Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World

I heard an interesting radio interview on NPR's "Fresh Air w/ Terry Gross" this afternoon. (I normally don't get to listen to the radio in the afternoon anymore, since I'm in the office, which is a real shame because I loved listen to "Fresh Air" while driving to and from campus during my college days. I learned a lot.)

Today, I was lucky enough to catch Terry Gross's interview with Albert Brooks, discussing his new movie "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World." The premise of the movie is that the U.S. government is attempting to better understand the Muslims that hate us so much by sending the character "Albert Brooks" to Pakistan and India to find out what they think is funny, thereby deepening our understanding of the Muslim character.

Now, I love the premise of the film. It sounds absurdist and just stupid enough that it might have been tried by someone. As I listened to the interview, I got even more excited because Brooks and Gross were talking in funny yet thoughtful terms about the nature of comedy, how comedy is definitely a cultural construction, and how there are very real difficulties in trying to define what comedy is in your own culture, much less how it is defined and perceived by a completely different set of people who operate under a very different set of rules. All of these things stirred that cultural anthropology training that I received in college years ago. It made me want to see this movie BADLY!

And, I still do, but since I started constructing this post and tracking down websites about the movie, I have discovered an interesting disconnect. While the interview was done with a (somewhat) academic bent, the movie trailer (available in this post's first link) spins the movie as a more traditional comedy with silly misunderstanding and (Allah forbid!?) a slight possibility of a romance!

I hope that these are not the dominant themes of what might be a fun, informative, and potentially thought-provoking movie.

I will go see it when it gets to town. Any takers?

Omnimedia resurrected? Nope, just being utilized

I'm gonna start linking appropriate stuff through Omnimedia again.

It may never take off and the rest of the team members might not utilize it, but I created it and I can still make use of it. (At least that is my story for now.)

You can watch the "Lazy Sunday/Chronic of Narnia" video using this embedded video player that I really hope will work:



There is also another good reason to check Omnimedia now and again, and it's just below this post. I put a link to another video here last weekend and while you might not want to watch the video itself, you should definitely read the post's comments. Shirtless Wonder's list regarding the Wonder of Chuck Norris is hilarious and worth the time spent.

NOTE: You can always tell when someone has updated Omnimedia by checking my Interesting Sites to Visit list in the WWYG?! sidebar. A bright yellow NEW sunburst indicates the arrival of new content.

The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

Here is a good reason for the continued existence of WWYG?! Omnimedia.

Please, someone, click on this.