy and is shocked that there are no U.S.-style comedy clubs in India or Pakistan or that its people do not understand his brand of irreverent humour.

In one scene, he puts on a comedy show to an Indian audience where he cracks a joke about about iconic nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi. Nobody laughed.

And in Pakistan, the only laughs he got were from a bunch of men high on hashish who found him, not his jokes, hilarious.

After visiting mosques and temples in India and bonding with aspiring comedians in Pakistan, Brooks' character still fails to learn what tickles Muslims and manages to inadvertently fuel a political crisis between nuclear rivals Pakistan and India.

MUSLIMS NOT VILIFIED

Audiences in Dubai gave mixed reviews of the film, which Brooks wrote, directed and starred in. But for the most part, they welcomed it, saying it was refreshing to see a U.S. production that did not vilify Muslims.

"It was different from the usual movies we see from America. It's good to show others cultures of the world," said 18-year-old Zeinab from the United Arab Emirates.

But her friend Asma criticised the film for not doing enough to improve the image of Arabs. "They showed one perspective of Islam, the Indian and Pakistani one. I don't think that an American who doesn't know anything about Islam and the Arab world would learn anything about us from this film," she said.

Brooks, who said he would love to make a movie in an Arab country, said the film was a "good start" on a sensitive topic.

"When there's tension in the world the best thing that can happen is if people can laugh at something. That's the best icebreaker that we as a human species have," he added.

Although the movie does not discuss religion and lightly ridicules Washington, Brooks faced difficulties getting it on screen. He said the title caused Sony to refuse to distribute it fearing reprisals from Muslims, a reaction he said underscored the importance of challenging stereotypes in Hollywood.

Sony said it had passed on the film because of merit.

"I don't expect that big Hollywood studios are in the business of doing anything that would ruffle feathers," Brooks said. "The whole point of this movie is that you want to take away that scary potential shadow that they (Hollywood) think hangs over anything with the word Muslim."

Brooks is well-known for films such as "The Muse" and "The In-Laws". His film is set for U.S. release in January by Warner Independent, the art-house unit of Warner Brothers.