Satire In America

Subtlety in satire increases its value as humour because it widens its target to those who don’t pick up on the joke. Laughing at the earnest reactions of these idiots is usually considerably more funny that the original article, as it was with Roger Simon’s piece on Republican VP hopeful Paul Ryan’s antagonism toward Mitt Romney.

Satire works best when people can see an element of truth in the caricature. Despite this, it is a defence to defamation because it is not intended to be taken literally, even though what makes it funnier is the knowledge that many people will take it literally. In that sense, the irony of the actual satirical target(s) not being the literal target greatly compounds what would otherwise be an only mildly humourous piece.

Satire is one of the most important elements of free speech for precisely this reason. Mockery is and has historically been in many cultures, including our own, a powerful social device against hypocrites, self-aggrandisers, tyrants, urgers, curmudgeons, malingerers, whingers and in general, people who take themselves just a bit too seriously. Not only does the satire ridicule them and their positions; it also mocks their supporters and those who pretend that the ridicule itself should be censured.

As most Americans have little grasp of irony, the compounding nature of subtlety in satire unfortunately makes such humour an elitist, almost esoteric pursuit in the United States.

Even the Bloomberg article discussing the plethora of commentators duped by Simon’s piece ended with negative judgement (and thus made itself part of the satire):

“Satire should actually be funny."

Well, the original piece may have been only mildly funny, but it’s a lot funnier now.

“Or, at least it should be pretty obvious. There is no underestimating the literal-mindedness of the American reader.”

What? Why would anyone want to laugh at the average American? I don’t get it. That’s just un-American.

“Naturally, no writer wants to put a blinking sign indicating "This Is a Joke" above his or her parody piece. But editors should realize that if there is even a chance that such a sign is necessary, it's probably best to spike the whole idea.”

Yes, much better to take the Golden Girls approach:

1.      Spend most of the scene setting up the joke

2.      Deliver the line

3.      Look pointedly at the target for several seconds with tongue in cheek

4.      Play canned laughter just in case

No wonder Americans just didn’t get Dan Quayle and Sarah Palin.