"Unfortunately for Bulgaria, this shows in a certain way that some nations have a sense of humour and some do not. I have apologised but when we were travelling to Bulgaria when I was young, the biggest difference for a child was the toilet, so that was the first thing that came to my mind."
How boorish. So it was really his very limited knowledge of the world (even at the level of stereotypes).
I have looked at Černý's other work in the meantime. Some interesting stuff (like the St. Václav on a dead horse) and a some other idiotic provocations (like the paint attack on the war memorial tank). *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
"I am seriously very pro-European," Mr Cerny told The Times. "It would be a great pity if Europe would not be able to take this as a bit of satire and irony. If we are strong as Europe it should be OK for one nation to make fun of other nations."
I'm not even sure where to begin picking this apart. So he wants to test Brussels... by provoking reactions from national governments. And sees himself as a nation. Or representative of it. Or entertainer of it?
Really stuff for the Torygraph to love. (Or is that a double-trick played on them? Nah, I doubt it.)
Mr Cerny added: "Monty Python and Sacha Baron Cohen are probably the most exceptional examples of satiric politically-incorrect humour and maybe because the British have this sense of humour they are able to take the joke better than some other nations.
I disagree, I happen to find national stereotyping not funny at all.
When I was an Erasmus student in the UK there was a sort of welcome event for all the international students, and there were a lot of us. The event was introduced by the Chancellor of the University who thought the best way to break the ice was to treat us to a string of not so funny and sometimes offensive jokes on people'd nationality. Bleh. Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
