Naomi Alderman, writer for The Guardian, made an interesting observation of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat character and how it parallels the famous obedience experiment by Stanley Milgram. If you’re not familiar with the ground-breaking psychological study by Milgram then check out the wikipedia article to brush up.

In The Guardian, Alderman explains how the very presence of Borat is like a micro-Milgram experiment where the “participants” are prodded to spilling their (racist) beans where they even allow Borat’s anti-Semitism and misogyny to run rampant, sometimes without objection and even worse, with encouragement. The Head Yenta once blogged about Borat’s “Throw the Jew Down the Well” performance at a country music bar, a perfect example where Borat tricks an audience into revealing it’s true colors (and they aren’t pretty).

Alderman writes:

The reason it is unsettling to hear Borat sing “Throw the Jew down the well” is because of the reaction of those listening. Some sit in mute astonishment and horror. But some join in. Some sing along, smile and stamp their feet. One woman even – unprompted, mind you – puts her fingers to her forehead to make horns when he sings, “You must take [the Jew] by his horns.” Borat is unsettling not because his opinions are outlandish but because he reveals how many ordinary people share them.

In the 60’s Stanley Milgram wondered why the German people allowed the Nazis to commit such atrocities to the Jews and performed an experiment that “shocked” the world out of its ignorance. Today, Borat is still shocking audiences and revealing the anti-Semitism that festers decades later.

Who knew that good ol’ Hebrew/English tunes would win out on American Idol’s Underground competition for the faith-based category? The “Underground” branch of American Idol highlights sub genres of music that are not yet ready for the mainstream (read: for teeny bopers). In the faith-based category one can assume that it was littered with all kinds of Christian music, being that this is American Idol!

Its amazing and refreshing (in light of Gibson’s big mouth) to know that Jewish music took the crown among the thousands of entries.

Beth Schafer explains:

“My songs combine the rich tradition of interpreting Jewish sacred texts with the high production values of contemporary Christian music. The themes are universal which appeal to Jewish and Christian fans alike,” said Schafer. She added, “I hope to build bridges throughout the interfaith community with my music and emphasize that we all have more in common than not.”

Congrats to Beth Schafer, her music is available online too, check it out.