IMDB'S FILM REVIEWS OF “THE DICTATOR” BY SACHA BARON COHEN DEMONSTRATE HOW HUMOUR CAN BE A GEOPOLITICAL SIGNAL Mr. BROSKHAN. P 1 Dr. RAJESH R 2 1 Research Scholar, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Faculty of Science and Humanities, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamilnadu – 603 203 2 Associate Professor & Head, Department of Visual Communication, Faculty of Science and Humanities, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamilnadu – 603 203 1 bp4756@srmist.edu.in 2 rajeshr@srmist.edu.in ABSTRACT Humour is a multifaceted cultural institution that helps to politicise society and space. The IMDb reviews of Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy The Dictator (2012), a parody of democracy in which the topics of racism, political incorrectness, and sexism, as well as their relationship to the discourses of Neo-Orientalism and the Global War on Terrorism, are present, are analysed in this paper to discuss the political nature of Humour. The reviews are seen as speech acts that establish more general interpretive frameworks for how audiences can approach issues about Humour’s political and serious aspects. The analysis focuses on how the "Humour is serious" claim and related arguments are made to denounce or defend the use of "immature" and sophomoric Humour in politically sensitive issues. The paper also examines IMDb's role as a platform that opens up opportunities for political participation. Keywords: Humour, Political, The Dictator, Neo-Orientalism, Racism INTRODUCTION The central argument of modern popular geopolitics has gained traction in recent years: how popular culture distorts how people perceive the geopolitical world. 1 At the same time, curiosity has been sparked about how Humour, despite its outwardly innocent nature, serves various cultural functions by which society and space are politicised. 2 The cross-disciplinary debate over the political nature of Humour has strongly emphasised how considering Humour as an innocent cultural practice, as an antidote to seriousness, is a flawed viewpoint by its very premises and even that there is no such thing as innocent laughter. This is true even though Humour can be perceived as a geopolitical tactic in which political processes shift away from the serious realm. 3 It is reasonable to claim that in this interdisciplinary research, a YMER || ISSN : 0044-0477 VOLUME 22 : ISSUE 07 (JULY) - 2023 http://ymerdigital.com Page No:777