No, seriously.

SINGAPORE.  Thinks there’s NOTHING WRONG.  With THE LOVE GURU.

…I’m just all sorts of amazed right now. This IS the same country that outlawed chewing gum within its borders because of vandalism risk, right?  This IS the same country that whipped an American citizen with a bamboo cane several times because he spray-painted a wall, right?

So when they brought this up, I was more than a little surprised:

Concerned that Mike Myers’ The Love Guru might offend Singapore’s Hindu residents, who comprise about 6 percent of the population, the island nation’s Board of Film Censors asked for advice from the official Films Consultative Panel, headed by Vijay Chandran. On Tuesday, the panel announced its unanimous conclusion that the movie “does not denigrate any religion.”

Have I just completely lost my ever-lovin’ blue eyed mind or has the most psychotic nation of neat freaks on the face of the earth just signed off on a movie pretty much everyone hates?

As for the much-publicized protests by some Hindu groups in the U.S. over the movie, Chandran told the Singapore Straits Times, “We thought it was much ado about nothing.”

Yep…sure have.  I’ve lost my mind.

This amazes me, folks.  Deeply and sincerely.  My mind boggles at the thought a country comprised of six percent Hindus could look at this movie and not see at least SOME denigration of religion.  The Catholics and Jews certainly saw it.  Some Hindus do too.  So what exactly did Singapore miss?

The point, would be my guess.  Clearly there’s denigration of religion going on there. At least a little bit.  Do I think it’s appropriate to not SHOW the film as a result?  No, nothing of the sort.  But there’s got to be at least a little sensitivity here–fun is being made and we should acknowledge it.

We should also acknowledge that there’s earlier Mike Myers work in the form of Austin Powers: Goldmember trivia on Kwanzoo.

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