Thursday, October 25, 2012

Angry Birds as an Allegory for Empathizing with Al-Qaeda





Today a man called my store to check on the availability of two books before he was willing to "schlep" down for them: The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright, and Jane Mayer's The Dark Side.


When I found these books, I put them on hold for Mr. Weinberg.

I set them down on the hold shelf next to an Angry Bird plushy, and the coincidence struck me of placing books about Al-Qaeda next to an animal that is launched through the air, changes trajectory mid-flight, and crashes itself into edifices constructed by its mortal enemies, thieving, entitled "Others," taking what they want out of Imperialistic gusto and foolhardy belief in their cultural and technological superiority.

Edward Said, I hope you are proud of me.

Even I find this tasteless, but the art is so accurate I couldn't not post it.

1 comment :

  1. I played the famous Angry Birds for the first time yesterday and by the time I finished I had exactly your thoughts! I Googled to explore how long people had come to the same conclusion and I was surprised to find your recent (late-2012) post among the highest-ranked hits!

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