Burma: the Dictatorship of the Absurd
August 8, 2011 10:18 AM   Subscribe

Happy World: Burma, the Dictatorship of the Absurd. A surprisingly funny "hypervideo" web documentary about life in Myanmar Burma. [Via]
posted by homunculus (34 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Excellent!
posted by TDavis at 11:14 AM on August 8, 2011


Q: Why'd you say "Burma?"
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:16 AM on August 8, 2011


Why is the regime represented throughout the video as a white man in an olive drab military officer's uniform wearing an exagerated cowboy hat that bears a red star?
posted by longsleeves at 11:16 AM on August 8, 2011


A: I panicked. this is from a Monty Python sketch
posted by longsleeves at 11:19 AM on August 8, 2011


longsleeves: “Why is the regime represented throughout the video as a white man in an olive drab military officer's uniform wearing an exagerated cowboy hat that bears a red star?”

Where did you get the idea that he's white? The little animated guy looks brown to me. And they introduced him in the first ten seconds of the film; he is Than Shwe, the (now former) dictator in Burma. The cowboy hat with the star is kind of a flourish, I guess, but the glasses and olive drab uniform seem about right.
posted by koeselitz at 11:44 AM on August 8, 2011


Cowboy hats and authoritarians have a long history together.
posted by DU at 11:48 AM on August 8, 2011


Oops, I must have missed the first few seconds. That still doesn't explain the headgear, though.
posted by longsleeves at 11:51 AM on August 8, 2011


Oops, I must have missed the first few seconds. That still doesn't explain the headgear, though.

I don't know whether it's distinctive regime-headgear, but some of the most significant figures in that painting at the war-on-drugs museum definitely had wide-brimmed hats with one side pinned up.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:53 AM on August 8, 2011


Q: Why'd you say "Burma?"

Myanmar is the name the junta use. Burma is what most pro-democracy advocates use. See here for more details.
posted by kmz at 11:55 AM on August 8, 2011 [3 favorites]


Cowboy hats and authoritarians have a long history together.

"Authoritarians?" Reagan wasn't really in charge, you know. Neither was Bush II.
posted by longsleeves at 11:58 AM on August 8, 2011


The circumstances around Burma's name have resulted in the, shall we say, unusual situation by which a name assigned by a former colonial power is preferred by progressive, pro-democracy groups.
posted by Tomorrowful at 11:59 AM on August 8, 2011 [1 favorite]


Why'd you say Burma? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k1ccguXiws

Burma!
posted by longsleeves at 12:03 PM on August 8, 2011


ZenMasterThis: “Q: Why'd you say ‘Burma?’”

kmz: “Myanmar is the name the junta use. Burma is what most pro-democracy advocates use. See here for more details.”

All true, but for the record ZenMasterThis was quoting a Monty Python sketch.
posted by koeselitz at 12:04 PM on August 8, 2011


D'oh! *embarrassed now*
posted by kmz at 12:06 PM on August 8, 2011


There's no such place as Burma.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:30 PM on August 8, 2011


Evidently Korean dramas are the opiate of the masses.
posted by Winnemac at 12:31 PM on August 8, 2011 [1 favorite]


From the obscure U.S. film "Rambo.", a Burmese fighting soldier with hat. Is it just too hot and humid for helmets?
posted by longsleeves at 12:48 PM on August 8, 2011


"Authoritarians?" Reagan wasn't really in charge, you know.

Bit of a derail but that isn't really true. Yes, Reagan delegated. Much like Grant he over-trusted many of his closest confidantes. But in the end he put those people into a position that allowed them to abuse the power he delegated. The proverbial buck stopped at the Oval Office, as it always does, or at least should, concerning executive authority. Now whether blame has been rightly assigned throughout history, that's another question entirely. I really enjoyed the book "Reckoning With Reagan" which I thought was a very good primer on the administration as well as Reagan's leadership style.
posted by IvoShandor at 1:14 PM on August 8, 2011


he over-trusted many of his closest confidantes. But in the end he put those people into a position that allowed them to abuse the power he delegated.

As I said, not in charge.
posted by longsleeves at 2:06 PM on August 8, 2011


The first line above is a quote from Ivo Shandor. My error.
posted by longsleeves at 2:08 PM on August 8, 2011


Why does it matter if Reagan was in charge? He was clearly authoritarian. You don't have to be in charge to be an authoritarian.
posted by koeselitz at 2:23 PM on August 8, 2011


Was not.

Was too.

Was not.

Was too.
posted by zennie at 2:28 PM on August 8, 2011 [2 favorites]


The video is an accurate representation of the absurdity found in Burma.

Of course, these are only the readily visible things.
posted by zennie at 2:32 PM on August 8, 2011


Is it just too hot and humid for helmets?

They have helmets, but those are for the regular soldiers. The brass needs bling.
posted by zennie at 2:35 PM on August 8, 2011




US puts a new man in Myanmar
posted by homunculus at 2:38 PM on August 8, 2011


A MAN. A PLAN. A DICTATORSHIP. BURMA!
posted by blue_beetle at 2:39 PM on August 8, 2011


On second look, maybe they don't have military helmets anymore.
posted by zennie at 2:46 PM on August 8, 2011


If there's one bit of hope in this cartoonishly repressive regime, it's seeing the ways people try to work around it.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 7:15 PM on August 8, 2011


"Myanmar" is the name the junta use, but "Burma" is the name given to the country by the majority ethnic group, the Bamar, who are 68% of the population (meaning that other groups make up almost 1/3 of "Burma"). I think you can pin a lot of things on the junta, but the desire to rename a diverse country something more inclusive is very far from being their worst offense.
posted by subdee at 11:50 PM on August 8, 2011


It isn't the worst offense, but it is an attempt to eradicate history and rewrite it in favor of the junta, which is pretty indefensible.
posted by Peztopiary at 3:57 AM on August 9, 2011


Fascinating documentary, I didn't quite get why you can only use flawless money.
posted by Ark_Light at 11:34 AM on August 9, 2011






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