# The Simpsons; 28 Mar '10 (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151 "2010-03-29T00:00:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/21 "2010-03-30T15:13:47Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > The episode really pulled its punches, gag-wise. You could see them carefully avoiding anything that might offend Christians, Jews or Muslims. “Welcome to Israel: Your U.S. Tax Dollars at Work” was pretty sharp, I thought. Other than that the jokes were mostly cultural rather than political or religious, but I think that’s typical of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/22 "2010-03-30T15:26:17Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > The episode really pulled its punches, gag-wise. You could see them carefully avoiding anything that might offend Christians, Jews or Muslims. And I hated Cohen’s character. Flat, unpleasant voice and one-note gag that went on way too long. I thought so, too. Not a bad episode so much as they could have done so much more with it. A little too much of Cohen’s character in those scenes as well, a little _way_ too much. Bart getting beaten up was kind of funny, but this is one week after his heart was trounced by Sarah Silverman, so it seemed too soon. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/23 "2010-03-31T07:46:24Z")
Saw it. Liked it a lot. Cohen, God bless him, spends a lot of time in Israel and speaks pretty decent Hebrew (all that “Kazakh” in _Borat_? Hebrew profanities). He really managed to capture a very specific type of Israeli personality. I thought he was hilarious, although I could see why others wouldn’t. The writers actually did some research - for instance, the bit about Israeli hotel breakfast buffets, and Krav Maga’s emphasis on going for the groin. Of course, most of the humor was Jerusalem-centric (the rest of the country is very different), but that’s to be expected. Incidentally, I’ve met several people suffering from Jerusalem syndrome. It’s sad, in a very funny way. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/24 "2010-04-01T20:52:05Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > I don’t normally post in these, but my reaction to the episode was extreme: for the first time in my 20+ years of The Simpsons watching, I fast-forwarded through parts. > > Really hated it. Triple-hated the Tour Guide character. Not one smile, and a lot of uncomfortableness, or boredom, or both. > > Two back-to-back episodes like this and I’ll remove The Simpsons from my Tivo Season Pass. > > I get that comedy is personal, and there are probably three people that loved it to my hating it. But I’m an original, all-along Simpsons fan, “better than 95% of what else is out there” and all that, yet this episode really, really made me re-evaluate my hopes for the future of the series. I have to agree with every bit of this as well. Well, except that I didn’t fast forward through any of it. I should have, though, right past the annoying tour guide. One funny line in the whole episode: When Homer was drinking from the Dead Sea, and he’s like “sooo salty…maybe if I add a little salt”, and tears open a little packet of salt and dumps it in. That was so ridiculous, in a good way, that it made me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/25 "2010-04-01T21:25:31Z")
I’m sad that I found it kinda dull. EXCEPT the whole 'we all eat chicken!" thing. That has cracked me up. I went and got falafel and chicken shwarma today for lunch and I couldn’t stop giggling. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/26 "2010-04-02T22:06:44Z")
I got a kick out of the camera being full of pictures of soft drinks, and it turning out to be Flanderseses camera anyway. But over all, crap show. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/27 "2010-04-04T02:44:01Z")
So, what was the deal with the tour guide character? Is that some established Israeli stereotype that I am unaware of, or just an annoying performance by Cohen? It fell flat for me because I had no reference. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/28 "2010-04-04T06:43:26Z")
[quote=“JKilez, post:27, topic:534151”] Is that some established Israeli stereotype that I am unaware of… [QUOTE] Yes, very much so - if the U.S. entertainment industry ever managed to establish an Israeli stereotype, that would be it . It’s funny, but I’ve noticed that American media hardly ever portrays Israeli stereotypes, compared to, say, French or Japanese stereotypes. When Israelis are actually shown on TV or in movies - which is hardly ever - they’re usually portrayed essentially as either American Jews or as Arabs, neither of which is all that close to the truth. Cohen’s character, while over-the-top (it was, after all, Cohen), came closest I’ve ever seen in a U.S. comedy show to actually capturing some quintessential Israeliness. Sure, he was pushy. YOU try living next to Syria for two months, then we’ll see who’s pushy! ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/29 "2010-04-05T19:22:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > =JKilez;12300519] Is that some established Israeli stereotype that I am unaware of… > > Yes, very much so - if the U.S. entertainment industry ever managed to establish an Israeli stereotype, that would be it . > > It’s funny, but I’ve noticed that American media hardly ever portrays Israeli stereotypes, compared to, say, French or Japanese stereotypes. When Israelis are actually shown on TV or in movies - which is hardly ever - they’re usually portrayed essentially as either American Jews or as Arabs, neither of which is all that close to the truth. Cohen’s character, while over-the-top (it was, after all, Cohen), came closest I’ve ever seen in a U.S. comedy show to actually capturing some quintessential Israeliness. > > Sure, he was pushy. YOU try living next to Syria for two months, then we’ll see who’s pushy! Interesting. Would you maybe say a comperable stereotype to be whenever you’re in the carribean (cruise, whatever) people are constantly asking you if you need a “taxi” ride? (“Taxi” being a nebulous, debatable, sketchy term.) In some ports it’s so prevalent you can buy t-shirts saying “NO TAXI!” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151/30 "2010-04-05T21:36:33Z")
No, I’m not saying he was a stereotypical Israeli tour guide, I’m saying he was a stereotypical _Israeli_. I mean, he was in no way accurate, but he wasn’t completely _in_accurate, either. He was precisely as much a typical Israeli as Groundskeeper Willie is a typical Scotsman. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-simpsons-28-mar-10-open-spoilers/534151.md?page=1)