Comments on: If satire falls in the forest… http://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/if-satire-falls-in-the-forest/ Grammar, word nerds, and the editorial way. Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:43:57 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Frank Drone http://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/if-satire-falls-in-the-forest/#comment-5154 Frank Drone Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:51:13 +0000 http://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/?p=946#comment-5154 I find it amazing to hear folks blame the right-wing for attacking Obama when it is the Left that has done the attacking so far. You can keep thinking it's the right-wing, but I encourage you to take a look at your own party. I find it amazing to hear folks blame the right-wing for attacking Obama when it is the Left that has done the attacking so far. You can keep thinking it’s the right-wing, but I encourage you to take a look at your own party.

]]> By: David http://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/if-satire-falls-in-the-forest/#comment-5153 David Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:02:19 +0000 http://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/?p=946#comment-5153 Of course it is satire. It is, however, not particularly good satire. Good satire takes the underlying theme and re-contextualizes it. Take for example "A Modest Proposal." Swift didn't just take all of the statements made about the Irish and lump them into one essay and expect people to see it as satire. He pushed the ideas to the next level, took the lack of concern for the plight of a starving people and turned into a proposal for cannibalism. I can see that the New Yorker might have thought they were doing the same thing by showing the Obamas burning an American flag in the fireplace in the Oval Office. The problem, however, is that the right-wing smear machine isn't above claiming that is what will happen if you elect Obama. Because the opposition has been so asinine, satire this season is going to have a tendency to fall flat. Of course it is satire. It is, however, not particularly good satire.

Good satire takes the underlying theme and re-contextualizes it. Take for example “A Modest Proposal.” Swift didn’t just take all of the statements made about the Irish and lump them into one essay and expect people to see it as satire. He pushed the ideas to the next level, took the lack of concern for the plight of a starving people and turned into a proposal for cannibalism.

I can see that the New Yorker might have thought they were doing the same thing by showing the Obamas burning an American flag in the fireplace in the Oval Office. The problem, however, is that the right-wing smear machine isn’t above claiming that is what will happen if you elect Obama.

Because the opposition has been so asinine, satire this season is going to have a tendency to fall flat.

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