WHAT’S SO FUNNY?: Dennis Rodman (right) and his best bud, North Korean leader Kim Jung-un. (
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Our brilliant ambassador to the world, Dennis Rodman, excoriated President Obama for not holding out the hand of friendship to brutal North Korean dictator/god Kim Jung-un.
But that didn’t stop HBO from sponsoring Rodman on his trip to see his BFF, Kim, for their brilliant news show, “Vice.”
Nor should they have.
But then again, sadly, neither did Rodman’s declaration that pudgy god Jung-un was his “friend for life” stop the un-maniac with the Dust Bowl-era haircut from declaring nuclear war on the US about 14 seconds later.
As Madeline Albright could have told Rodman, sometimes even a shared love of bad hairdos isn’t guaranteed to win over a dictator god.
That brings us to tomorrow night’s much-touted edition of “Vice” (yes, the one with Dennis Rodman and Kim), which we’ve all been waiting for.
While it is a lot of fun, no, it’s not the hard-hitting piece o’ journalism we’ve come to expect from “Vice.”
Last year, “Vice” got North Korea to agree to allow the show to send correspondent Ryan Duffy, three Harlem Globetrotters and Rodman over for a friendly basketball exhibition game.
Thing is, although on the episode Rodman arrives with Duffy and the Globetrotters on the same plane, he isn’t with them much after that. In fact, he’s not really in the segment at all until the night of the big game.
That night, the stands are full of frightened North Koreans who all start going berserkers when the world’s most ridiculous dictator and, yes, his best friend Dennis Rodman, enter the arena.
Kim, who looks like he’s had a couple of extra helpings of bibimbap in his time, is as happy as a pudgy piggy-in-a-blanket, sitting there with Rodman and Jung-un’s girlfriend, formally known “the mystery woman,” who’s always at his side. I found the mystery woman more interesting than the mystery of why Rodman is friends with this pig in the first place.
She’s actually North Korean pop star (for whatever that’s worth) Hyon Song-wol, who looks like she’s aged about 15 years since she first showed up a few months ago. It can’t be easy to sexually satisfy a god, after all.
At least Song-wol gets to wear regular clothes, as opposed to the Mao wear everyone else sports.
We learn from the episode that every aspect of “Vice’s” visit is ultra-supervised, full of propaganda and monitored. Hell, so was my trip to China — and I paid to go!
We also learn that, in addition to designing the three recent underground nuclear explosions, Kim also designed and choreographed the dolphin show at North Korea’s equivalent of Sea World.
At a dinner where much alcohol is served, Rodman gives a toast in which he says he’s so sorry that our two countries aren’t on better terms. Turning to Jong-un, he says, “Sir — you have a friend for life.”
How do you say “Rodman — go screw yourself” in North Korean ?