Why conservatives can't do comedy - Updated
Fox has been trying to come up with their own version of the wildly successful Stewart/Colbert model for a long time but they always fail. That's because laser focused satire based on recorded facts is funny. Mean-spirited mockery rooted in ignorance, isn't.
"He had no idea that Canadians were fighting in the war..."
Update: From Gutberg's Twitter feed: "My apologies to the Canadian military, they probably could at least beat the Belgians." He should probably cancel that trip to Toronto...
[More posts daily at The Detroit News]
"He had no idea that Canadians were fighting in the war..."
Update: From Gutberg's Twitter feed: "My apologies to the Canadian military, they probably could at least beat the Belgians." He should probably cancel that trip to Toronto...
[More posts daily at The Detroit News]
Labels: dangerous idiots, Media, Wingnuts
posted by Libby Spencer at 6:25 PM
16 Comments:
How true. Molly Ivins said it well:
"There are two kinds of humor. One kind that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity -- like what Garrison Keillor does. The other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule -- that's what I do. Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel -- it's vulgar. "
Conservatives can't do comedy because the keep to good comedy is that it is subversive. Conservatives are not subversive. They are establishment. They may *think* they are subversive, and may try to present themselbes as "oppressed" which in itself is comedy gold. But then they get all mad because you're laughing at them and THIS IS SERIOUS YOU GUYZ!!!!!!
This is why conservatives can't do comedy.
Er, the KEY to good comedy. Not keep.
Can't multi-task today.
I'm a Conservative and yet I have to agree with you. Red-Eye isn't humorous. But Larry the Cable Guy comes to mind. He's a Republican and pretty funny. But he's the only one I can come up with at the moment. That's pretty lame, I know. What's up with us Conservatives? Are we just way too serious all the time?
Nah. Just deluded.
Now that's funny.
Gee Thanks Truth. Maybe I'll try stand up.
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I dunno. I thought Dubya was pretty funny. Except for the war crimes material. That was a bit over the top.
Larry the Cable Guy, funny? Only on smellovision.
There never was an authoritarian Swift, Voltaire or Twain, either, come to think of it. Although Ayn Rand is pretty amusing, at times. Unintentionally. "Mein Kampf" is a sort of Republican "Jokes For The John," I'm told. And then there's Rushbo. A Godsend for the constipated.
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I think anti-authoritarianism or opposition to tradition and custom is an essential component of humor.
People like George Will may have a wit of sorts, but they really aren't funny. At least they're not funny to those who discriminate between Schadenfreude and comedy.
Molly Ivins nails it I think. It's the difference between teasing someone for doing something stupid and just calling someone stupid.
Perhaps they should rename the show "Brown Eye."
BTW, Larry The Cable Guy is a fictional character. I wouldn't be too sure he is a conservative - just based on the stand-up and radio gigs he had before he started faking that accent and background. There are people who think that Colbert is a conservative humorist, too.
Is this a good time to admit I have no idea who Larry the Cable Guy is?
Oh and hey Cosa. Haven't seen you in a while. Hope you're okay.
It's never a good idea to know who Larry the Cable Guy is.
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I think another point is that making fun of a private person who happens to be less fortunate than you is inherently uncivilised, and only funny to warped adolescents. Making fun of public figures who exercise power over us is our duty in a democracy. Even if that's the only power we have left, laughter can bring them down a peg if not altogether.
BTW, as to my Canuck cousins, I have two words for the ignorant un-American Repukelickin' surrender-monkey: Juno & Gold. Right next door to Omaha Beach, good buddy. Shoulder to shoulder, so to speak. Funny, history, ain't it? Funny how little our conservative friends know of it.
Larry the Cable Guy is part of professional redneck Jeff Foxworthy's Blue Collar Comedy Tour, the extremely unfunny but very white answer to the very funny but very black comedians The Kings of Comedy. The Kings moved on after mixed success on the bubetube, while the rednecks now dominate.
I thought you were living in NC, Libby. Don't yawl git thuh cable?
I'm doing poorly, myself, thank you for asking. But so is the rest of the world. Hope all is well with you.
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Hey Cosa. Sorry to hear you're not well. And I do get cable but just a very basic package. I guess the redneck channel is not on it, or I've never found it. I don't watch much.
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It's more financial & psychological, at this point. Rough year so far.
The rednecks are all over basic cable. One has a game show on a broadcast net, another has a sitcom on a basic cable channel, and they're all on Comedy Central and other Nets' variety shows. They're awful, that's how I know about them. I know to avoid them. I channel surf while I'm on the Web sometimes. But it's not a problem. I have it under control. I'm not addicted. To the 'Net, maybe. But that might not last much longer. I'll have to cope with reality unfiltered, I guess. Wonder what it's like?
How's the job thing going?
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