By Gilad Atzmon
American Jewish comedian Amy Schumer has come under fire this week for atweet that has been branded “tasteless”, “offensive” and “disgusting.”
Earlier this week, the 34-year-old comedienne tweeted a picture of herself standing between two horn players holding a bass clarinet and a tenor saxophone, with the caption “a Jew with horns.”
American Jewish comedian Amy Schumer has come under fire this week for atweet that has been branded “tasteless”, “offensive” and “disgusting.”
Earlier this week, the 34-year-old comedienne tweeted a picture of herself standing between two horn players holding a bass clarinet and a tenor saxophone, with the caption “a Jew with horns.”
Apparently some Jews were highly offended because they thought the joke “gives life to the antisemitic stereotype that Jews have horns.” The website Gossip Cop dedicated a whole blog post to the tweet, calling it “offensive and wrong….While comedy can provoke discussion, its purpose is not to perpetuate hateful and inaccurate stereotypes.”
I concur with Gossip Cop’s premise. Comedy should provoke discussion. And I hope that Shumer’s tweet will do so. But no one, not even the most rabid contemporary antisemite, believes that Jews have horns or tails. ‘Jews with horns' is not a stereotype: it is a satirical metaphor. It points to the abnormalities that are intrinsic to Jewish culture; especially choseness and Jewish politics. The Jews who are ‘offended' and ‘disgusted' by Shumer's tweet know very well that the crimes that are committed by the Jewish State in Palestine are vile and verge on barbarian. These crimes set the Jewish State apart from the nations. The Jews who are angry with Shumer are concerned that the metaphor of the ‘Jew with horns’ may cause some to examine the enormous power of Jews in the media, in banking, in political lobbying, inHollywood, in the creation of the Zioncon mess in the Middle East and incontrolling the opposition to that mess.
Since Jews enjoy fame for their humour, satire and comedy, Jews must also accept that occasionally they may find themselves subject to satire and ridicule. However, if humour and satire serve to ‘provoke discussion,’ then instead of trying to silence Amy Shumer, Jews ought to support Shumer and even beg her to throw more self mockery onto the boiling twitterati soup.
I concur with Gossip Cop’s premise. Comedy should provoke discussion. And I hope that Shumer’s tweet will do so. But no one, not even the most rabid contemporary antisemite, believes that Jews have horns or tails. ‘Jews with horns' is not a stereotype: it is a satirical metaphor. It points to the abnormalities that are intrinsic to Jewish culture; especially choseness and Jewish politics. The Jews who are ‘offended' and ‘disgusted' by Shumer's tweet know very well that the crimes that are committed by the Jewish State in Palestine are vile and verge on barbarian. These crimes set the Jewish State apart from the nations. The Jews who are angry with Shumer are concerned that the metaphor of the ‘Jew with horns’ may cause some to examine the enormous power of Jews in the media, in banking, in political lobbying, inHollywood, in the creation of the Zioncon mess in the Middle East and incontrolling the opposition to that mess.
Since Jews enjoy fame for their humour, satire and comedy, Jews must also accept that occasionally they may find themselves subject to satire and ridicule. However, if humour and satire serve to ‘provoke discussion,’ then instead of trying to silence Amy Shumer, Jews ought to support Shumer and even beg her to throw more self mockery onto the boiling twitterati soup.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment