Changing the world through comedy

Today I saw an excellent TED talk about the great effect satire (and humor in general) can have on people.  In the talk, comedian Chris Bliss argued that humor has great power to change society (what have I been telling you all?) and he supported this thesis by looking at the speed at which comedy travels as well as at how people react when they are subjected to comedy. Bliss argued that when people see something funny they feel happy and content (go figure?), which makes them eager to pass on what they have seen, thereby making it easy for comedy to reach a massive crowd and have a big impact.

Bliss also seemed to suggest that comedy should be used to fight global warming. Personally, I think that this is a very good idea. More people are probably willing to look at satire and comedy than at cold facts and statistics and therefore awareness could be raised if comedy, and especially satire, was used in the battle against global warming.What do you think?

TED TALK - CHRIS BLISS

Have you noticed this? - Satire in "Glee"

One example of satire, which is perhaps not as apparent as others I have discussed on this blog, is how the character Kitty is portayed in the TV-series "Glee". A lot of different views and ideologies are satirized in her. She plays the role of the ruthless Republican, continously making fun of people with less means than herself (her political views are  expressed early on in the show when she feels outsmarted and says: "You're both gonna regret this turn of events because I will tell you one more thing: Obama's gonna lose."). She also plays the role of the Christian with a double moral; ignoring certain Christian values while using some to scare and intimate others ("Y'all are sinners, and you'd better get right with God tout-de-suite because Jesus just logged onto Orbitz and booked himself a plane ticket back to Earth. See, he's got an awesome dad named God who's throwing him a bitchin' party called Armageddon, where he's gonna get to kick off his sandals, dance a little bit, and judge the crap out of everybody.")

Kitty - Obama's gonna lose 

You could argue that if this is satire a lot of things should be considered satire. This might very well be true. The only thing I know is that Kitty's beliefs are based on truths (there are people that, more or less, act like her and share her beliefs), which is one essential rule of satire. Moreover, these views look ridiculous when expressed by her and thereby make us reconsider them, which is the second most vital rule of satire.

It's your fault (or is it really?)

An excellent example of satire at its best is this video by the Indian comedy group All India Backods. It is a parody of India's "victim blaming" culture and it especially satirizes India's view of rape victims. The views expressed in the clip are, of course, far from being uniquely "Indian", which is probably why the clip has had so many viewers over the past couple of weeks. More than two million people have seen it since it was uploaded on Youtube on September 19th. This proves, once again, the effectiveness of satire when it sets out to battle actual beliefs and opinions held in society.

Satire and truth

Discussing satire without mentioning "The Daily Show" should be a crime. I think that it is one of the best examples out there of contemporary satire. According to research conducted by various institutes, for example the Annenberg Center of Public Policy, viewers of "The Daily Show" are better informed about current events than viewers of any other  major American network or cable news show. The show is, in other words, based on truth, which is something vital for all satire. In fact this can be your number one lesson in satire 101: "Irrational satire is not satire but black comedy" (John Snyder, Prospects of Power: Tragedy, Satire, the essay and the Theory of Genre); satire must be based on truth.

This is a clip about the current debate on the American budget. What do you say, true or false?

The Daily Show - The Republican Traitor