Thursday, 17 November 2011

Looking at Things the Kim Jong Il Way

I'm not quite sure why, but I find this pictorial blog very funny. Ever since Team America demonstrated his comedy potential, it's been hard to keep a straight face whenever the Dear Leader hoves into view (despite the fact that he is one of the world's prime murderous bastards). Back in the days when Kim Il Sung was the Dear Leader and I was a librarian, I used to enjoy the North Korean propaganda magazines that were sent, I believe, to every library in the land. Badly printed, written in often impenetrable 'English' and illustrated with grey photos of the Dear Leader amid rapturously smiling citizens, they looked forward confidently to the day when the rest of the world would come round to the North Korean way of creating an Earthly Paradise. Funny that never happened.
Posted by at

11 comments:

  1. Ron Rollins17 November 2011 at 15:24

    Couldn't this work for the royal family as well?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nige17 November 2011 at 15:32

    I dunno - I think it's a Kim Jong Il thing...

    ReplyDelete
  3. David17 November 2011 at 16:01

    I think Ron's right, it could work well with dear old Phil the Greek - Phil disinterested in meeting plumbers, disinterested in meeting bakers, disinterested in meeting peasants. Got legs?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Banished To A Pompous Land17 November 2011 at 16:59

    Its true though Nige. Many of the worlds most murderous bastards can seem amusing with the benefit of distance. Think back to the merry crocodile pranks of Idi Amin, Imelda Marcos and her shoe fetish. The phrase 'funny little man' seems to crop up often when reading English writers of the early 1930s.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nige17 November 2011 at 18:43

    Yes, it almost seems to go with the territory, doesn't it, though I supposed Pol Pot was an exception (and Mao and Stalin more jolly and avuncular than funny). Mugabe's not too funny either - he should work on it (or, preferably, die)...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Brit17 November 2011 at 19:42

    Ronery, I am so ronery...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Brit17 November 2011 at 19:50

    Gaddafi was increasingly funny, wasn't he? Though none have ever matched Hitler because as a comic look it cannot be improved upon.

    It's to do woth nobody being able to tell them they look like a total dick.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Banished To A Pompous Land17 November 2011 at 20:20

    Pol Pot was probably a little too 'low key'. We prefer our tyrants to have a certain degree of flamboyance. Mugabe needs a nice uniform...with epaulettes. Those busuness suits are a downer.

    And you might have noticed I did manage omit the name Hitler from the last sentence in my original comment. Apologies, but then I suspect you knew what I was getting at.

    ReplyDelete
  9. KateNZ17 November 2011 at 20:36

    YouTube is a fine source of North Korean propaganda films, which are also amusing in a very bad taste way... and the Vice Guide to North Korea is a fascinating watch (suffice to say the presenter and cameraman have nerves of steel!)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nige18 November 2011 at 11:07

    Crikey! I must have a look...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sophie King18 November 2011 at 21:28

    Time for him to get a new anorak, surely?

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)