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| Europe | |
| Sweden: Muhammad cartoon inspires musical - working title: "Dogs" | |
| 2007-11-07 | |
| A Swedish cartoonist already facing a slew of death threats over his depiction of the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a dog is working on a musical based on the drawing called "Dogs", a newspaper reported Wednesday. I think the terms and cost of the liability insurance policy will deserve an article of its own. Lars Vilks, whose cartoon featuring Muhammad's head on a dog's body provoked massive protests by Muslims when it was published in August, compared his new project with musicals like "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Cats". "Muhammad is also a superstar in the modern sense of the term," Vilks told the Dagens Nyheter daily from New York, adding that around a dozen Not to mention a platoon of understudies.
Vilks insisted he was not worried about the death threats that have been pouring in from, among others, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, since his Muhammad drawing was first published, even though he received a new one as recently as last week. "No, I'm not taking this too seriously. Ninety-nine percent is pure scare tactics," he said, adding that he did not think the reactions to the musical, which will be staged in Sweden, would be as extreme as the cartoon protests. For the one-per-centers, not so good. Just ask the shade of Theo van Gogh. "People will understand that this is a positive debate. A sense of humour about this has been missing so far." According to strict interpretations of Islam, all depictions of Muhammad in pictorial form are blasphemous and strictly forbidden. Vilks, with the support of Swedish media and politicians, has however insisted on the importance of publishing such controversial material in defence of Sweden's freedom of expression. "It is part of the rules of the game to be able to criticize religion and politics. It is nothing personal and I do not have it in for anyone," Vilks told Dagens Nyheter. A similar | |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #5 I think that's "pack" of understudies. |
| Posted by: Steven 2007-11-07 23:39 |
| #4 "We will also have an elegy by the 'choir of the offended'" ROFLMAO! This guy wins the Snark O' The Day™ award - and he's not even playing. :-D |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-11-07 18:50 |
| #3 Wonder which US cities will ban it from running when it comes Stateside? Or maybe asking the opposite question will generate a shorter list.... |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2007-11-07 14:20 |
| #2 whatever you might say about Vilks...he certainly has large stones. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2007-11-07 12:37 |
| #1 We will also have an elegy by the 'choir of the offended' New meme!! Where can I order tickets for the English translation? I saw Cats performed in Dutch, and it ruined the poetry for me (and not just because my Dutch was still scanty after only seven months) -- although admittedly the dance is what makes that particular musical. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-11-07 10:53 |