Brazilian Judge Orders Removal of Porta dos Fundos’ Gay Jesus Christmas Comedy Special “The First Temptation of Christ” Setting a Dangerous New Precedent for Free Speech

@KathyGriffin: “TODAY. The @AP has to clarify. I am no longer under federal investigation. The case is closed, I have been completely exonerated. Finally.”

Hasan Minhaj Delivers (and Then Some [and Even More]) as Host of 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Germany Drops Case Against Comedian Jan Bohmermann Charged With “Insulting” Authoritarian Turkish President with a Poem

Cinefamily and Secret Cinema Hosting “A Secret Protest Screening” In Support of “The Interview”

UAE to Release Shez Cassim After 9 Months of Imprisonment Over an Internet Parody Video

January 9, 2020

first temptation of christ, free speech, porta dos fundos

Brazilian Judge Orders Removal of Porta dos Fundos’ Gay Jesus Christmas Comedy Special “The First Temptation of Christ” Setting a Dangerous New Precedent for Free Speech

Porta dos Fundos is a wildly popular Portugese language YouTube Channel that got a chance to make a very satirical Christmas special The First Temptation of Christ for Netflix where they depict Jesus having a secret gay boyfriend. From what clips we’ve seen, it seems to carry a light romantic comedy vibe to it, which makes the fundamentalist uproar just a little more shocking.

Christian and catholic groups in Brazil were furious at this satire and demanded that the special be taken down and Porta dos Fundos’ headquarters even got bombed with a molotov cocktail on Christmas Eve (thankfully, no one was injured and a guard was present to extinguish the fire). All of this seems eerily similar to fundamentalist responses to satirical depictions of the prophet Muhammad that the world has seen over the score of years.

A Brazilian judge ruled against Porta dos Fundos and ordered the special to be taken down for what he believes is the greater good or, more explicitly:

In his ruling, Abicair said the injunction “is beneficial not only to the Christian community, but to Brazilian society, which is mostly Christian.”

Well, the seeds of so much discord have just been planted here with this decision, not to mention the clear message that “you’re not allowed to upset the Christian faithful in Brazil lest you want to get your workplace torched,” being sent.

We won’t be surprised if we see a slight uptick in Brazilian comedians trying to find their way to America in 2020.

July 29, 2017

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free speech, kathy griffin

@KathyGriffin: “TODAY. The @AP has to clarify. I am no longer under federal investigation. The case is closed, I have been completely exonerated. Finally.”

Phew.

After a, frankly, unnecessary federal investigation stemming from the controversial photo that had TV star/comedian Kathy Griffin holding a representation of Trump’s head, she is now free and clear.

Freedom of speech feels just an iota more protected and that’s one less distraction from everything the Trump Administration is actually up to right now.

April 30, 2017

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cnn, daily show, free speech, msnbc, trump, whca, whcd, white house correspondents association, white house correspondents dinner

It was only a year ago that Hasan Minhaj was at a different podium as host of the RTCA Dinner (the “JV nerd prom”?), delivering a set that was both unapologetic in its clever barbs as well as heartfelt in its message.

Most RTCA Dinner hosts don’t get to graduate to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner the very next year. Then again, these are times that are often without precedent.

Hasan Minhaj, as we’ve seen him do time and time again as a stand-up, storyteller, and a correspondent on The Daily Show, dished out his finely detailed jokes last night with a certain brutal grace and was more on point than several WHCD hosts before him. Had this been the Obama Administration, we think Hasan might have not had trouble following him like other comedians have had over the years.

Don’t be surprised if Hasan ends up getting his very own show soon from this performance.

Thus far, Trump has not tweeted about the happenings of the WHCD dinner directly, but we can imagine that it might include something like “Sad!” a few dozen times.

So, for free speech, for free press, for comedy, and for all of our sanity, you now might want to watch and enjoy Hasan at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

January 20, 2017

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free speech, james adomian, political comedy, satire, trump

In general I’m interested in seeing if the Trump presidency will be shocking enough to finally see the emergence of comedy that is politically dangerous and appropriately disrespectful of power, like the situation demands, and like we really needed all along.

I’m looking forward to mainstream television continuing its decline, to the point where publicist-driven celebrity non-satire is ignored in favor of the more dangerous stuff we’re seeing in live comedy (and some podcasts like Chapo Trap House), and where this underground culture could very well overtake the official televised culture that has failed so thoroughly to matter.

James Adomian in Brightest Young Thing’s 2017 Will Be Funny Article

October 4, 2016

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free speech, germany, jan bohmermann, libel, recep tayyip erdogan, slander, turkish president

Germany Drops Case Against Comedian Jan Bohmermann Charged With “Insulting” Authoritarian Turkish President with a Poem

Thankfully, Bohmermann didn’t suffer the same fate as one Mike Ward.

It’s hard to not take freedom of speech for granted in the U.S. You can pretty much speak freely here, especially when you compare our free speech laws to those around the world. If you don’t look at what those laws are and how they’re enforced elsewhere, saying what you want in the good ol’ U.S. of A is just assumed to be the norm.

In this particular case, German comedian Jan Bohmermann presented a satirical poem on television suggesting that the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sex with goats.The Turkish government did not take to those remarks kindly and brought Bohmermann up on charges of an old German law that prohibits insults of foreign government representatives. Luckily, the court taking on the case concluded that it was a joke, shouldn’t be taken seriously, and didn’t find Bohmermann guilty of the charges levied against him.

Though the case was dropped, let this be one of the thousands of cautionary tales of a potential Trump presidency. Already, Trump has said he’d open up libel laws so it would be easier to sue members of the press that he thought were making up stories about him and even briefly had a filed lawsuit against Bill Maher for a joke that speculated about Trump’s mother having sex with an orangutan.

If you care about free speech and comedy, you might want to make sure the much more despicable version of Biff Tannen doesn’t win next month.

December 20, 2014

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article 19, cinefamily, free speech, protest, secret cinema, silent movie theatre, sony, the interview

Though Sony has currently stopped the release of The Interview and Paramount has claimed Team America: World Police is “out of service”, independent theaters, many of which would be ready and willing to screen The Interview, are still trying to make a stand in any way they can.

The beloved indie/art house/retrospective Cinefamily based out of The Silent Movie Theatre here in LA has partnered with UK’s Secret Cinema and is putting on a “Secret Protest Screening”. They won’t be showing The Interview, but they also have not revealed what they will be showing.

The screening description reads:

We think what’s happened with The Interview is plain wrong. It sets a terrible precedent, and we feel, as an independent movie theater, we should do whatever we can to support any filmmaker or film studio’s right to free speech.

All proceeds will go to global free speech charity Article 19.

So, let’s not succumb to threats against making and watching whatever movies we want. Make a stand, though literally sit and use standing room if you have to, and go to this if this Sun. Dec. 21st at 7:30PM.

« April 2021 »

January 9, 2014

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free shez, free speech, human rights, shez cassim, UAE, united arab emirates

UAE to Release Shez Cassim After 9 Months of Imprisonment Over an Internet Parody Video

After months of wholly undeserved jail time and a recent public outcry, Shez Cassim, the maker of an Internet parody video on youth culture in Dubai, will be released and come home to the U.S.

Good job, Internet.

March 4, 2011

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amendments, comedy and everything else, comedy central, constitution, dadt, florida, free speech, george bush, heckle, hurtful speech, jimmy dore, political comedy, protest, recently, supreme court, texas, westboro baptist church

Recently: The Supreme Court backed the protests of the Westboro Baptist Church against homosexuals in the military as they reasoned “hurtful speech” is still protected by the Constitution. Apparently, “confusing speech” is also protected as Jimmy Dore found out while getting heckled.

(Source: http://www.jimmydorecomedy.com/)