What do you all make of the controversial New Yorker cover? I think it's a bust, at least in part because it's so difficult to satirize something that is already so over the top. When the mainstream media calls Barack and Michelle's fist bump at "terrorist fist jab" and it barely makes a blip on the ridiculous meter, we're deep into some pretty odd times. And how do you mock something that is already so over the top? It's like trying to satirize Bush's malapropisms: it's easy to repeat them and laugh; it's a lot tougher to add something new to the equation, though.
What do you all think?
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Offensive or Successful Satire?
at 9:36 AM
Labels: Life in These United States
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Wow. Still not sure I get the huge uproar. It's soooo OTT that it's laughable - which, I assume it's the point. Hmmm.... when's the damn election already? :)
It's a poor effort - there's no punch line, having failed to illuminate some new truth. That's what successful humor does; see all of Shakespeare's best fools. The OTT stuff is merely repeated without improving on what's come before, and that's why it strikes me as borderline offensive. And lame.
Slightly off topic, I would say the same thing about 85% of what passes for humor and satire these days, though, including, I'm sorry to say, even Mr. Stewart. I love him, but continual streams of "douche" don't cut it. Where the hell is Mark Twain when you need him? And Orwell, for that matter?
Oh yuck, totally offensive. A Republican friend was staying with Tim and me and doing an impersonation of Michelle Obama, and I about kicked him out of my house. His impersonation of Barack is equally offensive. Thank God for your cat video because it provides some REAL humor! :)
Post a Comment