May 30, 2015
THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH DOING SOCIAL COMMENTARY INSTEAD...:
How Comedians Became Public Intellectuals (MEGAN GARBER MAY 28, 2015, The Atlantic)
[W]hen Schumer, in a set that aired on her show, comments with purposeful nonchalance that "we've all been a little bit raped," she may be making viewers laugh. But she is, much more importantly, making us squirm. She's daring us to consider the definition of "rape," and also the definition of another word that can be awkward in comedy and democracy alike: "we." She's making a point about inclusion and exclusion, about the individuality of experience, about the often flawed way we think about ourselves as a collective. This is comedy at only the most superficial level; what it is, really, is cultural criticism.
...but these folks have decided not to be funny and America has always held intellectuals in contempt.
Posted by Orrin Judd at May 30, 2015 11:25 AM
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