The Rudi Carrell Affair and its significance for the tension between theoterrorism and religious satire

• Author: Paul Cliteur
• Pages: 15-41

ANCILLAIURIS(anci.ch)2013:15–Article 15

TheRudiCarrellAffairanditssignificanceforthetensionbetweentheoter

rorismandreligioussatire

Abstract

ThisarticletreatsalargelyforgottenorunknownepisodeinrecentGermanandDutchhistory,namely

theintimidationoftheDutchGermanshowmasterRudiCarrellbyrepresentativesoftheIranianspir

itualleaderAyatollahKhomeiniin1987.Theauthortriestoanalyzesomeofthemoralandpolitical

dilemmasinvolvedinthisaffairandmakessomecomparisonswithlaterevents,suchasthefatwaon

SalmanRushdieortheCartoonAffairasfeaturedinthelatestsatiricalfilmbytheCopticChristian

NakoulaBasseleyNakoula.

(…)victoriesofthemindhavetobewonafreshineveryage.

(C.E.M.Joad)1

OnNewYear’sEvein1987,GermantelevisionbroadcastedsomehighlightsfromRudi

Carrell‘scomedyshow2.Carrell(1934–2006)wasaDutchborntelevisionpersonalitywho

becameoneofthemostbelovedshowmastersonGermantelevision.Successesinhishome

landledhimtoseeknewchallengesandin1965hemovedtoGermanywherehemastered

theGermanlanguagealthoughspeakingwithaheavyDutchaccentfortherestofhislife.

TheRudiCarrellShow(1965–1972)andRudi’sTagesshow(1981–1987)werehugesuccesses.

ThiswasremarkablebecauseaftertheSecondWorldWartherelationshipbetweenthetwo

countrieshadbeenstrained.Againstthisbackgrounditmaybeconsideredasurprisethat

Carrell’saudiencesnumbereduptotwothirdsofallGermanTVviewers.Onatleastone

occasion,in1987,hedrewaviewershipoftwentymillionpeople.3

The1987highlightsfromRudi’sTagesshowcontainedfragmentsofWillyBrandtwalking

onbarefeet;NancyReaganwhohadasmallaccidentfallingfromapodium;popeJohnII,

HelmutKohlandMargarethThatcherandotherprominentpoliticiansandworldleadersin

moreorlesscompromisingsituations.Rudi’sTagesshowwasCarrell’smostnotoriouspro

gram,atakeoffonARD’smaineveningnews,theGerman“Tagesschau”.4

1C.E.M.Joad,Shaw,VictorGollanczLTD,London1949,p.64.

2“RisquespoofonKhomeinisparksIranianuproar”,in:AssociatedPress,17February1987.

3“RudiCarrell”,in:BritannicaOnlineEncyclopedia.

4NeshaStarcevic,“SpoofofKhomeiniCausesDiplomaticFlap”,in:AssociatedPress,16February1987.Also

calleda“mocknewsprogram”,see:JamesM.Markham,“IranChokesonGermanJoke:Lingerieheapedon

Khomeini”,in:TheNewYor kTimes,19February1987.

byPaulCliteur

PaulCliteur–TheRudiCarrellAffair

16 ANCILLAIURIS(anci.ch)2013:15–Article

In1987,Carrell,bornintheDutchtownofAlkmaar,5hadbeenworkinginWestGermany

fortwentythreeyearsandacquiredareputationasoneofthemostpopularTVpersonalities.

HewasespeciallynotoriousforpokingfunatGermanpoliticiansusingphotomontage

tricks,6or,astheGermanssay“Bildwitze”(jokeswithpictures):acombinationofpictures,

textsandspokencommentary.7

Oneparticularfragmentwasremarkablylackingfromthe1987highlightsofCarrell’s

Tagesshow:atelevisedspoof,broadcastonSunday15February1987andseenby20.5million

viewers8,inwhichheusedfilmtrickstomakewomenappeartothrowtheirunderwearat

thefeetofIran’sAyatollahRuollahKhomeini.9

I. Carrellv.Khomeini

AyatollahRuollahKhomeini(1900–1989)wasaShiiteclericandthesupremeleaderof

Iranfrom1979to1989.Afterreligioustraininghebecameoneofthemostimportantcriticsof

theruleofRezaShahPahlavi(1878–1944)whowasthepresidentofIranfrom1929to1941,

andofhisson,MohammadRezaShahPahlavi(1919–1980)whoruledIranfrom1941–1979.10

Khomeiniwasfirstimprisonedandlaterexiledforhiscriticismofthegovernment.Hedevel

opedatheoryofgovernmentofhisown,knownasthe“governmentofthejurist”or“man

dateofthejurist”(velayatefaqih),11meaningthattheShiiteclergywouldhavetoruleIran.

ThecentralideawasthatintheabsenceofthetwelfthImam,hisauthoritydevolvedonthe

clergy.Forthatreasonallseculargovernmentwasillegitimate.12Attheveryleast,itshould

besupervisedbytheclergy.

UnderIslamicgovernmenttherewouldbenoneedforaparliamentintheWesternsense

oftheword.Onlysomesortofassemblycould“assist”government.Parliamentisnotneces

sarybecausetherearenolawsthathavetobemade:Islamprovidesalltherelevantanswers

regardingthecontentoflaw.“Iflawsareneeded,Islamhasestablishedthemall”,Khomeini

said.13Andfurther:afterestablishingagovernmentthereisnoneed“tositdownanddraw

uplaws”.14

5Hewasgenerallyconsideredtobea“Dutchcomedian”inGermany,andperhapshecherishedandculti

vatedhisheavyDutchac cent.See:“TehranexpelstwoW.Germans”,in:TheWas hin gto nPos t,18February

1987.

6 “RisquespoofonKhomeinisparksIranianuproar”,in:AssociatedPress,17February1987.

7HannjostLixfeld,“WitzundsozialeWirklichkeit:BemerkungenzurinterdisziplinärenWitzforschu ng”,in:

Fabula,Vol .25,nr.3–4,September2009,pp.183–213,p.185.

8“TehranexpelstwoW.Germans”,in:TheWash ing to nPost,18 February1987.

9SeeforananalysisofCarrell’shumor:HannjostLixfeld,“WitzundsozialeWirklichkeit:Bemerkungenzur

interdisziplinärenWitzforschung”,in:Fabula,Vol. 25,nr.3–4,September2009,pp.183–213.

10 MoresecularthanKhomeini’sregime,ofcourse,butnotassecularasMustafaKemalAtatürk’smodern

Turk ey.Th ePhalavi’swantedtolinktheirfamilytoPersia’spreIslamicimperiallegacy.See:PhyllisChesler,

“BantheBurqa?TheArgumentinFavor”,in:TheMiddleEastQuarterly,Fall2010,pp.33–45,p.35.

11 Khomeini,“IslamicGovernment”,in:IslamandRevolution,WritingsandDeclarationsofImamKhomeini,

TranslatedandannotatedbyHamidAlgar,MizanPress,ContemporaryIslamicThought,Persia nSeries

1981,pp.27–150.

12 H.E.Chehabi,“ReligionandPoliticsinIran:HowTheocraticisthe IslamicRepublic?”,in:Daedalus,Vol .

120,No.3,Summer,1991,pp.69–91,p.73.

13 Khomeinicitedin:Chehabi,Ibid.,p.75.

14 Khomeinicitedin:Chehabi,Ibid.,p.75.