looking for comedy in muslim world

looking for comedy in the muslim world

i saw a sneak preview of "looking for comedy in the muslim world" last

night. it was really disappointing. it's not out yet, but you're not

missing anything if you skip it when it does reach a theater near you.

the basic storyline is out-of-work comedian albert brooks (played by

albert brooks) is recruited by the state department as a sort of

comedic ambassador to the muslim world. he is assigned to figure out

and write a report about what makes muslims laugh.

brooks is sent to india to conduct his research, an odd choice

considering his assignment is supposed to be about muslims. the film

tries to address this logical flaw in one scene near the beginning.

when brooks is first told where he is being sent he asks "aren't they

hindus?" one of the state department representative replies "there are

150 million muslims there, isn't that enough for you?" and another

adds "if you can figure out why the hindus laugh that will be good

enough too." but in reality, that's not the real reason for the film's

setting. the washington post quotes the film producer herb nanas who

admitted that the real reason for that dramatic choice was a little

different:

A Jewish filmmaker -- Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia? Not gonna happen.

as a jewish guy who has traveled alone to several places in the muslim

world, this strikes me as rather ridiculous. the wapo article further

notes that brooks was scared to attend the premier at the dubai film

festival. "I think they admired me for getting over that fear and

coming." brooks is quoted as saying. it's probably more likely that

brooks would have gotten the same red-carpet treatment whether he was

scared or not.

anyway, this back story goes to the heart of my biggest problem with

the film. it reflected american stereotypes about different cultures

more than it reflected how those other cultures actually are. muslims

are portrayed as being obsessed with jews. in one scene brooks

interviews a woman to be his secretary. she's covered and is obviously

supposed to be a muslim. he only question during the interview is "are

you a jew?" later, he visits the al-jazeera office in new delhi where

they offer him a job to star in a new sitcom called "that darn jew."

the film portrays muslims as many american jews (indeed, many

americans) imagine them to be, not as they actually are in my

experience.

it's not just the jew thing either. at one point brooks sneaks over

the border into pakistan to meet a bunch of aspiring pakistani

comedians. the comedians, however, are living in some remote camp.

they all have beards and look like mujahideen. they even had a guy

standing guard with an AK-47. i saw the film with a friend who is of

pakistani descent and she was a little offended by the scene. it bore

no resemblance to the pakistan she visited when she was young.

likewise, indians are portrayed as utterly humorless. in new delhi,

brooks has to explain what sarcasm is to the ignorant natives.

that is not to say that there can't be a good movie poking fun at

american stereotypes of other cultures. but the problem is that

"looking for comedy" ultimately adopts those stereotypes and presents

them as reality. albert brooks doesn't just spend the movie worrying

that muslims will be obsessed with jews, the muslims really are

obsessed with jews. the pakistanis aren't just thought of as just a

bunch of mujahideen, they really are a bunch of mujahideen, even the

comedians live in well-guarded camps.

but probably the film's worst flaw is that it just isn't that funny.

at one point, brooks decides to see what makes indians laugh by doing

a stand-up performance. the idea is to do a wide range of materials

and to see what type of humor provokes a reaction from the audience.

the performance produces not a single laugh, which supposedly shows

just how humorless the indians are. but the film viewer also gets to

see the performance, and it just isn't all that funny. you can't

really blame the indians for sitting there silently. they were a lot

like the audience in my movie theater. (oddly, the pakistanis laugh

hysterically when he repeats the performance in their camp--who knows

what that's supposed to mean).

with a couple of rare exceptions, the jokes throughout the film fall