We saw a disturbing
example this week when Egyptian TV host and comedian Bassem Youssef,
frequently described as Egypt's Jon Stewart, was charged with the crimes
of mocking Egypt's President Mohamed Morsy and insulting Islam. If
convicted, Youssef could be fined and sentenced to prison.
Now, before you quickly
categorize this incident under the catch all, "They hate us for our
freedoms" crap, let's not forget our own history.
Comedy legend Lenny Bruce was arrested not once but eight times,
in the early 1960s for telling jokes that were considered obscene.
However, Bruce's lawyer argued that the comedian was not being
prosecuted for his profanity but rather for mocking political leaders
and religion.
In 1964, Bruce was
convicted of violating New York's obscenity laws and sentenced to four
months of hard labor. Being sentenced to hard labor is doubly painful
since comedians go into comedy to avoid hard labor. Bruce tragically
died of a morphine overdose in
1966 while the appeal to his criminal
conviction was pending.
Today, a comedian in the
United States is unlikely to be criminally prosecuted for profanity,
mocking elected officials or ridiculing religion. (If they could, Bill
Maher and countless others would probably be on death row.)
While some of our elected
officials may hate being the target of comedians' barbs, none would
argue that jokes are a threat to our nation.
In the Arab world,
however, stand-up comedy and satirical political comedy shows like the
one Bassem Youssef hosts are a very new development. There's a great
fear in the region that this form of entertainment will undermine
political leaders.
I have witnessed this anxiety firsthand while performing stand-up comedy across the Middle East.
The crowds are usually
amazing. But we comedians are advised by show promoters to avoid telling
jokes mocking the political leaders and religions -- not just Islam,
but also Christianity and Judaism. And of course, no sexual humor or
profanity.
I know many of you are
thinking: So what's left to talk about? Actually, plenty. As comedians,
we are accustomed to tailoring our acts to fit certain "special" shows.
In fact, while
performing at a corporate event in the United States -- such as for
employees at an annual corporate retreat -- one will generally encounter
similar content boundaries: No jokes about politics, sex and religion,
plus, keep it clean. (Hmm, funny how U.S. corporations and Middle
Eastern governments impose the same content restrictions.)
But believe it or not,
in the last few years the leash on comedians performing in the Middle
East has loosened. For example, in certain countries, we had to write
our comedy material out word for word so local government authorities
could review it for appropriateness before a show.
Those days are gone. No
one asks for scripts any longer, because the people in power have
apparently become more comfortable with stand-up comedy. Some comedians
have started to push the boundary by using some profanity and sexually
suggestive material.
But Bassem Youssef did
more. Inspired by Jon Stewart, he performed jokes about the president of
Egypt by name, even mockingly dressing like him in sketches. To us,
this is commonplace, but in Egypt this was unheard of. Keep in mind that
until recently, Egypt was ruled by Hosni Mubarak, who limited public
dissent in his almost 30 years of rule.
I always knew an Arab
Jon Stewart or Chris Rock would emerge and use comedy to skewer
political leaders. Youssef has become that icon. But now he's paying for
his boldness.
The question is: Will
Morsy move Egypt toward embracing democracy and freedom of expression?
Or will he take a step back and follow the policies of Mubarak?
Being a democratic
nation entails much more than simply having elections -- it means
vigilantly guarding freedom of expression, including the right of all
people -- comedians, journalists, bloggers, critics -- to poke fun or
disagree with the government.
So far, early signs are not hopeful. The U.S. embassy in Cairo tweeted out a link
to a segment from Monday night's "The Daily Show" in which Stewart
defended Youssef. The office of Egypt's president responded swiftly via
Twitter: "It's inappropriate for a diplomatic mission to engage in such
negative political propaganda."
President Morsy should
make it clear that the revolution in Egypt truly ushered in democracy,
and along with it freedom of expression. Otherwise, the new leadership
will be perceived as just another oppressive government.
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