Why The Satire Genre?
There is more to all this funny stuff
The genius of satire is seen when controversial and frustrating arguments become sources of healthy laughter by shifting the perspective and employing comic relief from a ludicrous — or even surreal — standpoint that brings clarity.
Whether light and outright funny or ironic and darkly humorous it is important to turn the status quo thinking upside down and shake it out. Otherwise you run the risk of being mentally trapped in the sheep pen awaiting to be fed to the wolves led by the sheepdog. Never forget the masses who followed Hitler!
Assuredly, this is not only a politically important genre but a socially necessary means of relating to one another under duress of stressful topics not enjoyed, for instance, at Thanksgiving dinner. By magnifying ridiculous norms with some form of laughable innovation we make it possible to bring important topics to any table.
Three basic styles of satire address the broad spectrum of comical criticisms named for their ancient founding authors: Horace, Juvenal and Menippus.
It all began with Horace in 65 BCE under the first Roman Emperor Augustus followed by Juvenal roughly 60 CE under the Roman Emperor Domitian. Both of these satiric poets evolved under dictatorships with the latter being the most severe of the two and thus revealing a more forceful inspiration.
In a few words the lighter side of satire is known as Horatian or ‘laugh out loud’ amusement addressing more obvious and minor setbacks in life while Juvenalian style tackles the profoundly troublesome — and often fiercely political — life and death stuff in a suitably mocking and angry tone. Both will make you sit back and think but the more cynically developed version from Juvenal is designed to inspire action that ushers positive change.
Little is known about our latest cynical poet of satire and parody, Menippus. All of his works were lost but he flourished in 3 BCE after ostensibly being born into slavery. Many writers pivot between Horatian and Juvenalian styles and expand to include this third Menippean form which has been described as “middle ground” between the other two. More specifically from Luke Edley at thanetwriters.com:
Instead of focusing on societal norms, Menippean satire tends to satirise an individual character flaw and/or a particular personality trait, such as a mental attitude. Think of it as a slightly more prickly version of Horatian satire, whereby it attacks a specific human fault instead of a directly observable misdeed. For instance, Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland is a Menippean satire in the sense that it’s Alice’s curiosity which ultimately causes her plight.
Immediately this explanation recalls images of the well known cartoon film and quickly amplifies the description. Illustration is a more precise way to demonstrate meaning, particularly for our “instant information age”, and works well to solidify the message in the event of little to no prior written or conversational exposure.
Bizarro cartoon creator Dan Piraro employs a brilliant and uniquely surreal version of his own:
Whether the targeted issue is relatively benign or more nuclear all three approaches should make you crack a knowing smile or at least conjure a wry smirk loaded with appropriate background anger that recognizes the sarcastic wit, dark humor or highlighted corruption. Not to mention some degree of satisfaction in seeing under-reported issues visibly in print or onscreen in the spirit of activism that draws attention to something otherwise being swept under the rug or — worse perhaps — receiving congressional oversight.
Given the controversial nature of dealing head-on with shady politics, the aims of satire in speaking truth to power are typically not upheld or fully appreciated by The Establishment. This is especially true for comedians satirizing the news on television when they seek to destroy widely accepted and propagandized narratives while scolding the people who peddle them.
Writers and artistic creators certainly recognize this fact which too often encourages copious self censorship and careful delivery to the point of actually delegitimizing any media attention. This, of course, is due to the funding behind the politics and profit driven policies which might now prevent such a segment as below from being aired on Comedy Central’s satiric “news” gem, The Daily Show, during Jon Stewart’s reign:
His replacement Trevor Noah is a talented comedian, especially in his independent stand-up, but he is less passionate than the former host as a satirist. Or maybe that is what the writers prefer for us to believe.
Digging beneath the superficial distractions of differences in age and race brings this summary of what has actually happened from Gita Jackson:
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah does not have any particularly strong opinions. I would even welcome it as a hard right comedy news show, at this point, because that would be an indication that they care about something…It turns out satire is incredibly hard when you don’t actually care about either side.
By contrast, the best of unhinged activist satire is found on Redacted Tonight aired by RT America and funded, at least in part, by Russia. This type of antagonistic critique in comic relief form may not be a usual occurrence between rival countries but similarly The Voice of America (VOA)was broadcast to 236.6 million people globally in 42 languages with a budget of $218M for 2016 alone.
When the Trump administration forced RT to register as a foreign agent in 2017 as popularity for the channel grew, featuring many famous outspoken American voices formerly in MSM news or politics careers, Russia’s Justice Ministry was forced to reciprocate by listing VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty the same way.
Meanwhile, Redacted Tonight’s host Lee Camp has admitted that he cannot do his brand of comedy with any U.S. networks and alluded to probably being escorted from Fox News after making a guest appearance featured in this article with video. Despite some use of sarcasm and exaggeration the accuracy of Redacted Tonight’s reporting has been ahead of MSM in coverage of countless, long ignored topics — or media blackouts — including facts on Yemen, stock market speculation, the 6th mass extinction, climate change, the other side of the Venezuelan crises and many more.
When the show is not discussing a topic seriously the typical gag is to flip the viewpoint upside down and ironically take the devil’s advocate approach. The absurdity is obvious to repeat viewers but for new audiences and creatives venturing into satire keep this advice in mind:
Without a blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody (or satire) of extremism or fundamentalism that someone won’t mistake for the real thing.
Interestingly, RT America’s programs have been censured for their funding and censored by way of limiting reach and influence apparently due to the strong opinionated and factual content. Freedom of speech and press being tentative today and at great risk tomorrow leaves little doubt as to why a largely Juvenalian satire of American news events is forced to use the RT platform.
Parodies and spoofs (think Spaceballs or Scary Movie) should not be confused with satire even though they draw upon the shared elements of irony and sarcasm. Usually these lively and jocular re-productions rely on mimicry of another serious and popular work or socially accepted conventions. They tend to be farcical in nature making them improbable in real life.
An easy way to differentiate these two from satire is whether the work asks any bigger, more complex questions beyond the entertainment value. Plainly, what you see is what you get without any pause for a lingering, illuminating light bulb moment when something has been parodied or spoofed.
There’s a flavor for everyone in the advocacy realm of turning the frown upside down. Some of us take our humor like we take our coffee — in various shades of roasting from the light spectrum to the dark varieties including pitch black.
Two of the darkest comedy satires include American Psycho and Natural Born Killers. Both films convey a strong predilection for environmental causes in the Nature vs. Nurture theory of genetic predisposition in serial killers; provided the “evidence” for societies gone wrong is overwhelming and devastating. This is the pinnacle of satirical impact and it seizes onto the reasoning centers in your psyche with unmatched earnest.
While satire wears many hats it should never be used for bullying. There is clearly a difference between fighting forward and fighting back. Not everyone’s satire will root for the underdog or individual freedoms but taking a harsh slant against groups for purposes of racism, elitism or exploitation are not aligned with the origins of speaking truth to power.
Most of my published stories here are my own style of surreal ironic satire of the Juvenalian variety.
