The Pink PicnicPics by Grizz BrHull PridePics by www.mybigdayeventphotography.com8
All in the best possible taste?‘I rather like bad wine... One gets so boredwith good wine,’ says Mr Mountchesney, arather cynical posh boy in Disraeli’s Sybil.This illustrates the truism that taste is verysubjective. Perhaps the classic expressionof bad taste in the cinema is the ‘Springtimefor Hitler’ sequence in Mel Brookes'The Producers: a troupe of dancers do aBusby Berkley musical number, dressed inNazi costumes. Totally offensive to the Jewishaudience in the theatre but the cinemaaudience can appreciate the daring and thechoreography.Terrorism and the activities of Al Queda area very serious threat to world security butSacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator is a sophisticatedattempt to make us laugh atthem. We shouldn't be amused by crassstereotypes of Arabs or vegan lesbians butin fact this allows us to cope with a nihilisticmessage without wallowing in unproductivedepression.Cohen plays Admiral General Aladeen, thetyrannical dictator of the north Africancountry of Wadiya. He is hiding the real BinLaden in one of his palaces whilst preparingnuclear weapons and summarily executingall the opposition. Kim Jung Eumeets Saddam Hussein meets ColonelGhaddafy. The plot goes into overdrivewhen Aladeen goes to the UN in New Yorkto stop sanctions being imposed on hiscountry as a result of his policies. Meanwhilehis older brother Tamir engineers acoup. Aladeen is deposed and a look-a-likedouble takes his place. Cast into the streets,dressed rather obviously as a pantomimeArab, Cohen gets arrested, raped and fallsfor a lesbian vegan who runs a wholefoodco-operative. A succession of very bad tastejokes now follow about Jews,feminism and child birth.You can feel the audiencecringe at words weno longer use. Just asthe UN are about toagree to sanctions,Aladeen appears as adeus ex machina anddisrupts the ceremony.On his return home wecan see whether or nothe has learnt anythingabout westerndemocracy and respectfor othersafter his sojourn in the west.The audience are fully aware that Aladeenis modeled on real dictators. If we get tosee the reality of dictatorship , however humorouslypresented, then perhaps we arein a stronger position to opposethe excesses: knowledgemight give uspower. We are confrontedwith the paradoxthat democracygives the choice fordiverse views thatmight be extremelydistasteful. Mockerycan be as strong aweapon as assassinationin mobilisingpublic opinionagainst the arrogant.The Dictatoris typical of Cohen's work, following stylisticallyon from Borat. But it isn't easy todecide whether he originally decided toproduce a film in the tradition of the seasidepostcard or whether he has a deeperpolitical agenda.Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator wasclearly a piece of anti-fascist propagandaand it certainly annoyed Hitler greatly.Cohen's motives are perhaps more complex.He does actually want us to loveAladeen (well, a little bit), warts and all.There is a sense of affection betweenAladeen and Zoe (the food co-operativeowner) mixed in with the offensive banterabout the mechanics of lesbian sex. Wemight think about whether Aladeen is a victimof circumstances beyond his control ashe follows the practices begun by his father.He does have some recognition thatsummary executions are perhaps a badthing, as the narrative progresses. Clownlikein dress and behaviour, Aladeen ismore a comic creation than evil tyrant.Gay men can breathe a sigh of relief thatthey are not the targets for stereotyping.The emphasis on straight male machismoas an admirable state of being might beseen as tiresome, though. But of course weknow what Aladeen would say if he wasasked to approve homosexuality...No political system is perfect and this mightbe the key message of the film. The west,as we know, commits atrocities in wartime,invades countries, has nuclear weaponsand uses rampant capitalism to benefitonly the few. The Dictator has deepthoughts packaged in a cheerful mannerso that we learn without being really awareof the fact. Farce can be seen as the almostexact mirror image of tragedy, and Cohenis a film maker of some skill in developingsuch a sophisticated mind-set for his audience.Nick TyldesleyMESMAC latest“None of it would be possible without you”So here we are again in the middle ofanother successful Pride season inYorkshire. All our local <strong>Prides</strong> have returnedto us and all seem to havemanaged to be doing it just that littlebit bigger and better than last year.Better organised, better advertised andwith more exciting line-ups. Long mayit continue. None of it would be possible,of course, was it not for the timeand effort put in by volunteers.So it seemed to us at Yorkshire MES-MAC to be as good a time as any to reflecton the role played by volunteersin the LGB&T community: they sit onPride committees and steward theevents, they help set things up andthey clean up afterwards; they runLGB&T social groups, forums and partnerships;they organise fundraisingevents; they sit on consultative forumsand they fight for our rights. The freedomsand protections we now enjoyas a group were won for us largely byvolunteers.Here at Yorkshire MESMAC we haveour own volunteers. We are stillfunded primarily to prevent HIV transmissionamongst men who have sexwith men, with some funding in someareas to support HIV positive peopleand boys and young men at risk ofsexual exploitation. And in Bradfordand Airedale we are funded to supportLGB people concerned with their mentalhealth.Our volunteers pack condoms andlube into those handy pocket-sizedpackages; go out onto the scene andinto the community to help persuadepeople to test for HIV; run online dropins;buddy up with those affected byHIV; peer mentor LGB&T youth and awhole host of other activities.So if you volunteer with us, or to supportthe LGB&T community more generally,and on behalf of LGB&T peoplepresent and future, Thank You! Keepup the good work! Whether it’s thePride event we attend, the rights weenjoy or the services we are accessing.None of it would be possible withoutyou.If you would like to volunteer for YorkshireMESMAC you will find more informationand an expression ofinterest form atwww.mesmac.co.uk/volunteering.Alternatively speak to a worker aboutopportunities locally - try www.mesmac.co.uk/contact-mesmac or call0113 2444 209.Free North Yorks trainingworkshopThere’s a free workshop - entitled‘What you need to know about STI’sand STD’s!’ on August 23rd from 6pm-9pm at the York office. 12 trainingspaces are available and refreshmentswill be provided. For details, pleasecontact Pete Blackburn, CommunityDevelopment Worker, on 01904620400 or email p.blackburn@mesmac.co.uk9
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