High comedy happens in regards to Mike Myers’ The Love Guru, though very little of it is onscreen.
Since the campaign for the film started early in 2008 I started getting these press releases from a character named Rajan Zed (email him here) about the Hindu outcry against the film, which portrays Myers as a love guru and apparently… a Hindu. I don’t know because I don’t need someone to tell me not to see a Mike Myers film on the basis it’s offensive to a religion. I know not to see it because I know what I consider good comedy. Bill Maher’s Religulous is offensive to a religion and it’s a must-see. Yet still, I got email after email telling me how the movie was offensive to Hindus.
Who cares? Are there really people who would see a Mike Myers film and have their bedrock of faith shattered by it? If so, shouldn’t that mean those people need to be outed so we can smash them in the face with a hammer and bury them in a deep grave where no one can find them? I ignored the emails for the most part, though I must admit that I skimmed them from time to time for a giggle. It even led to a quick blog post.
It’s like a devout spokesman for animal rights choosing Van Wilder‘s unethical treatment of dog sperm as the foundation for its mission statement.
I thought I was out of the woods, but lo and behold… I just got another press release from Mr. Zed. This time, he is celebrating a job well done, for his crusade led to the film being nominated for a whole mess of Razzie Awards. They had nothing to do with the other nationalities who hated the movie. In fact, I’d bet a sizable portion of Mr. Zed’s salary that Hindus represent less than 20% of the box office take of the film. That said, the Razzies have less value in the grand scheme of things than a Homie from a vending machine so there’s little to be concerned about.
Doesn’t make the press release any less funny though.
Who is sillier, the overrated Canadian filmmaker who made a bad choice for a film that few people saw or the “acclaimed Hindu statesman” who sent dozens of emails over the course of 2008 demanding a boycott of a satirical lowbrow comedy, culminating with a coup-de-grace celebrating… Razzie Nominations?
Or is the internet guy who devoted time to the whole lunatic mess? Either way, though I’m sure Hinduism is a kick ass religion, it might be wise to realize that a comedy is supposed to generalize and poke fun. Life of Brian this ain’t.
The press release follows:
For favor of publication/broadcasting
Hindus claim their protest stumbled “Love Guru“, now nominated for 7 “worst” film awards
Hindus have claimed that their protest movement contributed to the blunt failure of the Hollywood movie “The Love Guru” and now being short-listed for seven Golden Raspberry Awards for worst in the film.
Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who spearheaded the protest movement against “The Love Guru”
starting in March last, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, stated
that although various issues contributed to its failure, but their
effective protest resulting in boycott call, supported by other people
of faith, was one of the major factors.
Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, thanked the world filmgoers for having a feel for the pain of Hindu brothers-sisters by rebuffing “The Love Guru“.
Various Hindu, Catholic, Presbyterian, Jewish, Native American,
Methodist, Buddhist, youth, film, spiritual/religious, music, yoga,
civil rights, etc., leaders issued statements in support of this cause
espoused by Rajan Zed.
Rajan Zed argued that it was pure and blatant ridiculing of Hinduism, the oldest and third largest religion of the
world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical
thought. No faith, larger or smaller, should be ridiculed at. Today it
was Hinduism; tomorrow Hollywood might attempt to denigrate another
religion/denomination.
Worst in film Golden Raspberry Awards, calling “The Love Guru” “the
year’s biggest box office bomb” and “decidedly unloved”, has nominated
it for “Worst” in categories of: Picture, Director (Marco Schnabel),
Actor (Mike Myers), Actress (Jessica Alba), Screenplay (Graham Gordy),
and Supporting Actor (Ben Kingsley, Verne Troyer).
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops declared “The Love Guru” “morally offensive” and slapped it with its highest rating “O”. “Preview Online”, which calls itself “informative tool for Christian parents and moviegoers”, gave it Morality Rating of –4
(Dangerous), which is lowest of five categories, highest being +4.
“Christian Spotlight on Entertainment” gave it a Moral Rating of “Very
Offensive”. Crosswalk, a Christ-centered corporation, wrote in the movie review, “…slew of seriously wince-inducing jabs at India’s culture (horrible, even when meant in fun)…”
Its Rotten Tomatoes Rating was “86% Negative” and according to reports, its Box Office was $32,200,122 while budget amounted to about $62 million.