Friday, September 5, 2014

Banned in Belgium


In our earlier essays,

     La quenelle

     Al-Rabiah

we examined some widely popular, stylized or semi-humorous images, banned owing to their political edge.   And now this:

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[ Trigger  Warning !   E.U.-forbidden image follows.]
[ All citizens of the Schengen Zone are required to exit this page NOW. ]
[  BRUXELLES IS WATCHING YOU  ]
[ Offenders will be prosecuted. ]
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Read more here:


[Note:  The Telegraph and the WSJ also reported the story, but since they were too pusillanimous to reproduce the actual offending cartoon, I shall not link to them.]

In a curious coincidence, the later publication has also been banned in Riemannistan, though not for political reasons, but simply because the artwork of the parody is so inferior to the original, particularly in the rendering of the enchanting Wiske ….


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There has also been a major development in the P.C. campaign against the French comic & commentator Dieudonné.   His career has already been strangled -- his traveling shows and his TV appearences banned -- and now he may be facing serious prison time ….   Based on this:

Dieudonné sur feu Foley !!

in which he discusses the execution of James Foley by the ISIL.  His presentation is being represented in the media as an endorsement of terrorism.   That it is, in exactly the same sense that Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” was an endorsement of cannibalism.

Take a look at it.  Even if you don’t understand a word of French, his demeanor will tip you off that he is no rabble-rouser for violence -- nor, indeed, is he taking the matter lightly, as fodder for comedy.   It is purely a moral commentary, perhaps misguided, but well within the limits of civilized discourse.  
His basic point is, “What’s sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander.”  And again, you can grasp this, even without understanding the verbal monologue. Fast-Forward to 4:48 ff; note especially 5:03.  

[Update 25 septembre 2014] And now this:


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