Git-tar and Hos

I think the prelude to the country music song is quite funny and is very similar to the other skits we have viewed in terms of setting the victim up with sympathy and then immersing them into an uncomfortable situation. He starts in with the country music musician with a strong sincerity of wanting help Cohen write a country song. The musician right off the bat was portrayed to be sympathetic to Cohen’s foreign culture. Cohen traps the musician by giving an absurd unfamiliar “song from home” that only makes the musician feel guilty and obligated to help. After cornering him, Cohen then goes in for the kill by moving from a helpful situation to an uncomfortable one by saying he wants to write a song about his wife dying and his sister having “best sex in mouth”. You could see the discomfort of the musician; however, he tries to sympathize with Cohen by proclaiming “that’s a talent too” in regards to his sister being a prostitute.

The performance of the song had a different take on cultural discomfort. At first glances of facial expressions, the audience at the bar seemed pissed that someone was invading their culture and seemingly mocking them. However, as the song progressed, more of the audience began taking Cohen’s foreign origin not as one of insult to them, but as a comrade singing in their style. The giggling in the background and people singing along was a signal that they had accepted him into their culture. Once he had gained that acceptance, the entire culture seemingly unconsciously crossed the socially appropriate boundary by chanting the racially fused lyrics to his song.

It was quite ironic seeing two separate takes on uncomfortable cultural situations and watching the accepting responses. The musician, made a supporting statement to Cohen even though it was obvious he did not accept the nature of what he wanted to sing about. The audience in the bar accepted him as a stranger by supporting his song, even though it was racially crossing the line. The differences however, were to that of conscious support and unconscious support. Cohen shows conscious and supportive affiliation with a foreign culture here with the musician and remarks against his obvious personal feelings and unconscious supportive affiliation with the audience in the bar through their cultural acceptance, and chanting words to a song in support without full understanding of what they were actually saying.