Watching Jeff Dunham’s “Around the World” special, and supposedly the Malaysian ministry of culture, art, and stuff objected to his character Achmed the dead terrorist. They didn’t want him to even mention the name.
So, what is about Achmed that the Malaysian ministers can’t handle? He was a big hit in Abu Dhabi.
I wonder how “Jeff, the dead Abu Ghraib guard” would go down in Alabama, or maybe even “Tim, the dead terrorist” in Oklahoma.
Malaysia has their own particular brand of Islam and seems to get obsessed over strange things.
For example, Christians there are not legally allowed to use the word “Allah” to refer to god, even though Muhammed himself wrote that all Abrahamic religions all worship the same monotheistic god.
Abu Dhabi is quite secular in comparision.
Malaysia is a very diverse society, ethnically, culturally, linguistically and religiously. It’s one of these cobbled-together postcolonial states whose existence could be a bit tenuous if intercommunal relationships go pear-shaped. As a result they are hypersensitive about derogatory stereotypes.
I know absolutely nothing about Jeff Dunham or the character of Achmed, which probably puts me in the same position as most of the population of Malaysia. If all I hear is the character’s name, what it immediately evokes for me is a prejudicial stereotype of Muslims. I can see why the Malaysians might think this was not a good idea.
“Allah,” is of course Arabic for “God,” and Arab Christians pray to him. And I presume Arab Jews etc. It looks like Sabah and Sarawak (two states separated on Borneo; the former has many Christians and in the latter they are a plurality) allow its use for a non-Muslim God.
Gabriel Iglesias has a bit where he was told at a gig in UAE or Saudi or somewhere that he is their second most popular comic, after Dunham and especially Achmed.
No, they don’t. And they don’t like being called “Arab Jews”, either.
Heyyyy look who’s right on the money. I’ll admit, I find Achmed funny. There are some solid jokes in there. But it’s also a horribly offensive routine, in particular for Muslims, and perpetuates some rather nasty stereotypes.
A lot of them certainly don’t like the label, but my impression is that it is gaining popularity, especially among Arab Jews outside the middle east.
yes, it is theologically extremely incorrect what the Malaysians are doing and has no sense at all. Although I have seen it from certain anglo-south asian origin Muslims, which I think comes from a very bad grasp of the religion and a cultural reaction.
No, Abu Dhabi is absolutely not ‘quite secular’ in comparison with Malaysia. You perhaps think of Dubai.
Why do you say this?The Jews in the Maghreb who continue to use Arabic certainly do use Allah, as of course the ordinary word for god, although it is unusual to say arab jew (but chilh is more common among those who stayed), it is more common to make the national identification. This is not universally true, your statement, although of course it makes sense in israeli context, but it is not the only context.
I got the impression from the brief snippet they show of discussion about it (between Dunham and his manager) that the Ministry knew about the character and had been okay with it until the leader of some religious sect complained about it.
I was hoping somebody here might be familiar enough with the region or culture to say “Achmed’s xyz is offensive to group abc because”.
My puzzlement stems from the following logic train:
Also, is there a term for “the middle east” that fits better with the whole earth-is-round paradigm?
Malaysia is not in the Middle East, and it is not an Arab country. There is no reason to expect that social norms in Abu Dhabi will be any more relevant to Malaysia than they are to China or the US.
The issue is not Muslim extremists in Malaysia. The issue is regular Muslims whose social and political position is a little insecure, and who don’t like the stereotyping of Muslims as terrorists.
I have been to Malaysia for work purposes. In my experience they are a well-educated society, well the professionals with whom I met, however there was apparent abject poverty outside the cities.
The professionals with whom I worked were Muslim, and they were Christian. They were very, very respectful of one another in the workplace, although strangely they kept separate at breaks and at lunch.
I can see how no one would want to tip the apple cart. The people all work together but they do in fact socialize separately. It’s not a traditional melting pot that we would be used to in the west.
Anyway, I don’t find Jeff Dunham funny at all, and especially the dead Muslim terrorist, seriously? I can laugh at the best of times with anyone, but no… not dead Muslim terrorist sketches. Somewhere on here from years ago I posted a thread about how unfunny Jeff Dunham is.
ETA: Found it. 2011.
So do redneck and white trash jokes but the target market for comedians that specialize in those are the same people that either belong to those groups or have really close associations with them. I believe the same thing is true for people all over the world except for those who take a conscious tactic of being offended. Certain types love to get offended on behalf of other people as a hobby and some people still take themselves so seriously that any joke that hits in their general direction is instantly derided but most reasonable people do not feel that way.
The point of comedy is to make caricatures and sweeping statements about small things that lots of people can identify with even an absurd way. Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy may not be everyone’s favorite choice but they are hugely popular with actual rednecks because they can identify with much of what they are joking about even if no single person displays all of the behaviors they describe.
Like him or not, Jeff Dunham is very talented as both a ventriloquist and a comedian. Achmed is only one of his puppets and not even the most prominent one. His most common puppet is just Walter who is the embodiment of a grouchy old white man that hates everything. Old white men and women find it funny just like they should because it is just a very exaggerated amalgamation of many traits of old white men that we have all known.
It is sad you have to explain this stuff to people in an academic way because that is what good comedy is all about. The offense may come from the fact that Jeff Dunham is not a Muslim. You can rip any group a new one on stage if you belong to it yourself and have the talent for it. Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle have all done some searing commentaries on black culture and they didn’t get much flack for it. Jeff Dunham’s act is mild in comparison.
Dear Shagnasty: Bravo!
Some people look at Achmed and see a stereotype of Muslims. I look at him and see a parody of a nut case terrorist, who happens to be Muslim. Methinks the Malaysians doth protest too much.
The only real problem I have with the character is his name. The typical Arabic name is Ahmed, not spelled or pronounced the way Dunham does it (A-c-phlegm…). The correct pronunciation is with an aspirated H (not like the ch in Loch). (My wife is Egyptian and I know a few guys name Ahmed.)
Does anyone think this was hotly debated within the Malaysian government? I wouldn’t expect them to be familiar with Jeff Dunham or to study the nuance of “Achmed the dead terrorist” and make a reasoned decision as to whether it’s offensive or not. Just skimming the cliff notes of Jeff Dunham’s career would be enough to keep him off the “Eh, probably not offensive” list.
It was in Riyadh. His tour was booked by a Saudi prince, who he later meets. Here’s the relevant part, but DEFINITELY watch the whole thing.
Watch the video and see how offensive it is in reality, as opposed to your own evaluation.
I have watched it several times. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to live in a world where making fun of terrorists is deemed socially unacceptable.
Comedy is a matter of personal taste. I can’t stand Mitch Hedberg, Aziz Ansari and the like. Apparently quite a few people disagree, which is awesome. It means I don’t have to worry about supporting artists whose work I don’t enjoy, but whom I respect as people (e.g. Jewel, Springstein, etc.).