Am I the only one who's having problems laughing at this mess anymore?
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Is there a point when satire, even great satire, isn’t funny anymore? The situation is so sad and so pathetic that trying to laugh at the absurdities is just too much. This is the feeling I’ve had recently when it comes to political comedies and even dramAm I the only one who's having problems laughing at this mess anymore?
Is there a point when satire, even great satire, isn’t funny anymore? The situation is so sad and so pathetic that trying to laugh at the absurdities is just too much. This is the feeling I’ve had recently when it comes to political comedies and even dramas. When I watch Veep or House of Cards, part of the entertainment comes from it being a “What if?” fantasy, but it’s not a fantasy anymore. We’re living in it. For real, we seem to be living in a Joseph Heller novel, but not one written by Joseph Heller. More like a drunk hack trying to imitate Joseph Heller, and we’re at the chapter where they also stole elements from Robocop (e.g., making money off of services for stealing immigrant children is a program worthy of Omni Consumer Products) and threw in a little Manchurian Candidate and Red Dawn. Donald Trump standing next to Vladimir Putin this week so reminded me of the collaborator mayor in Red Dawn kissing commie ass, and all the Helsinki fiasco was missing is someone screaming “Wolverines!!!” in the background. And maybe since our government is in the hands of a reality TV show host, I shouldn’t be surprised things are turning more and more into bad fiction, especially in a culture where “alternate facts” is an accepted viewpoint in some circles. This dynamic is also true for comedy news. I love Last Week Tonight, The Daily Show, Samantha Bee, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Sacha Baron Cohen, and others who make us laugh about these issues as much as anyone else. The use of humor allows many to get beyond their normal aversion to politics in order to understand. But I sometimes wonder if it can be unproductive in some ways to turn disgraceful behavior into ... a joke. If one approaches these things as absurdities to laugh at, one reaction might be to throw up one’s hands and say: “Fuck it. What does it matter? It’s all one big joke anyway.” And I worry that’s the reaction of too many, particularly the half of the country who can’t be bothered to get off the couch and vote even when they’re getting fucked over the most. Read more