Don’t mess with the Zohan (Effort Post)

This movie is not good. It doesn’t have a good message on the conflict in Palestine. Essentially “can’t we all just have peace?” But Why would anyone watch an Adam Sandler movie for that?

But I’m going to put what I think is a new idea on it, which is: the joke isn’t about Israelis, or Palestinians. The Joke is about how absolutely oblivious Americans are about the conflict.

This makes sense when you take into account Robert Smigel, (of Saturday TV funhouse on SNL) whose material has managed to be hilarious all while assuming his audience are complete idiots. (The X Presidents, Abu Dhabi Kids Network, and Anatonimals are some of the best examples.)

Smigel was writer #3 along with Sandler (goofball moron of 1990-2000s comedy) and Judd Apatow (harbinger of 2010s comedy with more emotional complexity)

The link about the Sandler/Apatow development in comedy here.

The stereotypes about Israelis, Palestinians, Manhattanite diaspora Jews, and far-right terrorists are all so simply idiotic, the only option is to laugh. Theyre clearly stupid, but not lazy. The hyper sexualization of the men, the hummus, the 80s music. This is like what someone who met one Israeli for 30 minutes would write a movie about.