May 7 - Pet Peeve Monday - Bad Effigies

This week’s PET PEEVE MONDAY (PPM) is about people in India burning Richard Gere in effigy.

The move comes after Gere kissed the cheeks of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty during an event to promote AIDS awareness.

Some called for the actor's death. Others wanted public apologies. In America, we just want him to stay in India.

Since his 1990 hit Pretty Woman, Gere has been in the following movies. None of them blockbusters:

Spring Break in Bosnia

The Hoax
Bee Season
Shall We Dance
Chicago
Unfaithful
The Mothman Prophecies
Dr. T & the Women
Autumn in New York
Runaway Bride
The Jackal
Red Corner
Primal Fear
First Knight
Intersection
Mr. Jones
Sommersby
And The Band Played On

In almost every movie, Gere plays a lothario that cheats on his wife. I guess Michael Douglas can’t always play THAT part.

But, here’s my PEEVE.

The people in INDIA do not know how to make effigies. I looked at their Gere dolls. They looked like leftover Pope John Paul II effigy exhibits. The one on the left looks more like Coffee Maker Juan Valdez then Richard Gere.

The effigy looks nothing like Gere. If there were a close resemblance to Richard Gere, I’m sure PETR (People for Ethical Treatment of Rodents / Gerbils) would have been involved.

This is a rare occurence of Indian Irony. I would suggest that India OUTSOURCE their effigy making to Iran, Iraq, or Berkley, CA.

They seem to have a good handle on effigy manufacture, based upon their ability to mass-produce George W. Bush effigies. Richard Gere effigies should be no problem at all.