Semi related, inasmuch as it pertains to the state of social critics in Saudi Arabia, is this recent Twitter thread purportedly from someone who used to work on American Dad, and his encounter with a Saudi comic... now missing, his wife in a Saudi jail
https://twitter.com/krudell/status/1080591286959132672?s=21 On Tue, Jan 1, 2019 at 9:29 PM Steve Timko <steveti...@gmail.com> wrote: > Netflix drops episode in Saudi Arabia critical of government for > journalist's murder. > > > https://www.npr.org/2019/01/01/681469011/netflix-drops-hasan-minhaj-episode-in-saudi-arabia-at-governments-request > > > On Thu, Nov 1, 2018, 7:46 PM Steve Timko <steveti...@gmail.com wrote: > >> Hah! Phineas and I agree on something. Maybe there's hope for Republicans >> and Democrats. >> >> . >> . >> . >> Nah... >> >> On Thu, Nov 1, 2018 at 7:24 PM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> I am not trying to put words in your mouth or pick a fight - just trying >>> to understand your point. I thought you were saying his show was >>> intentionally only enjoyable by South Asians and Muslims (and those who for >>> some reason already were knowledgable about those cultures). THat does not >>> seem plausible to me. But if all you mean is that he is hoping that South >>> Asians and Muslims, who have been long ignored by US pop culture, will be >>> attracted to his show in a special way, along with as many other people as >>> possible, then - well, yes I’m sure that’s true. >>> >>> On Thu, Nov 1, 2018 at 7:14 PM Steve Timko <steveti...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> I never said exclusively. That's setting up a strawman to knock down. >>>> But it seems to be a deliberate effort to target an audience not >>>> addressed by other media. A south Asian addressing Arab culture seems to be >>>> a stretch. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Thu, Nov 1, 2018 at 3:06 PM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> You really think his plan is to develop a Netflix show in the US aimed >>>>> exclusively at Indian, Pakistani and Bengali Muslims? >>>>> >>>>> Seems more likely he is trying to do a show that is unapologetically >>>>> based on his experience. Perhaps he is confident that in the same way that >>>>> non-white, non-Christian Americans are expected to acquaint themselves >>>>> with >>>>> elements of WASP culture to consume many products of US Pop culture, white >>>>> Christians (at least young ones) will be motivated to do the same. >>>>> >>>>> On Thu, Nov 1, 2018 at 7:16 AM Steve Timko <steveti...@gmail.com> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Chris Rock does not make jokes so obscure you need to Google it to >>>>>> understand it. Clearly this is a calculated effort on Minaj's part. >>>>>> >>>>>> Not sent from an iPhone >>>>>> On Nov 1, 2018, at 5:43 AM, PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Chris Rock is not really targeting an African-American audience. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Wed, Oct 31, 2018 at 9:42 PM Steve Timko < steveti...@gmail.com> >>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Two episodes of Hasan Minaj’s “Patriot Act” have dropped. Although >>>>>>>> he’s a fairly recent defector from “The Daily Show,” it most closely >>>>>>>> resembles John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight.” But Minaj seems to be >>>>>>>> targeting south Asians and Muslims with the show. Also, targeting an >>>>>>>> especially young audience. >>>>>>>> In the first episode. Minaj spends the whole episode talking about >>>>>>>> affirmative action. In the second episode, he talks mostly about Saudi >>>>>>>> Arabia before switching topics, finally closing with a taped bit that >>>>>>>> has >>>>>>>> kids dropping F bombs. >>>>>>>> They attempt a different look with the show. The audience is close >>>>>>>> to the stage. But in the first episode especially, they sound like a >>>>>>>> laugh >>>>>>>> track. In the second episode he calls attention to all the brown faces >>>>>>>> in >>>>>>>> the crowd. >>>>>>>> The other issue is instead of a green screen or a large TV monitor >>>>>>>> behind him, they build a wall of a monitors, Minaj calls it a wall of >>>>>>>> iPads. They seem to be working out the kinks. Letterman’s new Netflix >>>>>>>> shows >>>>>>>> were plagued with odd camera angles and cuts for the first few >>>>>>>> episodes. >>>>>>>> “Patriot Act” caught the same bug. There’s odd profile shots that >>>>>>>> almost >>>>>>>> seem to be shooting him from behind. In the Saudia Arabia >>>>>>>> presentation, the >>>>>>>> monitor goes dark, Minaj walks to his spot and then the photo of MBS >>>>>>>> fades >>>>>>>> in behind Minaj. Somehow it looked too rehearsed and lacked impact. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> [image: minajmbs.jpg] >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> The director is Richard A. Preuss. IMDB lists some impressive >>>>>>>> credits. I think he needs to smooth it out. Conan O’Brien had a rough >>>>>>>> start >>>>>>>> and it took months for him to figure it out. >>>>>>>> A bigger problem is that Minaj doesn’t seem to have the charisma or >>>>>>>> comic stamina or something to carry a whole half hour. Sometimes his >>>>>>>> jokes >>>>>>>> seem good but he steps on the punchline. It makes your appreciate a >>>>>>>> John >>>>>>>> Oliver, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, who can keep up the pace for a >>>>>>>> full >>>>>>>> half hour. The latter two benefit from commercial breaks. >>>>>>>> Minaj is also making references to south Asian and Muslim cultural >>>>>>>> items. Like some kind of test I guess Indian kids take, and some sort >>>>>>>> of >>>>>>>> toiletry tactic he feels is superior to toilet paper alone and to >>>>>>>> Saudis >>>>>>>> not owning dogs. He notes the Saudis have invested heavily in Wag.com, >>>>>>>> the >>>>>>>> dog-walking web site, and said Saudis don’t own dogs. I did a mental >>>>>>>> search >>>>>>>> of the four Arab families I know. Two own dogs. One, in fact, own a >>>>>>>> dog as >>>>>>>> a substitute for falconry, a sport they are too poor to pursue. (The >>>>>>>> dogs >>>>>>>> point and flush and they shoot). On the other hand, of the south Asian >>>>>>>> families I know, none own any pets. >>>>>>>> New episodes drop weekly. Out of the chute Minaj’s show doesn’t >>>>>>>> seem to be as solid as Michelle Wolf’s, but perhaps targeting a >>>>>>>> different >>>>>>>> audience will make it more desirable to Netflix. I will watch one or >>>>>>>> two >>>>>>>> more, but I don’t seem to be in the target audience. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -- >>>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>>>> send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> Sent from Gmail Mobile >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -- >>>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>>> send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, >>>>>> send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Sent from Gmail Mobile >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>> -- >>> Sent from Gmail Mobile >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Kevin M. 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