Groundbreaking Material

I was listening to Sarah Silverman on Q earlier this morning. She noted that her brand of humour draws its inspiration from her swearing when she was a toddler. She said her dad used to teach her swear words for the fun of it and all others would react positively and laugh when she mouthed them. As she grew up it's her gender that took that toddler’s place – extrapolating a little here. It's somewhat shocking for a man to do/say ‘those’ things, but it’s outrageous when it’s a woman (outrageously funny, too, quite often). Her approach to political humour is often to assume the bigoted ignoramus and make exaggerated arguments for/against something ('uncle' Ruckus from The Boondocks is a good archetype). It is subversive but more importantly it avoids the self righteous tone that could subdue the critique's potency.

Meanwhile comedians in Tamil television continue to do groundbreaking material by impersonating 'Rajini sir' and 'Kamal sir'.

Vetti Post - 13

a. Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachan can't act.

b. Vikram hams it up.
c. The story is stale (is this the 'straight' version of Roja?)

d. Mani Ratnam's understanding of politics (or anything, for that matter) is superficial.

e. A.R. Rahman needs to update his software.

Of course, none of this matters when there are so many fan-boys in India and abroad. Too bad the film 'isn't ready' for this year's IIFA. But Ratnam doesn't have to worry. I'm sure Amitabh Bachan will find a better place, like Tel Aviv, for his next film's premiere.

Idli and protein

A segment on random TV show on Indian food: A 'typical' US return Madras brahmin woman said, "this is what all vegetarians get their protein from", pointing to milky white idlis (so they are not made of brown rice either). Of course, the rest of the family joined in to provide their insights on other benefits of eating idlis. The English speaking 70+ year old said, "this is where I get my facials", sticking her face into the idli cooker whose lid had just been opened. She seemed to feel proud of the complex bio-mechanics (and whatever else) involved in making idlis. Noting her remarkably timed humour, the other female members took turns in getting their 'facials'; just in case the probable white man holding the camera didn't get the joke. I guess that's how vegetarians beat something (already stale) to death. 

PS. Shows like this -- that want to 'showcase' a 'typical' Indian family (especially in the South) -- almost always end up with a brahmin family. Be it Bangalore or Madras. Feel free to be amazed by this apparent 'coincidence'.

Edit - July 18, 2021: I would look for this video every a few years as a pointless exercise (one of the many, I have to add). But I actually managed to find it this time. Watching it after over 10 years was as cringe worthy as it was the first time. It's the opposite of when people say they wish they could travel back in time and experience something for the first time again (first kiss, first seruppadi etc). The 'facial' moment, btw, is at 25:10.

 

I wish the author of the comment that I ended up removing upon their request would allow me to publish it.