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Peanut Butter Face Discusses Sri Lanka

2009-04-26 · explainer · John · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: World affairs · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, heavy topic, community lore

Wearing peanut butter on his face to get attention, John explains Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war between the government and the Tamil Tigers, a war with no good guys, and argues the world ignores it because it lacks obvious villains.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Newsday hook: the six news stories John can follow at once

  • ★ John says he can follow about six news stories at once and lists them: the economic crisis, Iraq, Pakistan, the Craigslist killer, North Korea and Lindsay Lohan's breakup. (playful) — 00:00:07

00:00:31 — Sri Lanka's forgotten civil war; Peanut Butter Face as an attention device; pop quiz on the Tamil Tigers

  • ★★★ John says a story like Sri Lanka's 30-year civil war passes people by, and it is not their fault because it is complicated and no one has explained it. — 00:00:31
  • ★★ John says he knows how to make people pay attention to serious international news: Peanut Butter Face. (playful) — 00:00:48 · Peanut Butter Face
  • ★★ John says the Tamil Tigers, who invented contemporary suicide bombings and the suicide vest, are Hindus and some Christians, and not very religious. (playful) — 00:00:54

00:01:22 — History: 1956 language and religion laws, war from 1983, no good guys, the 2002 ceasefire, renewed war in 2009

  • ★★★ John says that in 1956, a few years after independence, the Buddhist Sinhalese majority made Sinhalese the only language of Sri Lanka and Buddhism the official religion. — 00:01:22
  • ★★★ John says the Tamil minority resented this, tensions simmered for decades and war broke out in 1983, the Tamil Tigers fighting for an independent Tamil state in the north-east. — 00:01:41
  • ★★★ John calls it a difficult case: not every ethnic group that wants a country can have one, yet the government has never treated Tamils equally or fairly. — 00:02:01
  • ★★ John says the war has killed more than 80,000 people over the years. — 00:02:13
  • ★★★ John says there are no good guys: the government is to blame for many Tamil disappearances, and the Tigers, listed as terrorists by many countries, use suicide bombings and child soldiers. — 00:02:16
  • ★★ John says that in 2002, after almost 20 years of on-and-off war, the two sides signed a ceasefire, raising hopes of some autonomy for the Tamil-majority region. — 00:02:33
  • ★★ John says the war erupted again at the start of this year (2009); the Tigers are now surrounded, on the run and hold little territory while the government tries to pound them into submission. — 00:02:48
  • ★★ John argues that with rebel groups suicidally bent on independence there is not really any 'winning'. — 00:02:59

00:03:07 — 6,000 civilians killed in three months; why the world stops watching ambiguous conflicts; hope for a ceasefire; Willy sign-off

  • ★★★ John says the UN estimates that more than 6,000 civilians have been killed in the last three months, by the government or the Tamil Tigers. — 00:03:07
  • ★★★ John argues that without obvious candidates for the Evil Baby Orphanage the world gets bored: we follow stories that make sense and neglect ambiguous situations. — 00:03:16 · Evil Baby Orphanage
  • ★★ John hopes for an immediate ceasefire so the complicated political questions can be discussed without killing thousands of people. — 00:03:44

Humor (significant)

  • Among the news stories he follows, John lists the breakup of Lindsay Lohan and Samantha. — 00:00:24

    “I-don't-know-your-last-name-and-wish-I-didn't-know-your-first-name.”

  • John says he knows how to get people to pay attention to serious international news. — 00:00:52

    “Peanut Butter Face!”

  • Pop quiz: what religion are the inventors of contemporary suicide bombings and the suicide vest? — 00:01:02

    “That's right Hank, they're Hindus.”

  • Sign-off with peanut butter still on his face. — 00:03:54

    “he dreams of a world in which all people have Peanut Butter Face.”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Government of Sri Lanka · Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam · Peanut Butter Face · Sri Lanka · Sri Lankan Civil War

Also: People: Lindsay Lohan · Philip Markoff · Samantha Ronson

Organizations: United Nations

Groups: Sinhalese people · Sri Lankan Tamils

Terms: Evil Baby Orphanage

Concepts: Buddhism · child soldier · Hinduism · narrative fallacy · suicide attack

Places: Iraq · North Korea · Pakistan

Events: 2007–2008 financial crisis

Policies: Sinhala Only Act

animal: Willy

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