# DAMN Sacha Baron Cohen is funny funny funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 1, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347 "2009-06-01T13:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/141 "2009-06-03T16:34:10Z")
I think a sexual assault conviction for what Cohen did here would be completely outside the spirit of that law. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/142 "2009-06-03T16:35:17Z")
I doubt they’ll even press charges unless Eminem asks them to, which presumably wouldn’t do much for his street cred. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/143 "2009-06-03T16:40:14Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I doubt they’ll even press charges unless Eminem asks them to, which presumably wouldn’t do much for his street cred. Under the definition as cited by Contrapuntal, it wouldn’t have to be Eminem pressing charges. Anyone sitting next to him, or actually anyone in the room, could have been offended, embarrassed, or afraid. Totally fucked up. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/144 "2009-06-03T16:46:42Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Under the definition as cited by Contrapuntal, it wouldn’t have to be Eminem pressing charges. Anyone sitting next to him, or actually anyone in the room, could have been offended, embarrassed, or afraid. Totally fucked up. It’s understood that sexual assault doesn’t work that way. That’s what case law is for. I’m trying to find the actual language of the sexual assault statute in California, but the California Penal Code is a mess and there doesn’t actually appear to be one. They have definitions for sexual battery and rape, but apparently no assault charges other than simple assault. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/145 "2009-06-03T16:46:59Z")
Are we really having this discussion, people? Eminem would have no grounds for pressing charges over an “assault” that was a staged and rehearsed publicity stunt that he must have consented to well in advance. He very likely signed a contract indicating his agreement to participate. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/146 "2009-06-03T16:56:00Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Mathers was guilty of assault? When? Assault of whom? Was he arrested? Convicted? Punished? If so, why wasn’t that enough? If not, how do you know it happened? [Eminem’s legal troubles, according to Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminem#Legal_troubles) > [@](#): > > Come on. If I thrust my half concealed testicles a half inch from some woman’s face, it would absolutely be sexual assault. Why wouldn’t it be? Because it’s man on man? If it happened to your son at school, what would you call it, hijinks? What does genitalia have to do with it? Is there no sexual assault unless a dick is out? That’s a fairly non-standard standard. I can think of sundry scenarios where a sexual assuaut can occur without genitalia being involved. :rolleyes: Again, it was STAGED, and even if he didn’t know how scantily clad he’d be, I still consider it no worse than being mooned. As said, to compare it to actual sexual assault is diminishing real, actual assault. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/147 "2009-06-03T16:56:13Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Are we really having this discussion, people? Eminem would have no grounds for pressing charges over an “assault” that was a staged and rehearsed publicity stunt that he must have consented to well in advance. He very likely signed a contract indicating his agreement to participate. Well, for one thing we don’t know for certain that Eminem had prior knowledge of the stunt. Second, in most (all?) jurisdictions, consent to sex acts as a defense to sexual assault or battery is invalid if the victim subsequently withdraws consent, so at the point at which Eminem said, “get offa me!”, Cohen would have been guilty of sexual assault (assuming the act was found to meet the definition). ETA: For the record, I don’t think any reasonable person would vote to convict Cohen of sexual assault, and the whole thing was still freakin’ awesome. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/148 "2009-06-03T17:02:26Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Of course all of us Aussies know that Cohen stole the whole schtick from Garry McDonald who had long ago done [Norman Gunston](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Gunston). > > It is no coincidence that Cohen’s girlfriend is Aussie Isla Fisher. Bet he loved her videos. I doubt very much that it has anything to do with that. The “ambush interview” is a known comedy technique and the likes of Dennis Pennis were doing a modern take on it much more recently and thus within Cohen’s timeframe of influences. Isla Fisher probably has nothing to do with it either. Ali G is an old character (I remember watching him on the 11 o Clock Show - thew joke being it was never on at 11pm, often 11:05 for example) in the late nineties. He’d probably never even met her at this point, never mind started a relationship and gone through her video collection. Regarding the Eminem incident, I’m amazed that anyone thinks it wasn’t staged. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/149 "2009-06-03T17:19:01Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s understood that sexual assault doesn’t work that way. That’s what case law is for. > > I’m trying to find the actual language of the sexual assault statute in California, but the California Penal Code is a mess and there doesn’t actually appear to be one. They have definitions for sexual battery and rape, but apparently no assault charges other than simple assault. _I_ understand that it doesn’t work that way, but the cite provided is so broad that if someone felt like it, they could have grounds to stir up some shit. People _could_ be dragged through court, even if it would eventually be tossed out. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/150 "2009-06-03T17:27:17Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > _I_ understand that it doesn’t work that way, but the cite provided is so broad that if someone felt like it, they could have grounds to stir up some shit. People _could_ be dragged through court, even if it would eventually be tossed out. They’d still have to find a prosecutor who wouldn’t laugh at them. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/151 "2009-06-03T17:33:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > They’d still have to find a prosecutor who wouldn’t laugh at them. You can’t think that would be hard. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/152 "2009-06-03T17:37:29Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > You can’t think that would be hard. To find a prosecutor who will charge Cohen with sexual assault for this? Er… yes. Yes I do. As far as I know, nobody has ever been charged with sexual assault for mooning. Even in California. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/153 "2009-06-03T17:42:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > To find a prosecutor who will charge Cohen with sexual assault for this? Er… yes. Yes I do. > > As far as I know, nobody has ever been charged with sexual assault for mooning. Even in California. I was under the impression we’ve been talking about hypothetical cases for awhile. I hope no one still believes this wasn’t staged. But someone else doing it to someone else, I think there are plenty of prosecutors who would jump all over it. People in this thread are calling it assault, and the average person can’t sniff the zealotry of some of the prosecutors out there. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/154 "2009-06-03T17:53:35Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There was no genitalia, and it wasn’t remotely sexual assault. > > By the way, it was STAGED. Even the joke itself was supposed to be that it was accidental, not intentional. I haven’t gone looking for the genitalia, but earlier posters said that screen caps showed testicles. And if someone shoves their testicles in my face without my permission, you’d better believe I’m going to have charges brought. And there’s nothing accidental about SBC’s humor. The joke was that it _appeared_ accidental, but everyone knows it was intentional. I’m not sure if the whole thing was staged or not–we haven’t heard anything from Eminem, have we? If Eminem comes out and says that they planned the whole thing, and that his response was feigned, then nothing to worry about. But if Eminem did not consent to have a bare ass and nearly-bare genitalia in his face, no amount of “it was a joke” should cover that sort of behavior. I’m sure the frat boys in my initial analogy got a lot of yuks out of it too. That doesn’t make it right. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/155 "2009-06-03T18:02:13Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I haven’t gone looking for the genitalia, but earlier posters said that screen caps showed testicles. And if someone shoves their testicles in my face without my permission, you’d better believe I’m going to have charges brought. > > And there’s nothing accidental about SBC’s humor. The joke was that it _appeared_ accidental, but everyone knows it was intentional. I’m not sure if the whole thing was staged or not–we haven’t heard anything from Eminem, have we? If Eminem comes out and says that they planned the whole thing, and that his response was feigned, then nothing to worry about. But if Eminem did not consent to have a bare ass and nearly-bare genitalia in his face, no amount of “it was a joke” should cover that sort of behavior. I’m sure the frat boys in my initial analogy got a lot of yuks out of it too. That doesn’t make it right. I can see how aggressively shoving genitals in someone’s face would definitely be assault. But a few seconds near the face for laughs . . . you have to at least somewhat, somewhere deep down, believe that genitals are evil to really consider that assault. Otherwise briefly wagging a finger in front of your face to get a laugh would be assault too. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/156 "2009-06-03T18:36:04Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > I think MTV got his agreement to do a bit, then Cohen set up a much more elaborate prank which Em didn’t know about. Maybe he expected Cohen to land in his lap, but not by his balls. Cohen choose his target well - he assumed Em would say yes, in an attempt to buff up his image as a surly boy, and to pimp his new record. > > Hahahahahahaahahahahaha… That’s what was suggested on an unremembered tv show I watched about the incident (Entertainment Tonight?). Eminem was expecting it to happen but didn’t expect it’d go so far as having an uncovered human ass in his face. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/157 "2009-06-03T18:44:01Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I can see how aggressively shoving genitals in someone’s face would definitely be assault. > > But a few seconds near the face for laughs . . . you have to at least somewhat, somewhere deep down, believe that genitals are evil to really consider that assault. Otherwise briefly wagging a finger in front of your face to get a laugh would be assault too. Suppose your wife, or mother, or girlfriend were on vacation, relaxing by the pool. She gets tired, so she decides to sleep a bit in the lounge chair, only to awake and find a strange man wearing a Speedo crouching over her with his ass and balls a half inch from her face. How many seconds have to go by before it stops being funny? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/158 "2009-06-03T19:08:38Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Testicles in the face is not sexual? How odd. There were no testicles. There was no force of any kind. There was no threat of any kind. You wpould never get a prosecutor to take you seriously if you wanted to press charges for this. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/159 "2009-06-03T19:10:02Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Suppose your wife, or mother, or girlfriend were on vacation, relaxing by the pool. She gets tired, so she decides to sleep a bit in the lounge chair, only to awake and find a strange man wearing a Speedo crouching over her with his ass and balls a half inch from her face. How many seconds have to go by before it stops being funny? Totally different, but I still don’t think that would be criminal assault. (Assuming this is some kind of prank and the guy runs away laughing as soon as she opens her eyes. I might be kinda pissed depending on how she reacted and I would stop him from doing it if I realized what was going on it time but if I just witnessed helplessly from my room window or something I would honestly probably laugh my ass off. If he’s a creeper and stays there wagging his junk, or is attempting to intimidate her, or somehow getting off, it would be different.) If it happened to _me_, again for laughs, I would laugh. I think intentions are very important and Cohen was clearly just trying to make people laugh, not trying to harm anyone or get off. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347/160 "2009-06-03T19:11:38Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Suppose your wife, or mother, or girlfriend were on vacation, relaxing by the pool. She gets tired, so she decides to sleep a bit in the lounge chair, only to awake and find a strange man wearing a Speedo crouching over her with his ass and balls a half inch from her face. How many seconds have to go by before it stops being funny? If it was happening to one of my brothers or friends, it would NEVER stop being funny…especially if it was Borat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-sacha-baron-cohen-is-funny-funny-funny/498347.md?page=9)