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Kal Penn once made a lot of money, in part, by making movies that make fun of Christians and Conservatives. He then got a job working for the Obama Administration as part of the White House Office of Public Liaison. Why?
“I’ve been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while. I love what I do as an actor. I couldn’t love it more…probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service.”
Public service jobs don’t pay as much as making fun of Christians, so Penn returned to Hollywood to make A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas (or perhaps to Penn making fun of Christians is a public service?) Who knows. The one thing we do know is that he’s a bit more prickly when it comes to making fun of Indians; when liberal Joel Stein had some fun at the expense of Kal Penn’s heritage he couldn’t quite hide his hypocrisy:
Gags about impossibly spicy food? I’d never heard those before! Multiple Gods with multiple arms? Multiple laughs! Recounting racial slurs like “dot-head”? Oh, Mr. Stein, is too good! I don’t know how he comes up with such unique bits.
Indian jokes are off limits for Kal Penn, but Jesus in a strip club is hilarious! Indian jokes are off limits, but punching out priests (in 3D) is holiday fun you can’t miss! Comedians are only funny if they go after everyone. Guys like Kal Penn are just intellectual bullies, making jokes at the expense of people who don’t fight back. They’re like Kevin Smith, who is perfectly fine making horror movies about fundamentalist Christians, but scared stiff (or should I say Silent Bob) on jihad.
Remember when Kal Penn was robbed at gunpoint in Washington, DC? Instead of penning a scene for A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas that ridicules gun control laws that benefit violent criminals at the expense of law-abiding citizens, Penn opts to…shoot Santa in the face. Personally, I’d rather shoot criminals in the face.
Good luck with the movie, Kal. I hope you bring in sleighs full of cash. I just wish you realized what a hypocrite you are.
Douglas Ernst Blog 
Christianity isn’t a race. Being “Indian” is. Hop on over to the List of Race or Ethnic Groups at census.gov. Won’t find Christian anywhere, but you will find “Indian” (as a part of “Asian Indian”). How exactly is Penn a hypocrite?
If that’s the best you have for this post, than I’m not even going to respond. I think the majority of people who land here can figure it out. But thanks for the comment. Good try, though.
You left out the part where both TIME and Stein apologized for his article. Perhaps Penn was right to be disgusted. It came across as xenophobic and a little racist. Also, Penn makes stoner comedy with a bit of satire in it–did you see their last movie? Half the jokes were at the expense of people *being* racist (the dentist scene anyone?). Religion is not race. Comedy always offends some people, but taking a few disjointed scenes with little context and spinning some diatribe about a comedian being a hypocrite is just lazy.
You’re missing the point, RealityCalling. Douglas Ernst was bristling at Kal Penn’s hypocrisy more than anything else. Penn’s article for the Huffing Post cried foul after he essentially did the same thing. Try to put yourself in his shoes. Christianity is something that Douglas Ernst finds sacred. Obviously you don’t, but he does. Have you read Stein’s original article? He never made fun of the Indian race. It was more of a “Lost in Translation” type piece than Xenophobia, which implies hatred or fear. Regardless, if Penn says discussing spicy food or Hindu deities are off limits, then he probably should be a bit more sensitive about showing someone who looks like Jesus in a strip club or someone punching out the Pope. Fair is fair, right?
Thanks for the comment, Xander. You’re (almost) spot on. I don’t find Christianity sacred. By all means, tell jokes. I’m sure God appreciates a good sense of humor… What I don’t like is exactly what you pointed out: Kal Penn likes to dish it out, but he can’t take it.
I totally agree with you Douglas Ernst. Take for example the cartoon that was published in Denmark a few years back (Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy) that took shots at Muhammad a religious prophet. Protests rose because of this cartoon and the west was criticized for humiliating the Islam religion, yet when a movie like this one comes out no one sees the Christian faith under attack. White people cannot defend their race because a definition of being a racist equals being white and slurs against us do not fall under racism.
An insult is an insult. Regardless whether you insult a person’s race or their belief. Look what happened when some morons insulted Islam recently with another dumb movie. (Viva USA for spreading their crap around the world).
Maybe it’s ‘OK’ to diss Christians because they are tolerant of the crappy behavior, displayed by childish atheists? But, maybe they should follow the example of protesting Muslims and start tossing a few stones too – wouldn’t that be funneeee?!
Tried so hard but then you tossed out an insult (“childish atheists”) and became a hypocrit yourself.
So much for turning the other cheek. Jesus would be so proud.
It was never about “another dumb movie.” A bunch of radical Islamic nut jobs kill people, and you blame the guy exercising his right to free speech? Nice. It’s about a culture with a fundamentally different view of the world than Western Civilization. These are people who believe you should be put to death if you “insult Islam.” Who determines what an insult is? They do.
By the way, I was thinking of moving to Saudi Arabia, but sadly … it’s not legal for Christians to be citizens. Doh. Do you hear that? It’s the world’s smallest violin playing just for the radical Islamic mullah nuts in the Mideast. Tell them to call me when they stop stoning women and start respecting basic human rights.
What’s the solution?
That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? A good start would be to get the people who keep blaming it on “a film” or “a cartoon” or a stupid sermon from a random loser-preacher in Florida … to realize they’re in denial.
A good start. Then maybe we can ship the fundamentalist contingents of both Christianity and Islam to some desert island and let them fight over who’s version of god is the best with Nerf guns and water balloons.
Eh. I look at American fundamentalist Christians like the losers protesting military funerals … they’re outcasts. Their numbers are insignificant. Nothing an FBI raid or two couldn’t cure. Then I look at the Middle East. Say 10% of them are “fundamentalist.” That’s still hoards of psychos.
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/332844.php
“It is unobjectionable in the modern age to express hostility towards the Catholic Inquisition. It is, however, very strangely considered something approaching a hate crime to express hostility to the currently existing Islamic Inquisition,” (Ace of Spades).
*whose
O’ sleep, where art thou?