Really Now, Hollywood?

Hey Everyone!
So, I'm in the Bay Area right now (specifically somewhere in between Milpitas, Palo Alto, and San Jose.. the lines are very blurred in the Bay). I just got back from seeing "You Don't Mess With the Zohan", the new Adam Sandler movie. It is currently #2 in box office (second only to Kung Fu Panda) and has grossed $38.5 million. I am personally an avid reader of movie reviews and like to get different perspectives. "Zohan" has received consistently mediocre ratings from a variety of critics. However, my family and I were curious about it especially because we are all than too familiar with Israeli humor and stereotypes and Arab/Israeli animosity. We thought we would be in for a good laugh.
However, I was beyond disappointed with the quality of the humor of "Zohan". In this day and age, it has become clear that sex sells. The running joke of the film is that Zohan, a former Israeli counter-terrorist who moves to New York to make hair "silky smooth", attracts old ladies to the hair salon by sexually washing and cutting their hair and then sleeping with them in a room in the back. There are far too many references to his package and ability to bed all women. Now I know I sound a little uptight right now, but I can only take so many scenes where Adam Sandler cuts an eighty year old woman's hair while repeatedly thrusting his pelvis and thrusting his exaggerated package in her face.
But it's not just Sandler's characters Other Israeli characters are defined by this overt sexuality and many of the other characters lack real depth. What you see is what you get. Israelis and Palestinians.
At the end (naturally), they join together (including Zohan's nemesis, Phantom) to defeat the commercial conglomerate trying to wipe out their cultural enclave (AP U.S. History, anyone?). It didn't really help the situation that the film was riddled with random celebrity appearances.
While it is admirable that Sandler tried to take such a controversial issue to the masses, I do not think he did so in an effective manner. It may have been entertaining to most (see current gross in box office), but Hollywood can do better. But it seems useless to say so because as long as they are getting the high results they seek, why change?

-Michelle

P.S. Hopefully that wasn't too long. Also, my dad told me about this article he read about the difficulty in picking a weekend to release a film. There are approximately 10 high budget Hollywood movies released per weekend. So if they want to make a splash, PR people must work their behinds off to get us, the masses, intrigued enough to see THEIR movie opening weekend. It's becoming a tough business.