Random Joel Stein Links

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

In no special order.

Kal Penn: The "Hilarious" Xenophobia of Time's Joel Stein

Were it not for the intelligent, fresh sense of humor of individuals like Mr. Stein, the world may never know about Americans who happen to be of Indian descent. 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. (I was worried that he'd missed an opportunity to joke about Dr. King's predecessor, Gandhi, but I see that he got to that hilarity on Twitter. More never-before-heard satire!)
Assemblyman responds to Joel Stein

It is people like Joel Stein that fuel the fires and cause bias crimes to occur. Over the past several years, Edison has witnessed all too many bias crimes, from both Indian Americans and Jewish residents being targeted to swastikas being found through various locations around town. Either Mr. Stein has a depraved sense of humor or he believes that one of every five Edison residents are not real people with families, friends, careers and interests.
What You Said About TIME’s ‘Edison, N.J.’

There’s been a strong reader response this week to our items about Time magazine’s controversial humor column on Edison, New Jersey, and its influx of Indian immigrants over the past few decades. Many of you said the article by Joel Stein, which lamented how Indians have overrun a local pizza parlor with a sweets shops and a multiplex with Bollywood films, among other observations, trafficked in stereotypes and was in poor taste generally. Several readers said it was downright racist. Many readers put the blame on Time for carrying the piece and said they had cancelled their subscriptions.