Politics is no laughing matter, but should it be?
Why satire might be saving politics
Much like the first snowfall of the season signals to many Americans that the holiday season is nigh, a politically-charged, celeb-ridden Saturday Night Live (SNL) sketch is a sure-fire indication that a new election season is upon us. Viewers have come to expect SNL to deliver, through satire, an opportunity to laugh at (and engage with) the current mess of the political climate.
Late night TV hosts and satirical programs like SNL have a long history of blurring the line between politics and comedy. As the popularity of these kinds of programs increases, so do accusations of these programs dangerously “normalising” politicians like Trump and taking advantage of today’s “cultural chaos” for views.
“Dangers” of mixing comedy and politics
You might remember, in the midst of the 2016 presidential race, a seemingly insignificant kerfuffle involving The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which involved then presidential nominee Donald Trump and some hair ruffling. Fallon, who aims to keep the show as apolitical as possible, had Trump on as a guest. The interview was playful and forgiving, never really delving into political issues or policies, and Fallon ended the segment by running his fingers through Trump’s hair. Almost immediately, viewers of the program were tweeting at the show and Fallon in disgust, with critics accusing him of “normalising” the candidate who many viewed as “an existential threat to America.”
Some have gone as far as accusing Fallon of single-handedly handing Trump the presidency, while others have labelled the mishap “the biggest mistake of Fallon’s career.”
Personally, I find all of that a little bit ridiculous.
Sure, given the size of the platform Fallon had, it might have been more beneficial to discuss, even briefly, Trump’s tax returns or any number of Trump’s phobic, racist stances, but Fallon has never claimed to be anything more than an entertainment talk show host.
Fallon himself has admitted he “didn’t do it to humanise him. [He] almost did it to minimise him,” but it serves as an excellent example of the (at least perceived) power of late night TV in politics.
Although there is this legitimate argument that these late night hosts and satirical programs have at times recklessly crossed the line between news and entertainment, the positive impact of these shows on political engagement cannot be ignored, either.
Is satire saving politics?
At the time, Fallon was dominating the ratings game of late night TV. By early 2017, in the new age of Trump, late night talk shows that weren’t shying away from taking a political stance, like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, were overtaking Fallon in nightly ratings.
This growing demand for politicised comedy and satirical takes on politics, according to the authors of Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era, is because, amongst other things, satire can command public attention and start conversations much more convincingly than its polite, apolitical counterpart.
Politicised comedy can be an unbelievably powerful tool for empowering citizens to question and engage with politics. Satire allows programs to interrogate power through comedy, and thus encourage audiences to do the same.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has been credited with taking this role one step further, becoming “an important source of political education”. In just one example of many, Oliver used his late-night platform to discuss Net Neutrality, which at the time was in danger of being compromised by the Federal Communications Commission. Oliver encouraged his audience to become engaged citizens by submitting comments to the FCC’s website. The episode resulted in such a flood of comments that the website promptly crashed.
Saturday Night Live
A veteran of politicised comedy, and self-proclaimed “satirical watchdog of power,” SNL has been satirising politics since its debut in 1975. Most recently, Alec Baldwin’s Trump impressions have repeatedly reaped over 20 million views online. The satirical takes almost always portray all candidates in a less-than-ideal light, but have (understandably so) taken a sharp focus on critiquing Trump and his policies.
The show, through satire, is able to heighten and exaggerate the truth, to point at it with a giant blinking sign that says “THIS IS RIDICULOUS, AND YOU SHOULD NOTICE!”
These over-the-top sketches, when viewed through the lens of satire, are able to pack a real political punch and engage a huge audience of citizens every week, resulting in a political discourse that has maybe never been more important.
The conclusion
These programs have taken a step away from the traditionally apolitical formula of late-night TV, instead updating audiences on important political news, interrogating power and offering a meaningful critique that can arm their viewers with the confidence to critique their politicians, too.
Now more than ever audiences are turning to comedians in search of political engagement, and in an era so enthralled in its own cultural chaos, surely something so powerful outweighs a bit of hair ruffling?
