In this presidential election year we are bombarded with commentary and analysis from any number of press pundits, but we are also subjected to an ongoing barrage of late night monologues, satirical stand-up routines, sitcom plots, animated farces and targeted print ads and comics.
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| David Letterman |
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| Conan O'Brien |
This less serious treatment of the issues and candidates is an important part of the campaign process, giving us ways to laugh at ourselves and at the ridiculousness of this serious and emotionally charged material that may greatly affect the course of our lives. It also allows us to treat the candidates as human and fallible. The candidates themselves hopefully recognize the power of a strong pop culture base and their place in that arena. By blocking the flow of pop culture they can jeopardize the very existence of the government, such as happened when Rome ignored it and when Hitler frowned upon such frivolity and both cultures saw a premature decline.
From the early days of radio and vaudeville, to today’s vast cable landscape, political jokesters not only build icons of the famous and infamous in the political arena, but also of themselves.
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| Will Rogers Commentary Promo |
Bob Hope and Will Rogers were endearing and witty but also sparked protests, and 50s performer Lenny Bruce sparked lawsuits. Also in the 50s many performers of color, such as Dick Gregory or Redd Foxx found themselves involved in the political process as much as those they satirized, in the civil rights and other movements.
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| Dick Gregory |
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| Lenny Bruce |
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| The Capital Steps Comedy Troupe |
Today, the lines between entertainment and news, between comedy, satire and commentary have all been blurred. The “Capital Steps” troupe adds humorous undertones for current news stories, while many more Americans are watching Comedy Central’s Daily Show and Colbert Report for a new take on the daily news. News about these shows on the Colbert News Hub reveal a list of high profile events, from a huge Washington, DC rally, the establishment of a Super PAC fund, to a run for the presidency by Stephen Colbert himself. Mr. Colbert and Jon Stewart were named by Time magazine in their list of the county’s most influential people, and they have definitely risen to the rank of pop culture icons in a very real sense, not only the celebrity effect, but also the hero effect for being on the public side on the political stage.
Myths also abound. The Daily Show and Colbert Report not only critique news at a time when politics so divided and political discourse is so important, but also the whole fabric of television tends to suffer from a bias that its content is all entertainment and not serious anyway. Neil Postman, in his book “Amusing Ourselves to Death” considers the popularity of the blurred combination of TV news and comedy from the Daily Show and Colbert Report when real news may be too complicated or dry to be the same type of distraction as the comforting soma of Aldous Huxley’s alternate society in “Brave New World”.
I myself believe that there is a desire for a distraction in the current political climate. Never before have the parties and ideologies been so far divided and never before has real news been so clearly slanted one way or another. I think it's the right time for responsible satirists and comedians to be our pop culture icons and give America a new way to understand all the complicated issues facing us today.
Very intriguing discussion, Diana. I like the way you reference how serious political events and issues and comical satire are intermingled in today's society. That is so true! I think perhaps that is the way that we as a culture cope with the reality of the issues that exist today, by adding comic relief. Extremely well worded and thought out. Thumbs up!
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