It’s a Double Standard World After All…

Some random musings about the double standards which I wonder if I am alone in perceiving:

Denigration is in the Eye of the Beholder (if the Beholder is a Lunatic)
Twelve forbidden cartoons published in an obscure Danish Newspaper and all hell breaks loose. Leading State Department spokesman Sean McCormack to issue the following statement: "Anti-Muslim images are as unacceptable as anti-Semitic images, as anti-Christian images, or any other religious belief."

Let’s contrast that with American photographer Andres Serrano work “Piss Christ” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ or Chris Ofili http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Ofili who’s Black Madonna with Elephant dung created quite a stir in 1999. Apparently if Mayor Giuliani had demolished the Brooklyn Museum (don’t put it past a Big City Mayor, Chicago’s mayor bulldozed an Airport in the middle of the night) the state department would have been calling these works unacceptable images and while not justifying Rudy’s actions, they would have explained that the artists needed to be more responsible.

Hey, and make sure you run out to see “The DaVinci Code” on May 19. We know there is nothing unacceptable about saying that the basis of an entire religion is a fraud, protected by a century long murderous cabal. Who would find this concept offensive or unacceptable?

Fat Tony Returns
With the imminent return of the Sopranos I am once again forced to point out that Hollywood does not have a double standard with the consistent negative stereotype of Italians.

I just wonder why HBO or Showtime has never responded to multiple requests to meet regarding my dramatic series treatise. Maybe I should try FX. The working title is “The Schnitzels.” It’s a period piece about the homelife trials and tribulations of the head of a Concentration Camp on World War II Germany. For the Hollywood types think “Diary of Anne Frank” and “Schindler’s List” meet “The Sopranos.” Sure his job is abhorrent to the viewers, but look at his problems. Should Heinrich Schnitzel send his daughter, Wiese, to Bremen University or allow her to spend a year in her own in Austria? How upset will Henreich’s wife Heidi be when a clog in one of the gas nozzles causes him to stay late at work and miss a romantic dinner? Let’s not forget Heinrich’s cantankerous old mother Ingaborge. How can he be willing to stand up to the SS, but be afraid of little old Ingaborge? Witness the human drama as Heinrich and the boys unwind after a long day of working on “The Final Solution” at the Weihenstephan Bräustüberl Beer Hall. Talk about bada bing! For romantic intrigue, Heinrich becomes enamored with a Polish Jew, bargaining with her that while she continues to “amuse” him, she lives. What if the Gestapo finds out? More importantly, what if Heidi finds out?

Most importantly, how much of the details of his life will he reveal to his Psychiatrist, Dr. Jarvia Mallory? Can Dr. Mallory help Heinrich come to terms with his angst about balancing work and home life?

I am sure Hollywood would have no objections to this portrayal of an isolated segment of society with a historical context which does not try to cast aspersions on all Germans (to say nothing of Holocaust victims).