achilles Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 Just watching the special on Times Now. Quite despicable from Time Magazine. Its not funny when people feel insulted.
bharathh Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 We need to learn to take a friggin joke! Shame on this news channel for concentrating so much on this masala news! I suppose they've never heard of satire.
yoda Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 We need to learn to take a friggin joke! Shame on this news channel for concentrating so much on this masala news! I suppose they've never heard of satire. it wasn't just "a joke". it was a long tirade. it is not just news channels who are outraged. anyone with a sense of pride about India and Indians should be outraged IMO.
bharathh Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 The guy is a known satirist. A satirist's job is to make fun of ppl. Not sure why we're giving any importance to this. Most Indians berate the Pakistanis for making a big deal about anything related to Islam. We're proving that we're cut from the same cloth by making a big deal about this. Being able to laugh at yourself shows that you believe in yourself more than what other people say about you. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me!
Ram Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 I think the article was part satire, part rant. For eff’s sake, the guy talked to University professors about the history of immigration in the United States before writing this article. Why would he do that if it was just for fun? But its also pretty clear that he didn’t mean every word of what he wrote and many things were simply tongue-in-cheek.
yoda Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 The guy is a known satirist. A satirist's job is to make fun of ppl. Not sure why we're giving any importance to this. Most Indians berate the Pakistanis for making a big deal about anything related to Islam. We're proving that we're cut from the same cloth by making a big deal about this. There is nothing wrong in making a big deal about Islam. It is their religion and they have every reason to protest when people make fun of their religion. It is only when you resort to violence to show your disapproval does it become an issue. So the comparisons are invalid. Being able to laugh at yourself shows that you believe in yourself more than what other people say about you. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me! Guess you never heard of the phrase "A pen is mightier than a sword". Humor is alright, as long as it is a joke here or a joke there. When you have a long article doing nothing but humiliating a race, no matter how satirical the intent, it is racist and the author himself has apologized and rightfully so. Sometimes the intent and way it comes across are quite different. This isn't the first instance when something like this has happened.
bharathh Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 Only if the pen is made to be mightier than the sword. He makes fun of white people as well in that article, by stating all the things that he feels white kids did in the 80s. Should all the white people in New Jersey get angry as well for that? So it was a poorly written piece of satire. If he's apologized for it... move on. See this isn't news. The sooner we ignore this and move on, the better for us. We have actual problems to face up to rather than going over the top about the views of some little known satirist. The more you get pissed off .. the more the provocation. We have rampant corruption ... our people have little or no access to basic necessities like electricity, water, food and Times Now makes a big deal about this. Amazing!
yoda Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 We have rampant corruption ... our people have little or no access to basic necessities like electricity, water, food and Times Now makes a big deal about this. Amazing! So, till we solve all our electricity, water and food problems, we shouldn't be discussing anything else at all? :giggle: May be we should stop playing cricket till all our problems are solved. :winky: There is enough bandwidth I am sure to cover all the important issues you have listed in addition to such no-so-important issues in the modern world of 24 hour news cycles and gazillion channels.
bharathh Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 Yes.. I am glad you really understood what i said. So if I say we have bigger things to worry about than sensationalize some stupid article... it means we shouldn't discuss anything else.
Clarke Posted July 7, 2010 Posted July 7, 2010 Yes.. I am glad you really understood what i said. So if I say we have bigger things to worry about than sensationalize some stupid article... it means we shouldn't discuss anything else. Who's 'we' here ? The article makes fun of Americans of Indian descend in Edison. Ur talking of Indians in India.
achilles Posted July 8, 2010 Author Posted July 8, 2010 Is Times Now part of the Times group? Yes. Benett and Coleman Group. The guy is a known satirist. A satirist's job is to make fun of ppl. Not sure why we're giving any importance to this. Why didn't he make fun of the Israeli's, Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims? Why did he pick only on Indians? Ans- He knew he would get away with it. With the others, he wouldn't. And his references are beyond hilarious. Any man with even a faint sense of pride will feel insulted reading nonsense of that kind. To repeat my initial point- Its not funny when people feel insulted.
achilles Posted July 8, 2010 Author Posted July 8, 2010 And what is the term "dothead" doing in a magazine with high editorial standards? Its a derogatory term and had they written an article on Blacks and referred to them as "niggas", we all know what would've happened.
bharathh Posted July 8, 2010 Posted July 8, 2010 Who's 'we' here ? The article makes fun of Americans of Indian descend in Edison. Ur talking of Indians in India. I live in the US atm. It pokes fun of immigrants as a whole many of whom are here temporarily as well.
bharathh Posted July 8, 2010 Posted July 8, 2010 Yes. Benett and Coleman Group. Why didn't he make fun of the Israeli's, Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims? Why did he pick only on Indians? Ans- He knew he would get away with it. With the others, he wouldn't. And his references are beyond hilarious. Any man with even a faint sense of pride will feel insulted reading nonsense of that kind. To repeat my initial point- Its not funny when people feel insulted. Satirists in the US make fun of everything. In fact most make fun of themselves. Nothing is taboo for them. I watch a lot of stand up comedy etc... so I can state with some conviction that noone is left out as far as comedy is concerned.
Clarke Posted July 8, 2010 Posted July 8, 2010 I live in the US atm. It pokes fun of immigrants as a whole many of whom are here temporarily as well. But the primary target is the Indian-American residents of Edison. The outrage has been primarily (and rightly so) from their end as well. I found Kal Penn's note in Huffington Post right on target. The 80s were probably not the best of times to legalized Indian-American residents and citizens in NJ. Someone died from racial attacks, while others were badly beaten up. Making fun of a race/ethnicity with that background in context (which is precisely what Stein's 'satire' does) would be attacked left right and center for most other communities, and rightly so. Imagine someone writing such satire in context of the civil rights movement and then suggesting the reason why Africa is so backward. People's heads would explode, there would probably be outrage in the house/senate. As an Indian, i am with u, i couldn't be bothered. However, the same cannot be true for all Indian-Americans.
bharathh Posted July 8, 2010 Posted July 8, 2010 See.. the thing I am bothered about is all the bruhaha about this non-news becoming a focal point of the news in India. People in the US didn't like it... they made a fuss, the author apologized - and life moved on. I believe the apology was delivered before the broadcast of this news in India. Why should this be broadcast in India in the first place? Are there not more important things to worry about, than make a big deal about this? Indian Americans here can take care of themselves. In fact most 1st and 2nd gen Indian Americans don't really give a damn about what happens in India. Why should Indians in India care about this?
Clarke Posted July 8, 2010 Posted July 8, 2010 focal point .. is it ? I don't think so, that is the Kashmir & Maoist conflicts and the floods in north. There was a mention in the news and that's not a big deal. Its hard for the media to ignore; if the elections in TN could be affected by the earlier conflict in Lanka, we only have to blame ourselves for bothering about domestic matters of other countries.
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