15 December 2008

honestly who throws a shoe?

Good work..sort of

I'm not sure a shoe would be nearly sufficient to accomplish anything (which I guess is the point). At least it is funny.
Posted by Sun Tzu at 15:06
Labels:

4 comments:

not undecided said...

And also not funny:

http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/if-the-shoe-fits/

18 December, 2008 11:25
Sun Tzu said...

When the world becomes an Austin Powers skit it ceases to be relevant. When we throw shoes because we care and cannot throw something else (like say, a grenade or a knife..something lethal?), then things are quite funny. In the absurdity of it that is.

I'm pretty sure that if the Prez doesn't care what the popular opinion is here in his own country on the war, he's not going to care about the popular opinion of the people actually involved in the war, namely Iraqi civilians. Throwing a shoe is the worst form of protest.
Except all the others that have been tried.

18 December, 2008 13:01
not undecided said...

Yes, the incident itself is funny. Throwing/showing the sole of a shoe is a grave insult in Muslim culture. It's the fact that GWB can't grasp the insult that's funny and yet tragic. And, while I love to mock the current Prez as much as the next guy, the fact that hardly any Americans realize that the insult is directed not just at the Prez, but at the American people, too...also funny and yet tragic.

19 December, 2008 17:00
Sun Tzu said...

Let's assume that the problem was not therefore the shoe incident itself. But rather the American culture/President ignoring the objective conditions of Islamic/Arabic culture when they started a war against it.

Throwing a shoe is still funny in our culture, but I can recall being a target once or twice myself. And it was still funny even if the intention was not. I'd say it would be better to have a traditional manner of insult that reflects an international standard. "Fuck you" is translatable into any language, but doesn't really say why. What was important therefore was not the shoe, but what he said as he threw them. That sort of underlying frustration is more relevant to any discussion than a freakish physical act that is somehow regarded as a cultural insult. Thinking for a moment on our own, it's rather odd that a single finger conveys a different impression than another. Or that women's ankles used to be of significance. Et cetera. Such cultural mores are important to understanding the people involved, but they usually lack persistence.

25 December, 2008 12:58

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)