On Tue, 14 Nov 2006, Hitchens was posted reviewing Borat:
> Kazakh Like Me
> Borat reveals the painful politeness of American
> society.
> By Christopher Hitchens
Before he goes off track, Hitchens is right for a couple of paragraphs. As Aaron Swartz pointed out earlier, Cohen's humor is about juking norms. It basically all grows out of the the sociology 101 experiment where the teacher tells you to do something deviant in public and then note down how people react. And Hitchens adds one more step to that analysis: the main norm is politeness. And the absurdity that politeness and niceness can be turned into a flaw and a crime is a large part of Cohen's shtick. Not all of it; he plays this norm game in many ways. But a big part of it.
That said, I have to say the thing that really sticks in my craw personally (foregoing the obvious triteness of his diatribe against PC) is Hitchens' misuse of the word "politesse:
<quote>
Among the "cultural learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan" is the discovery that Americans are almost pedantic in their hospitality and politesse.
<unquote>
Perhaps I'm alone in this, but I feel that if "politesse" is used to mean the same as "politeness," then it's simply pretentious; you really are using a foreign word where a perfectly good English one exists. But there is an obvious meaning for politesse that doesn't exist in English and which flows clearly from its French roots, namely the courtly, French, formal, diplomatic politeness through which we express cutting sentiments in a way that is above reproach: the put-down of the courtier, the icy manner of a headwaiter, the insult in parliament prefaced with My Honorable Colleague. And this is of course is exactly what Americans are no good at all. Our politeness is the opposite. It's earnest.
And if we are good at it, it marks us as an exception. I just accidentally ran into a great usage citation from a profile of Johnny Carson by Kenneth Tynan that ran in the 1978 anniversary issue of the New Yorker:
<quote>
Carson can cope superbly with garrulous guests who tell interminable stories (whether ponderously, owing to drink or downers, or manically, owing to uppers or illicit inhalations). Instead of quickly changing the subject, as many hosts would, he slaughters the offenders with pure politesse.
<unquote>
(BTW, passing plug: I recently bought the complete New Yorker archive on DVD, every page from 1928 to the present, and IMHO it's the greatest waste of time EVER.)
Michael