By Laurie Baron
SAN DIEGO─ Muslim groups welcomed the announcement by Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Renald Luzier that he will no longer draw the prophet Muhammad. They apparently didn’t read the end of his statement saying he was now trying to figure out how to depict Allah. In a related story many authors who belong to the PEN society are boycotting its gala dinner where the organization will honor Charlie Hebdo. They issued a joint statement: “Je suis intimidé.”
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Hillary Swank will play historian Deborah Lipstadt in a film about Lipstadt’s court battle with Holocaust denier David Irving. The same studio revealed its decision to cast Angelina Jolie as Mother Theresa in a forthcoming biopic.
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After spying on the filming of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, paparazzi allege that an actor serves as his stand-in for the program. They have concluded from such episodes as this one, the real Bourdain is morbidly obese and suffers from debilitating diabetes and cirrhosis. If he doesn’t stop overeating and drinking in excess, they surmise this might be the show’s last season.
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Sanjay Gupta’s fourth program on marijuana will be titled Weed: Looking at My Lava Lamp. Although Gupta will not narrate it, he can be heard munching food and exclaiming “cool” in the background.
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HBO plans to revive its series The Wire about policing the drug traffic in Baltimore’s black neighborhoods. The new season will be a reality show called The Wire Frays and will consist of compilations of the cable news coverage of the riots sparked by the death of Freddie Gray.
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Baron is professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com . San Diego Jewish World points out to new readers that this column is satire, and nothing herein should be taken literally.