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Arts and Culture

Baron Cohen Rides Again in ‘The Dictator’

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Posted on Dec 15, 2011
The Huffington Post

Is it too soon? It never seems to be for British prankophile Sacha Baron Cohen, whose summer 2012 cinematic effort, “The Dictator,” goofs on certain global leaders who may or may not still be with us. Judging from the film’s newly released trailer, it remains to be seen whether Baron Cohen has another “Borat”-sized hit on his hands, but he hasn’t lost his edge. Take a look below.  —KA

“The Dictator” via The Huffington Post:

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By Stephen Geller, December 18, 2011 at 8:01 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

“Overt racism, mockery of Muslims,’ “mediocrity at its lowest,” “dumped real
biting social satire for the gags,” “Zionist propagandist,” “US Pentagon
propagandist..” “racist characterization of supposedly backward Muslim world
leaders,” reminiscent of “Black faced racist Southern White comedians of Pre-
Civil Rights Era in the US.”

Wow…Such extraordinarily sobering reviews of a twenty-second preview! The
Art Police in action! Lenny Bruce had the same response in his time, and I was
there to witness it. Fortunately, I’ve also had too many insane moments of
laughter with Baron Cohen as I’ve had with Bruce to do anything but wait with
pleasure for the release of his next project.

The Art Police might begin by reading Aristophanes, Erasmus, Swift, and the
more insane moments of Gore Vidal - Duluth, especially!

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PatrickHenry's avatar

By PatrickHenry, December 18, 2011 at 6:20 am Link to this comment

According to Baron Cohen,

I wouldn’t say that I am a religious Jew, but I’m still proud to be Jewish

However, he keeps kosher and attends synagogue about twice a year.


I guess he gets a free pass for his overt racism and mockery of muslims.

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By MeHere, December 17, 2011 at 1:02 pm Link to this comment

Cohen may have some skills but a great deal of his material is as humorous as a
Nazi making fun of Jews.  If he had real talent, he would never use scapegoating
as a means to express humor. It’s mediocrity at its lowest.

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Robespierre115's avatar

By Robespierre115, December 16, 2011 at 9:51 pm Link to this comment

The trailer doesn’t seem too promising. It feels like Cohen has dumped real biting social commentary for just the gags and stereotypes.

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By logan1, December 16, 2011 at 10:47 am Link to this comment

What is this, a support US Pentagon propaganda day here on TruthDig?  I just got
through reading the TruthDig published eulogy trumpeting the supposed
greatness of Christopher Hitchens, who is a not so very much ‘Lefty’ apologist for
the US war upon Iraq, and now I read this cheerleading for Zionist propagandist,
Baron Cohen, who seems to specialize in the MOST racist characterization of
supposedly backward Muslim world leaders, in a way that reminds one of the
slapstick Black faced racist Southern White comedians of Pre- Civil Rights Era in
the US.  What gives, TruthDig?

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A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
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