When I watched the first episode of John Safran's Race Relations, I didn't even crack a smile.
When I watched the second episode, with one scene, I had a tiny smile.
Now I'm watching the third episode and laughing out loud.
In this episode, Safran meets with a Palestinian who lives in America. He used to hate Jews, but now he doesn't. What changed him? His wife encouraged him to learn about Jews. That led to him watching Fiddler on the Roof. He watched it three-hundred times and has the whole movie memorized. He no longer hates Jews.
So then Safran decides that Fiddler on the Roof could help stop anti-semitism. He goes to Israel, meets with a Palestinian and starts singing "If I Were a Rich Man."
It's all very funny.
I think there's some truth to it, though.
The best way to combat hate is probably entertainment.
We can whine about people being prejudice against us. We can protest and boycott. But will that make people love our groups more? Probably not. The best way to get people to stop hating us is to get people to adore us—our music, our movies, our jokes, our artwork, etc.
Yesterday, Col. Morris Davis, from Guantanamo Bay, said this on Twitter, I'm pulling for Nina Pham. We can live w/out multi-$M athletes/actors, we can't w/out dedicated health care professionals like Nina Pham.
I'm glad he cares about Nina Pham. I do too, and so do a lot of other people. But I think he expressed his opinion in a very ridiculous way. Maybe actors and athletes don't save lives as part of their professions. But they do inspire people at times, and that's very important. Sometimes inspiration in itself is a life saver.
Entertainers adds something important to the world. It might save less lives than a health care professional does. But it teaches, inspires, opens minds, and brings people together.
Now I'm actually feeling some extra prejudice against people who work at Guantanamo Bay. Maybe one of them can write a song or make a musical that will lesson my negative feelings.
I'm glad he cares about Nina Pham. I do too, and so do a lot of other people. But I think he expressed his opinion in a very ridiculous way. Maybe actors and athletes don't save lives as part of their professions. But they do inspire people at times, and that's very important. Sometimes inspiration in itself is a life saver.
Entertainers adds something important to the world. It might save less lives than a health care professional does. But it teaches, inspires, opens minds, and brings people together.
Now I'm actually feeling some extra prejudice against people who work at Guantanamo Bay. Maybe one of them can write a song or make a musical that will lesson my negative feelings.
What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there
was life after death, and
we could easily talk to our
dearly-departed on the Internet?
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
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