About having a dog and naming him "Anwar Sadat" ... after a former Egyptian president .... this is so humiliating and racist ....
i hate the movie for this
it is like naming a pig after George Washington .... is this will be funny ??
ofcourse not ... so it was a baaaaaaaad movie
really? I am from and have been a US citizen my whole life and I would 100% find that funny and unoffensive. Any of the presidents actually would not be offensive in the least bit to me.
And also for that to be the reason it was a "baaaaaaaaad movie", is probably the worst reason i've heard about disliking a movie ever. This movie is hilarious throughout, love the style of comedy it is. Definitely should not be judged on that joke, although I and many people found it very funny
"Now I may not have much, but I have more determination then any man you're likely to ever meet"
I think it's a cultural disconnect. To be associated with a dog in the Arab world is considered demeaning. In the US, we usually name our pets (if it's a people name) after someone we admire, so, as an American, I could totally see naming the after Anwar Sadat as a compliment to a great man, who sought peace. He was killed by a brainwashed zombie (brainwashed by evil men seeking power disguised as religion, much as the Klu Klux Klan used to do with Christianity, when their actions had nothing to do with true Christian beliefs).
shareGiven your pig example, I think it a good example. However, if the pig actually LOOKED like George Washington, or say it had been given a tri-corner hat by its owner that it wore and refused to relinquish, it would be fine. In western culture, it is not the animal itself which is insulting, rather the intent with which the person compares.
Such a comment in America or in the west is not black and white and you need to look at the context the words were said in, rather than just what the words themselves were.
At the very base of things in western countries, law and legislation is reviewed and interpreted by the judicial systems on a basis of 'substance over form'. That means, when your read legislature, you must interpret it not how it literally reads, but on what you feel it is attempting to achieve. I think that is valid in this situation, as you have interpreted the comedian naming a dog after Anwar Sadat to mean that 'Americans think Anwar Sadat is a dog'. That was not what the joke was attempting to achieve and if you watch the film with an unbiassed mind you will realise that. To take offense because you feel Americans are not understanding your culture is wrong, because at the same time, you are making no attempt to understand theirs. You must understand, that this is not an act of aggression, an act of hate or an attempt to insult.
This is an American film, made for an American audience. Americans would not be insulted if they found a dog they thought looked similar to Bill Clinton in its features and named it Bill Clinton. If the dog's owner admired Clinton, I would suggest this probably has happened as an act of adoration, definitely not anything else. Dogs are popular animals, 'man's best friend' in fact.
Calling the dog that name was an observation of aesthetics rather than an act of anger, aggression or insult. If he said in the film, the reason he named the dog as such is because "Anwar Sadat was a dog" then I would totally be on your side and feel that such a comment was insulting, meant to provoke and unnecessary. However, this was not the case and if you actually watch the movie and try to understand the situation presented, rather than find yourself hasty to criticise or condemn, you will realise no offense was intended or present.
If you enjoy watching American cinema, you must also watch it with the understanding that it is created with American values.
"I am Jack's cold sweat."
This is an American film, made for a worldwide audience... and if you don't agree just ask the distributors about overseas profits. Of course it's normal to convey American values in a film made by Americans but what's not normal to step on everyone else values especially when you know that this movie is intended to be viewed by people outside the U.S.
Calling a dog a person name is an insult to the person in Egyptian culture... And I'm not blaming the filmmakers for their ignorance about this fact whether it's intended or not! I'm mainly blaming the distributors who allowed this film in my country without censorship specially to the dog scene.
Anyway, you have to know first who is Sadat and what he means to Egyptians and the whole world so you can understand the significance of this ridiculous scene to the world wide audience specially the Egyptian audiences.
President Sadat is considered to be the greatest Egyptian statesman in the 20th century, he's a war and peace hero as well a Nobel peace prize winner for his pioneer efforts to formulate the first peace treaty between Egypt and Israel ending a 40 years of bloody war. He's considered by many worldwide politicians as the greatest politician of the 20th century side by side to the British PM Winston Churchill. Even if the above doesn't concern and you consider hilariously funny to call a dog by a man's name because somehow it resembles him. The fact that the late president Sadat was the only black President of Egypt of mixed race (Egyptian and Nubian) does add a lot of racist element to this joke, rendering it being very sick! If the same joke was made on President Obama comparing to a black face dog... would the Americans still consider it funny? I guess not!
If the filmmakers regardless of their ethnicity decided to put a one eyed bulldog and called him Moshe Dayan (former Israeli Defense Minister) or a fuzzy hair French poodle and called it Golda Meir... would the joke pass the ADL? Won't the director and writers be labeled anti-semitic or even self-hating Jews?
Freedom of Expression is not one sided, if your Filmmaker had the right to make the film, we have the right to express our resentment and to be heard.
"I'm mainly blaming the distributors who allowed this film in my country without censorship specially to the dog scene."
And that I support you with entirely. I agree with you 100%, if they were releasing that in a non-American market, they should have realised it was offensive to call him a dog.
"The fact that the late president Sadat was the only black President of Egypt of mixed race (Egyptian and Nubian) does add a lot of racist element to this joke, rendering it being very sick! If the same joke was made on President Obama comparing to a black face dog... would the Americans still consider it funny? I guess not!"
You make an interesting point there, there would be several Americans up in arms about that, it would be a similar comparison and I hadn't thought of it that way.
I think the important thing though is you undertand there was no malicious intent by the joke, it was meant to make Americans laugh purely because of the comparison and its obscurity to the majority of Americans, as you have noticed, most of them don't even know why it would be offensive.
Thank you for your reply.
"I am Jack's cold sweat."
And if a foreign film did make a joke about our president, almost no one here would care because we would not ever watch that movie.
sharei am not American, but i agree with you that in many other countries no body ever watch those movies in which they say a lot about USA and West people. But its normal... especially every body has right to say anything about celebrities and every body has its own way of showing love or respect for some one.
shareI do understand that the majority of the people on this board or even who watched the movie in the US don't know who the hell is Sadat,, but certainly the filmmakers knew.
I'm a fan of American movies and American comedies even the crudest one! But even in the crudest of movies, filmmakers try to put the liberal Hollywood stamp of politically correctness in it and try to be sensitive to subjects when it deals with foreign culture, races or sexual orientation.
Why did they miss it here? Why Sadat? because he's dead? Mubarak is alive and dictating, have all the cheap shots & the jokes you want! I can give you few right now.
I must admit I might be an overzealous Sadat fan. But you guys must understand why did this joke hit a nerve with all Sadat fans... okay nevermind he's a war & peace hero that's our own concern... but this man kicked the Soviets out of Egypt and aligned Egypt with the USA, signed a peace treaty with Israel... turned the country from a single-party socialist state into a free market state with multiple political parties, replaced Arab Nationalism with Egyptian Nationalism... all his actions resulted in a constant verbal attack from the Socialists, Communists, Nasserites, Arab Nationalists and Islamists on him... calling him the American "Puppy"... with headlines in leftist newspapers such as "Carter plays catch with Sadat"... then he was assassinated by terrorists also for his positive actions. Which resulted in partying sickos such as Arafat dancing & saying "A dog was killed"... Qaddafi coming up with a quote" The US never respected Sadat, he was their black slave".
All the millions of Sadat supporters kept defending him till this day...
What is really HURTING us is that all these groups are now gloating... and their media is partying with self-gratification because of this stupid small joke .. even one Nasserite Newspaper headline read "Jewish American filmmakers resurrect Sadat as a dog". They are like pointing their middle finger at us saying; I told you so.
probably an extremely poor joke then, given you have now put it into context. I think surely though this was not what was meant by the joke. nobody in Hollywood would be that blatently stupid and racist would they? I'd say honest mistake.
Definitely can see why you are upset by it now, I really appreciate you putting it into context. You have every right to be upset.
"I am Jack's cold sweat."
Dear Cephren,
I hear and understand where you're coming from, but the joke was purely based on facial resemblence. I doubt very highly this was a reference to the "soul" of Sadat. He was a great, inspirational and history changing figure...who happens to have an animal(could have been a dog, cat, horse, etc) share some facial features. I have many a hero who might share features of other creatures. Take it from a big hairy guy who spends too much time in the gym...calling me King Kong doesn't insult my true being!!
[deleted]
[deleted]
The dog freakin looked like Sadat!!!!!! Get off the soapbox and quit thinking about it like it's this huge statement! Don't you remember at the "man cave", Paul Rudd looked at the dog, and the picture of Sadat...they had similar features. This didn't insinuate that Sadat was a dog. Take a breath.
If you are spending time worrying about what the media is stating, then you need to stay away from it. It's all propaganda. Finger-pointing or not, you'll still be waking up tomorrow and will be able to come on here and state your opinion. Be thankful.
Without imagination there is no reality.
Similar features.....ha, good one.
The director and screenwriter John Hamburg....is a Jew.
Rudd and Segel are both Jews....as is Rashida Jones for that matter.
Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
[deleted]
> I might be an overzealous Sadat fan.
Well, the movie has given a platform to inform the ignorant public about this man. That's a good thing, no? Sorry it was insensitive to your culture. Maybe if the character had said something positive about Sadat it would have played better for viewers such as yourself.
I can't believe you people want censorship of such a petty joke. You guys are what is wrong with true freedom of speech and expression. I guess many people aren't willing to pay the price for freedom. Which is getting pissed off and offended every once in awhile. Maybe even having to develop a thick-skin! (Perish the thought!)
share"...there would be several Americans up in arms about that..."
And they would be over-reacting crybabies, as well. Did the dog resemble Sadat or not?
The key is to never address those of other races, because melanin is no indicator of how thin the skin might be. Hollywood should make films with all white casts that pretend there are no others in the world, so one Egyptian dude doesn't get his feelings hurt by a innocuous joke that referred to an important historical figure of which many of the viewers might have been previously unaware. That'll solve everything.
<<If the filmmakers regardless of their ethnicity decided to put a one eyed bulldog and called him Moshe Dayan (former Israeli Defense Minister) or a fuzzy hair French poodle and called it Golda Meir... would the joke pass the ADL? Won't the director and writers be labeled anti-semitic or even self-hating Jews? >>
I remember seeing some movies and caricatures portraying Winston Churchill as a bulldog, because, well... He looks like one!!!!!
If you don't understand the point of the joke than it is you who is being idiotic. You go to see a comedy and are expecting to see somethinng politically correct?? Did they insult Sadat in any way?? They didn't call him a dog, said he was a bad statesman or anything that pointed to that.
In fact, i would say that Sydney admired the guy since he HAD A FREAKIN COVER OF TIME MAGAZINE WITH SADAT IN IT!!!!!!!!
You people from the Muslim world need to learn not to take things so seriously.
you need to be more respectful of one's culture. Ur comment of "you people form the muslim world need to learn not to take things so seriously" was unnecessary, and "idiotic". if i find a joke to be insulting, you are way out of line to call me an idiot. he took offense, and outlined the reasons y, its not necessary for u to make such comments afterwards. perhaps, u should take things more seriously, and learn how to speak to people.
muslim culture or not, you really need to chill. Everyone in every place needs to stop taking things that aren't so serious...so seriously! Life is simply way too short to worry about simple things. And believe me when I say that in the grand scheme of things, a dog looking like a human is just plain ridiculous.
Without imagination there is no reality.
DITTO !
Because Sydney admired Anwar Sadat since he was on the cover of TIME Magazine he goes and names his dog that. But then you come along and twist it into an insult-- because dogs are considered lowest-of-the-low in the caste system in the Arab world. Well, be mindful that this film was aimed for American audiences like what was said. If you have a problem with it, go give Alan Ball a call and tell him that "Towelhead" is a racist film because of the title !
"it's all fun & games til someone gets hurt...Then it's REAL fun !
As a animal friend, i find it offensive the Arab culture keeps calling dogs the lowest of the low in their caste system. And with me a lot of other pet lovers.. But they dont stop doing it!
But because we are living in a world with many people with many believes i try to understand why Arabs keep calling dogs and pigs the lowest of the low even when it offends me and a lot of other people and dogs..
Maybe the producers were pet lovers and tried to upset the arabs for that. If that is the case i think its very immature! I agree, you must try to respect everyone.. So; i respect you Arabs and please try to think good about dogs and give them a higher rank!! Thankz!
Excuse my french
(in short; this question: would the arab's change there caste system if they would understand it is offending many people?)
So do any of you people actually go to movies and just enjoy the show, or is it just about picking it apart and finding something to complain about? That must be a very miserable life you lead. Comedies insult people. If you're too sensitive and thin skinned than maybe you should stick to documentaries.
shareI don't really have an opinion about the offensiveness of the joke one way or the other. I just want to say how amusing it is that you're apparently Egyptian, and yet your English is better than 99% of the Americans on IMDb, despite it's not being your first language.
shareOmg, get off your self righteous high horse & get a grip! It wasn't an insult to sadat to name the dog that - he LOVED his dog & had a framed TIME magazine cover featuring sadat - it was more of an homage so you people (& by you people, I mean anyone who's crying racism 'cuz the dog was named sadat) should be so proud & happy.
You said, "Calling a dog a person name is an insult to the person in Egyptian culture..." Why is that? I have a cat named Travis, which is a person's name - does that offend you? ANd he's a black cat - are you really pissed off now? Lighten up!!!
Good post.
actually i would laugh if a pig was named george washington. youre a retard
BTRESMIKE is a genius! :D
[deleted]
LOL, you've vastly misunderstood the role of Washington. #1 he's a war hero, #2 he was the first successful president anywhere, #3 he set the precedent of two terms (as opposed to life, like Sadat). It wouldn't matter what anyone called him. His game is set like Federer did it.
But yeah, our comedies are very Jewish. So, I could see how you'd be pissed. But, yeah it's not racism. They weren't saying that Egyptians (if you want to call that a race) all look like small dogs. The ladies are kinda hot.
I'm black (American), and Sadat looks blacker than most of my family in all possible ways. Snoop Dogg, also black and famous, actually looks like a dog, and that's his gimmick. Sometimes animals look like people. No harm no foul. Sadat has a legacy that will live on in Wikipedia and hastily done history reports on the Middle East forever. Take pride in that, sir.
So the movie was good.
Come on... it was Rashida Jones. Isn't she a perfect example of the good that comes out of racial harmony?
Her dad, Quincy Jones, changed our views of Michael Jackson, Will Smith, and Mike Meyers... in that order and all after Sadat died.
well, landomc101 i thank you for being honest, but i don't think that it was an insult for being black, more to an insult for being an arab, and especially egyptian....as we can see that the story and screenplay is written by larry levine who is jewish, directed by john hamburg who is a history graduate, played by paul rudd, who is jewish as well....so this wasn;t an honest mistake or something...as an egyptian i don't hate jews...but apparently there are still feelings of hatred towards us...that they use this kind of a poor joke to insult one of our role models...i dont see it racist like you...i just see it insulting
Wow, quite a leap your making there. Two of them are jewish and one was a history graduate, so they must have been trying to insult Sadat and Arabs.
Firstly, what has being a history graduate got to do with it? I'm a history graduate and had/have no idea about Sadat or Egyption 20th Century History for the simple reason that it wasn't taught in the university I attended. Generally speaking, my university taught an essential western-centric syllabus.
You also claim not to "hate jews" yet seem to make an issue out of there being jews involved, assuming that as they are jewish they must therefore have intended the joke to be insulting because they "still have feelings of hatred" towards you. Again, if you actually looked at it in the context that it is intended, he clearly admires the man (picture of Time cover on his wall etc). As posted previously, it is not an insult in America to name a dog after someone, especially in the light that it was done whilst showing (in my opinion) affection for the "subject matter".
Just to give you a further insight regarding this, I am from the UK. There is an insurance company here called "Churchill" which has a bulldog named Churchill as the corporate mascot. From what I've read, Churchill and Sadat seem comparably figures in British and Egyptian history, both popular war leaders, fighting (and succeeding) against an "evil empire". No offence is taken by Britons regarding thie naming of the dog as Churchill, in fact, it's probably the most popular insurance company in the country.
I honestly think that no there was no intention to offend from the filmmakers. Ask youself, why would they possibly want to offend an entire country (even region) of people? The only answer you seem to come up with in the post above is that the director has a history degree and two jews were involved in making the film. Pretty flimsy assumption, and some may argue that this states more about your own personal viewpoints than it does about the filmmakers intentions.
For it to be an insult is going wayyyy overboard.
What is wrong with dogs? If dogs are so "BELOW" men, why don't we kill them all? What makes you so much better than a dog? I believe all beings are on the same level, so no, it is not an insult. And if you want to talk about racism, maybe you should look at yourself; being racist towards dogs, who have done NOTHING to you.
my band, which will make you cream yr jeans:
www.myspace.com/trikeaband
I think the reference to Sadat was there to indicate the Sydney character was deeper than first impressions would indicate. When first meeting Peter, Sydney indicates Sadat was named just for resemblance but you see later Sydney actually has a framed Time magazine with Sadat on the cover. This implies Sydney named his dog after the man because he liked the man.
In western culture, it is usually a compliment and a sign of affection for someone to name their dog after you. People generally name their dog after something they like. For example, may guys will name their dogs after sports stars or historic figures.
I remember a girl in my HS named her new puppy after me and it was incredibly flattering.
[deleted]
i'm guessing op wouldn't have found it as offensive if it was, say, a domesticated cat. egyptians speak arabic. regardless of modern egyptian/north african culture it has a very negative connotation, since dogs were considered unclean, feral creatures. the stigma of what amounts to calling a political figure a dog (kelb) in that culture is extremely offensive, even if the dog happens to look like said political figure.
remember the dude throwing shoes at bush jr? if i remember correctly he was yelling "kelb" among other things while showing the heels of his shoes at the executive branch of the 3rd largest country on earth. americans thought it was funny. people from arabic/persian culture didn't think it so funny.
cultural insensitivity, yes. not so much racism. al-sadat was dark-skinned so it would be much easier to, say, compare him to a monkey. now that would be considered overtly racist in western culture.
Yes, but the racism from calling a dark-skinned person a monkey doesn't have much to do with the animal being unclean or anything. It would just be from a relationship to an old racial slur.
Calling someone a dog doesn't sound to be a racial slur, simply something that would be offensive to anyone at all (in that culture).
abmonem14 have you always been a dumbass? Or is this a recent phase?
I think you need to get a better grasp of the word "racist" and decide whether or not it's really appropriate in this case.
Oh, and by the way, I wouldn't plan on watching any more comedies if you are this easily offended. Comedies tend to, you know, poke fun at things and not take things too seriously.
You guys are all messed up trying to find racism behind every single joke. I mean, come on! If you don't want to watch American movies then just watch your own Egyptian stuff. It's not like we're being forced to watch flicks from Hollywood, now are we? It's just that Dutch (I'm Dutch) cinema sucks, so I prefer watching American/Chinese/Korean movies. I guess Egyptian cinema also sucks, otherwise you wouldn't be posting here now would you?
So, just get your head out of your ass and stop WHINING.