“the Landover treatment crosses the line into simple bad taste
I am in full disagreement.
As to your views on Satire in general, I also think you are in a different pasture than I am walking through (If I am to infer from your "Satire is a form of ridicule" that you are expressing a disapproval of ridicule even when it squires the jaunty dance of satire)?
However, it would be unfair for me to insist I am right. For confirmation and explication of my views please ask any master of the subject--such as those charged in our Universities with teaching it. Let me know if you find any educated man or woman considered a master of language (or that particular aspect of language) who does not entirely see it as one of the most valuable tools of social change and advancement ever known to man or practiced throughout all the centuries of civilization for the high purpose of social improvement. I found a paper that pretty much says what I think on the matter, so I will link that. First I will organize a few salient points, as it is a rather long read and you may prefer some other activity. Although it really is a very worthy article…
“Satire is a powerful art form which has the ability to point out the deficiencies in certain human behaviors and the social issues which result from them in such a way that they become absurd, even hilarious, which is therefore entertaining and reaches a wide Audience.”
“What better tool than satire exists for voicing criticisms in these unstable times? Satire is more alive today than ever before, finding outlets in literature, television, the internet, comics and cartoons. Messages that would be ignored or punished if overtly declared are reaching millions of people in satirical form, and making a real difference. It may be the most powerful tool that critics have to get their opinions out into the world.”
“For the purposes of this paper, satire shall be defined as any piece, be it literary, artistic, spoken, or otherwise presented, which bears the following characteristics:
Critique. Satire is always a critique of some form of human behavior, vice, or
folly, with the intent of persuading the audience to view it disdainfully and thereby encourage a degree of social change.
Irony. Satire uses irony, often in a humorous way, to point out the problems with the behavior being critiqued.
Implicitness. Satire is not an overt statement, and it does not come to an explicit verdict, but rather the critiqued behavior deconstructs itself within the satirical work by being obviously absurd, most often because it is exaggerated or taken out of its normal Context.”
He also goes into worthy discussion of such notables as Aristophanes (who was often charged with crimes), Doonesbury, South Park, The Colbert Report, Petronius, Chaucer, Sir Thomas More (who was executed), Swift, Mark Twain, Huxley, etc.
He could have mentioned Saturday Night Live, Trailer Park Boys, the Onion--and a host of online internet satirical sites. And I’m sure you remember the Monty Python Crew who ridiculed religion and other social foibles relentlessly and helped society (and especially young people--the future of society) to understand that not all pomp and ceremony was either sacred or harmless.
digitalcommons.uri.edu
“Be right. (This refers to factual items. If I don't qualify something as uncertain or subjective opinion, I have an obligation to be correct.)
Of the 700,000 who died in the American Civil War…did some of them die “right”? I ask the question seriously in order to better understand your meaning.
“Be nice. “
To whom? To your grandchildren--or to total strangers who are not “right”? I can see how your principles would help you to avoid discord but it sounds evasive to me. I don’t see how one can hope to deal with enemies of all the things one values (whether that be separation of Church and State, democratic freedoms, or the right to criticize society) without opposing evil when it is evil, injustice when it is unjust, and religious hubris when it has become a threat to freedom of conscience--or despicable treatment of woman’s rights (the vote, abortion, etc.) when they were and are mistreated...and their rights threatened.
None of my heroes were “nice” when they had family, society, and personal liberty to defend. Certainly none of the great satirists who helped change history. Certainly not those who have fought and died in ugly wars. Certainly not those who busted the Christian South and refused to play “nice” to their insistence on the keeping of slaves till their last breath.
Sorry, your words are pithy and they have a nice ring to them. They actually sound nice--I must admit!
But I know you were not attempting to correct me--so I will not make any effort to correct you. Rather I will share a maxim that I practice--not original to me:
NEVER FAKE REALITY! |
