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Bill Maher?? Let the Idiot/Clown speak.

Home ▸ Archive ▸ Serious Business ▸ Bill Maher?? Let the Idiot/Clown speak.
killdeer's avatar

killdeer

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1,538 posts
May 27, 2010 11:51 PM
I mean, I was never a fan...even in the Johnny Carson days his jokes were always of the predictable "ba-bum-bum" variety. However, since he has styled himself as the commentator for the academic left-wing...?

The liberal left always portrays themselves as tolerant and open-minded, yet his whole schtick is based on how superior he is to the lowly masses. I have watched his 'Religulous' semi-documentary several times to try to glean what possible perspective he has to add...

...my conclusion is none. He operates from such a self-righteous perspective and loves to view himself as a comedian's Michael Moore, that he really is a parody of everything he parodies.

Just my opinion.






And, I guess he will burn in hell, so that's something.


'Ba-bum-bum'
May 27, 2010 11:51pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
May 28, 2010 12:09 AM
I never liked him.

Stewart is the best in the game for the comedy news commentary.
May 28, 2010 12:09am
tcarrier32's avatar

tcarrier32

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1,497 posts
May 28, 2010 12:18 AM
i dont really like his stand up, but i thought religulous was hilarious.
May 28, 2010 12:18am
killdeer's avatar

killdeer

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1,538 posts
May 28, 2010 12:24 AM
^^^i've watched it a couple times...my problem with him is he picks the weakest possible marks...the most extreme and wildest religious positions, then takes the 'eye-rolling' posture.... which is way too easy. I'd like to see him go up against a Christian (or Islamic, or Hebrew) mainstreamer with an academic background. He is way too chickensh*t for that.
May 28, 2010 12:24am
dwccrew's avatar

dwccrew

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7,817 posts
May 28, 2010 12:24 AM
I thought Religioulus was funny too. Just because he picked the most whacked out people to use in his documentary. He never once had an actual intelligent religous person on the movie.
May 28, 2010 12:24am
Trueblue23's avatar

Trueblue23

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7,463 posts
May 28, 2010 12:27 AM
Religulous was hilarious.. the guy dressed up like Jesus pwned Mahr though.
May 28, 2010 12:27am
killdeer's avatar

killdeer

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1,538 posts
May 28, 2010 12:27 AM
^^^my point exactly. he must not want most people to take him seriously. If that is his intent...kudo's...he succeeded.

if that is the case, then...Bill Maher=Borat. Genius!
May 28, 2010 12:27am
ICEMAN59's avatar

ICEMAN59

Senior Member

160 posts
May 28, 2010 9:31 AM
I really enjoyed Religulous, thought he hit all the major religions fairly equally.

It was meant as a comedic documentary, if you were expected some hard-hitting academic discussion, then I think you came in with some unreasonable expectations.
May 28, 2010 9:31am
THE4RINGZ's avatar

THE4RINGZ

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16,816 posts
May 28, 2010 9:37 AM
Once a celebrity tries to influence my political or social take on life I no longer have any interest in them period.
May 28, 2010 9:37am
killdeer's avatar

killdeer

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May 28, 2010 9:38 AM
^^^agreed
May 28, 2010 9:38am
BCBulldog's avatar

BCBulldog

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824 posts
May 28, 2010 9:44 AM
Religulous was one of those movies that tried to cite the fringe kooks to draw conclusions about the mainstream. While some examples were mildly entertaining, I really don't know what point he was hoping to make. Unless he really thinks that he is so intellectually superior and we are so vastly inferior that we would buy the giant leaps from his fringe examples and apply them to the mainstream.
May 28, 2010 9:44am
ICEMAN59's avatar

ICEMAN59

Senior Member

160 posts
May 28, 2010 10:03 AM
THE4RINGZ wrote: Once a celebrity tries to influence my political or social take on life I no longer have any interest in them period.
That's certainly your right, but, unless the celebrity is advocating some sort of criminal activity, I don't see why you'd let their opinion ruin your enjoyment of their product.

While it's your choice to boycott them, so to speak, I think you're sort of kidding yourself. Check out a list of the celebrities you are interested in and then do some research regarding whether they support any political or social causes . . . my assumption is that, if what you say is true, you'll be left with a fairly small pool of entertainment to pick from.

I mean, really, if I were a celebrity, I'd certainly use my platform to garner support for the things I found important and valued . . . . . . that seems like a no-brainer.

I guess I just don't find it particularly difficult to tune out any political or social take they may have, while just enjoying the entertainment they provide. And, from your post, it seems you don't want to just "boycott" those who have opinions that are different than your own, but you are extending that "boycott" to those that seek to influence the public in any social or political manner, whether you agree or not . . . and that probably accounts for just about every celebrity, in one way or another.

To me, that seems a tad ridiculous, but to each their own . . . for sure.
May 28, 2010 10:03am
BCBulldog's avatar

BCBulldog

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824 posts
May 28, 2010 10:09 AM
ICEMAN59 wrote: That's certainly your right, but, unless the celebrity is advocating some sort of criminal activity, I don't see why you'd let their opinion ruin your enjoyment of their product.

The problem is that with people like Maher, there is no separation between his political/religious agenda and his professional material. Otherwise, I agree.
May 28, 2010 10:09am
C

Con_Alma

Senior Member

12,198 posts
May 28, 2010 10:12 AM
ICEMAN59 wrote:
THE4RINGZ wrote: Once a celebrity tries to influence my political or social take on life I no longer have any interest in them period.
That's certainly your right, but, unless the celebrity is advocating some sort of criminal activity, I don't see why you'd let their opinion ruin your enjoyment of their product.

While it's your choice to boycott them, so to speak, I think you're sort of kidding yourself. ...

I too would lose interest and often do.

Here's why. I typically don't seek out entertainment based on political foundation. If an entertainer injects politics into his/her craft I lose interest.

I wouldn't boycott them I simply no longer have an attraction to their style of craft.
May 28, 2010 10:12am
C

cbus4life

Ignorant

2,849 posts
May 28, 2010 10:20 AM
The only "comedian" who i enjoy, who focuses on political stories and the like, is John Stewart, as well as Colbert.

They're the only ones worth a damn.
May 28, 2010 10:20am
krambman's avatar

krambman

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3,606 posts
May 28, 2010 10:25 AM
BCBulldog wrote: Religulous was one of those movies that tried to cite the fringe kooks to draw conclusions about the mainstream. While some examples were mildly entertaining, I really don't know what point he was hoping to make. Unless he really thinks that he is so intellectually superior and we are so vastly inferior that we would buy the giant leaps from his fringe examples and apply them to the mainstream.
I think you hit it spot on. What he did in his movie was akin to some Americans thinking that all Muslims want to kill us because a relatively small fringe group of Muslims are terrorists. I do think Maher has some legitimate things to say occasionally, the problem is that his self-righteous, I'm absolutely right and there's no need for me to listen to your option because I'm obviously smarter than you attitude usually gets in the way. I kind of feel that he really does think that his intellect is vastly superior to the rest of us (or at least anyone who is religious) that his fringe look at major religions would convince us that the educated mainstream is the same.

Also, to comment on John Stewart, I absolutely love his show because it is a good mix of actual news and commentary, and I appreciate the fact that he lets everyone know that he's liberal, unlike most news providers or commentators who try to make themselves out to be politically neutral. Also, a recent Time poll found that since Walter Cronkite passed, Stewart is the most trust name in news.
http://www.neatorama.com/2009/07/26/jon-stewart-names-most-trusted-name-in-news/
May 28, 2010 10:25am
B

bamagirl

Senior Member

154 posts
May 28, 2010 12:03 PM
Wasn't impressed. He came off as confused and contradicted himself on numerous occasions. He reminded me a lot of Michael Moore, just as with any politically/religiously motivated documentary, the view is skewed.
May 28, 2010 12:03pm
FatHobbit's avatar

FatHobbit

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8,651 posts
May 28, 2010 12:22 PM
ICEMAN59 wrote:
THE4RINGZ wrote: Once a celebrity tries to influence my political or social take on life I no longer have any interest in them period.
Check out a list of the celebrities you are interested in and then do some research regarding whether they support any political or social causes . . . my assumption is that, if what you say is true, you'll be left with a fairly small pool of entertainment to pick from.
I don't think he was saying he would boycott them, only that he didn't care what there political opinion was. I agree with him. I want them to entertain me, but once they start to tell me how I should act, what I should think or who I shoudl vote for I tend to tune them out. When there greatest attribute is the way they look, I don't care what they think. Not that there aren't smart celebrities, but some of them try to use only their celebrity to make political points.
May 28, 2010 12:22pm
P

Prescott

Senior Member

2,569 posts
May 28, 2010 12:33 PM
Don't tell me you don't let the political leanings of Joy Behar impact your political beliefs.
May 28, 2010 12:33pm
ManO'War's avatar

ManO'War

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1,420 posts
May 28, 2010 1:52 PM
I like how he pointed out the fact that the "Jesus" story was around and repeated over and over...long before Jesus Christ, and none had any response to that.
May 28, 2010 1:52pm
tcarrier32's avatar

tcarrier32

Senior Member

1,497 posts
May 28, 2010 2:02 PM
ManO'War wrote: I like how he pointed out the fact that the "Jesus" story was around and repeated over and over...long before Jesus Christ, and none had any response to that.
Maher has good points in his arguments, and i think the reason why he argued with the crazies of religion because a point he's trying to prove is that people believe what these "crazies" believe, and religion gives some of these crazies power.

and without religion, these crazies wouldnt have any power, and most of them shouldnt.
May 28, 2010 2:02pm
J

jmog

Senior Member

6,567 posts
May 28, 2010 3:40 PM
His problem is that he picked the "crazies" and made it sound like they represented what the normal every day religious people believe, but whatever.

And FYI, Colbert is 10x funnier than Stewart :).

Of course, I like the sarcastical type of humor so I'm biased.
May 28, 2010 3:40pm
BRF's avatar

BRF

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8,748 posts
May 28, 2010 4:33 PM
This guy drives me up the wall, however I DO listen to what he says so I can learn what people opposite of what I believe have to say. This weekend, he should tip his hat to the Vets who have fought for his right to say what he says......and having a show making him lots of money.
May 28, 2010 4:33pm
B

bamagirl

Senior Member

154 posts
May 28, 2010 4:39 PM
tcarrier32 wrote:
ManO'War wrote: I like how he pointed out the fact that the "Jesus" story was around and repeated over and over...long before Jesus Christ, and none had any response to that.
Maher has good points in his arguments, and i think the reason why he argued with the crazies of religion because a point he's trying to prove is that people believe what these "crazies" believe, and religion gives some of these crazies power.

and without religion, these crazies wouldnt have any power, and most of them shouldnt.
While that was a nice point, it wasn't completely accurate.

http://www.notyourmamasreligion.com/apps/articles/web/articleid/50210/columnid/3198/default.asp
May 28, 2010 4:39pm
tcarrier32's avatar

tcarrier32

Senior Member

1,497 posts
May 28, 2010 5:38 PM
aside from Horus, there were many other religions around that time that had a similar story to Jesus.

Jesus also fits into the Heroic Archetype of ancient myth, which many other powerful figures of ancient religion fit into as well.
May 28, 2010 5:38pm