Normally, I find Sasha Baron Cohen’s humor pretty amusing, but something bothers me about this so-called ruckus in the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport. Naturally, I have to talk about it, so please excuse this rare moment of seriousness. Cohen was in his “flaming Austrian TV personality” mode as his Bruno character (via Celebitchy) while he and an “accomplice” began “dancing in tight short shorts, kissing and fighting in the lobby.” Cohen was, of course, shooting a film, which is the only reason to visit Wichita, Kansas unless one has family that resides there. Since I was born in Wichita and have returned to visit on at least a yearly basis, I realize the inherent boredom that persists and would not recommend it necessarily as a vacation destination.

All of this whining is basically going to seem like I’ve lost my sense of humour, which I assure you remains intact. It’s just that Wichita is oddly duplicitous — at once a sleepy little town, but, at the same time, it is a sprawling metropolis of sorts. One always has the feeling that of being on the edge of town throughout the city limits. This seeming desolation can feel unsettling at times, but perhaps I’m just used to a more compact city. In addition, for such an apparently calm community, Wichita has higher than the national average for both property and violent crimes. While Kansas certainly isn’t Detroit in terms of the sheer numbers of violent crimes, the murder sprees that have hit Wichita have been particularly notorious and frighteningly random in scope. One infamous example would be the BTK killer, who kept the city on edge for 14 years while he lived a seemingly normal life and even regularly attended church. Then, there was the killing spree known as the “Wichita Massacre” or “Wichita Horror in which “113 counts of murder, robbery, rape and other crimes” were attributed to two brothers who favored execution-style killings. All of this is still a pretty big deal.

Oh, but there is more. Wichita is also affectionately referred to by its natives (as well as the air travel industry) as the “Air Capital of the World.” The city houses McConnell Air Force Base as well as six major commercial aircraft manufacturing companies. People are sort of uptight about air travel throughout the United States (and worldwide), but this is particularly the case where the air-industry is as dominant as it is in Wichita. Look, I know that, as a whole, Americans are pretty blind to the outside world, and a large percentage of mid-westerners are stereotypically xenophobic. However, with all of the above concerns, people in Wichita have found it hard to trust even their neighbors at times, so it is more than mildly irritating to have some media personality waltz in and try to make everyone look like damned idiots. From what I’ve observed, the people in this city are notoriously uptight about anyone who behaves in a bizarre manner, and they shouldn’t be excessively ridiculed for pulling someone aside who has been acting oddly in, of all places, an airport. As funny as Sasha Baron Cohen can be at times, he might do well for a little background research for the next city he hopes to take by surprise. Otherwise, this brilliant satirist appears just as ignorant as those he hopes to ridicule.

An Update From The Mistress of Inappropriate Humor: If you’re gonna bother commenting, please read what I actually wrote and understand that I’m not making some convenient blanket statement against myth-busting, push-the-envelope humor. Oh, and check your head while you’re at it.