Enough has been written about Hollywood and its gutlessness, its fear and trembling in the face of terror in Israel and throughout the world.
Well, obviously enough has not been said, and that is why I am chiming in right now, and it's about a movie now running on HBO. The name of the movie is too vulgar to mention here, but it goes something like this: Meet The F-----rs. Yes, with that title, this crap played all over America and was a big hit at the box office.
So now, after making the rounds at a theater near you, it is ready for another run on HBO, where it will go on and on for months. I watched it for the first time today.
Forget the plot because there is none, except that a Gentile family meets a Jewish family, and, of course, the Jewish family is made ridiculous, embellished with the usual cliches and stereotypes. Dustin Hoffman is awful as the Jewish father and Barbra Streisand, the Jewish wife and mother, is particularly embarrassing.
But this is not a review. I am going to focus on one element of the plot, a dog, but, in my view, this one element, this one dog, says it all about the movie, and about Hollywood. I am, in this non-review, not going to ask why Barbra and Dustin would sink so low, or when Robert De Niro decided to quit acting and pick up mugging instead.
About the dog. The name of this dog in this movie is - Moses. Yes, Moses. I guess the screenwriters must have thought, "Well, how edgy! How funny. People are bound to laugh." Yes, Moses, a dog, and this dog, as I recall, for I could only watch this stinker in parts, and later without the sound, and even later without the picture - anyway, this dog actually gets flushed down a toilet.
I do not have to mention another flushing incident, that was merely alleged and that involved another religion, and what happened afterwards. Or do I? Yes I do. Months ago, there were stampedes all around the world when a news weekly reported that the Koran was flushed down a toilet at Gitmo. There were riots from them, and apologies from us, even though the flushing incident was later disproved.
So now, here I address a question directly to my friends in Hollywood, who keep reminding me that they will not touch religion, as it is too hot and risky. Here goes: Would you consider naming a dog Mohammed? Would you then flush this dog, named Mohammed, down a toilet?
I don't think so, and I would hope not. I would hope not, first, because as Paris burns today, so would Hollywood burn tomorrow. Second, because naming a dog Mohammed would be disrespectful. You would be dishonoring Islam, as you would be dishonoring Christianity if you named a dog Jesus.
Yet, you were stopped by no inhibitions about naming a dog Moses. Surely you know that Moses is special to Jews, as Mohammed is special to Muslims and Jesus is special to Christians. So what gave you the right to heap such dishonor upon the Torah? You there, who green-light these projects, this question: What makes the Koran more, and the New Testament more, and the Torah less?
What makes you so "edgy" and so self-satisfied about insulting the Jewish religion? You named a dog Moses, for crying out loud! Why is that okay?
I think I know why. You know there will be no riots. Worst that can happen is this - a few opinion pieces, a letter to the editor or two. The other reason you took this liberty is because you know that political correctness covers everyone except Israel and the Jews. Picking on Israel, picking on the Jews, is in vogue. Everything else is out of bounds.
How brave you are when it comes to the Jews. How cowardly you are when facing a world of truth.
[Jack Engelhard's latest full-length novel, The Bathsheba Deadline, is now running as a featured serial on Amazon.com for digital download. The novel will appear in monthly installments exclusively on Amazon.com until completion. Part 1 is up now, with Part 2 due shortly.]
Well, obviously enough has not been said, and that is why I am chiming in right now, and it's about a movie now running on HBO. The name of the movie is too vulgar to mention here, but it goes something like this: Meet The F-----rs. Yes, with that title, this crap played all over America and was a big hit at the box office.
So now, after making the rounds at a theater near you, it is ready for another run on HBO, where it will go on and on for months. I watched it for the first time today.
Forget the plot because there is none, except that a Gentile family meets a Jewish family, and, of course, the Jewish family is made ridiculous, embellished with the usual cliches and stereotypes. Dustin Hoffman is awful as the Jewish father and Barbra Streisand, the Jewish wife and mother, is particularly embarrassing.
But this is not a review. I am going to focus on one element of the plot, a dog, but, in my view, this one element, this one dog, says it all about the movie, and about Hollywood. I am, in this non-review, not going to ask why Barbra and Dustin would sink so low, or when Robert De Niro decided to quit acting and pick up mugging instead.
About the dog. The name of this dog in this movie is - Moses. Yes, Moses. I guess the screenwriters must have thought, "Well, how edgy! How funny. People are bound to laugh." Yes, Moses, a dog, and this dog, as I recall, for I could only watch this stinker in parts, and later without the sound, and even later without the picture - anyway, this dog actually gets flushed down a toilet.
I do not have to mention another flushing incident, that was merely alleged and that involved another religion, and what happened afterwards. Or do I? Yes I do. Months ago, there were stampedes all around the world when a news weekly reported that the Koran was flushed down a toilet at Gitmo. There were riots from them, and apologies from us, even though the flushing incident was later disproved.
So now, here I address a question directly to my friends in Hollywood, who keep reminding me that they will not touch religion, as it is too hot and risky. Here goes: Would you consider naming a dog Mohammed? Would you then flush this dog, named Mohammed, down a toilet?
I don't think so, and I would hope not. I would hope not, first, because as Paris burns today, so would Hollywood burn tomorrow. Second, because naming a dog Mohammed would be disrespectful. You would be dishonoring Islam, as you would be dishonoring Christianity if you named a dog Jesus.
Yet, you were stopped by no inhibitions about naming a dog Moses. Surely you know that Moses is special to Jews, as Mohammed is special to Muslims and Jesus is special to Christians. So what gave you the right to heap such dishonor upon the Torah? You there, who green-light these projects, this question: What makes the Koran more, and the New Testament more, and the Torah less?
What makes you so "edgy" and so self-satisfied about insulting the Jewish religion? You named a dog Moses, for crying out loud! Why is that okay?
I think I know why. You know there will be no riots. Worst that can happen is this - a few opinion pieces, a letter to the editor or two. The other reason you took this liberty is because you know that political correctness covers everyone except Israel and the Jews. Picking on Israel, picking on the Jews, is in vogue. Everything else is out of bounds.
How brave you are when it comes to the Jews. How cowardly you are when facing a world of truth.
[Jack Engelhard's latest full-length novel, The Bathsheba Deadline, is now running as a featured serial on Amazon.com for digital download. The novel will appear in monthly installments exclusively on Amazon.com until completion. Part 1 is up now, with Part 2 due shortly.]