January 27, 2007
THEY AREN'T TRYING TO BE FUNNY, NO MATTER HOW HARD WE LAUGH AT THEM:
After laughter, action (Courtney E. Martin, January 7, 2007, Baltimore Sun)
Satire, of course, has a long and proven history as the source of bona fide social change. Aristophanes' Lysistrata, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, George Orwell's Animal Farm - all of these led to new public awareness that then led to protest, even some pragmatic reforms. But does the one-millionth joke about President Bush's preschool perception of global geography really regain the trust of the international community?It seems that the difference between a satire such as Animal Farm and The Daily Show is that the latter too often makes us comfortable, satiated, even happy, as opposed to the very motivating and sometimes terrifying disequilibrium caused by Orwell. Rebels distributed copies of Animal Farm, a novella satirizing totalitarianism, to displaced Soviets in Ukraine right after World War II. The occupying American military discovered them and confiscated 1,500 copies that would later be handed over to the Russian authorities whom the Americans were, at least temporarily, trying to aid. The vicious and powerful humor contained within that small book sure scared the corrupt leaders of that time.
Mustn't we assume that an essay comparing Marxist brutality to W's geography is itself satirical? Posted by Orrin Judd at January 27, 2007 9:23 AM
The Left reminds me of the college cliques with a set of running gags and catch phrases which might have been funny the first time, if you'd been there, but that was years ago, and most of us weren't. Now they are simply no more than ways of keeping up the wall that keeps out the riff-raff and for an excuse for laughing at the squares who aren't part of the chosen group. Quickly they don't even bother telling the joke, just the punch line, because everyone knows the setup and anyone who doesn't isn't going to laugh anyhow. ("Bushisms" anyone?)
But you left out the best part, the last three paragraphs. The self-righteous narcissistic sanctimony was rising so fast at the end that I was laughing at the lack of self-awareness and pretentiousness. This fool actually thinks that comedy shows are a source of useful information and a way to motivate the masses to action. That's what happens when you don't have any ideas or even ideals, you fall back on slogans and base emotion. No wonder the Left is so humorless.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at January 27, 2007 2:44 PMAfter writing those last three paragraphs, she patted herself on the back so hard, she dislocated her arm.
Posted by: Joseph Hertzlinger at January 28, 2007 1:23 AM