If you are bored with your Sudoku puzzles and those Mental Jumping Jacks e-mails your great-aunt forwards you so you don't end up in a nursing home like her Alzheimers-afflicted sister, try to identify a single race, religion or creed that Curb Your Enthuasiam has not insulted in the 66 episodes that have aired on HBO. Now midway through its Seinfeld-plated seventh season, one group has had enough, and is protesting Larry David's schtick.
The Catholic League is protesting a scene in last Sunday's episode, 'The Bare Midriff,' in which Larry David's urine stream becomes so heavy (as a side effect of a new medication), that he accidentally backsplashes on a portrait of Jesus. The conspicuously landed drops are then mistaken by a religious mother and daughter as miraculous tears wept by Jesus himself.
Catholic League President Bill Donohue released a statement earlier this week citing the jab as "offensive and tasteless" and suggesting David retire.
That's what passes for creativity these days. Was Larry David always this crude? Would he think it comedic if someone urinated on a picture of his mother?
Other Catholic groups have joined the protest, including InsideCatholic.com's Deal Hudson:
If the same thing was done to a symbol of any other religions-Jewish or Muslim-there'd be a huge outcry. It's simply not a level playing field.
In fact, Larry has poked fun at Jewish and Muslim religions in previous episodes. As Curb fans remember, in Season 4's The Blind Date, Larry arranged a date for a 'veiled Muslim woman' and his blind friend, the only person he figured could handle being seen in public with her. And in Season 5's The Ski Lift, Larry exploits the Jewish faith to improve Richard Lewis' standing on the kidney transplant list.
In the meantime, HBO is sticking by its program with their own statement:
"Anyone who follows Curb Your Enthusiasm knows that the show is full of parody and satire. Larry David makes fun of everyone, most especially himself. The humor is always playful and certainly never malicious."
A representative from the Catholic League will further discuss the debate and the 'masses of Catholic protesters" on Fox News' Fox and Friends and The Opie & Anthony Show later this week.
ยท HBO Defends Larry David Pissing On Jesus [Ace Showbiz]