26
Jun
You know, you CAN laugh at him.
Jon Stewart on the Daily Show last week after a joke about Barack Obama received a lukewarm response from his audience.
Jon has always said his show is not about Bush-bashing, nor bias towards the Democrats. The show is about ridiculing the hypocrisy of those in power.
However it seems to me that the jokes targeting Barack Obama have been a little desperate. Or perhaps they seem so following seven years of Bush, who was such an easy shot.
The thing is, do we want Jon to do take downs on Barack? In the end all that snark is a little dispiriting. And for once we feel like we can believe. But like a lover who’s been burnt too often, our adoration for Barack is fragile.
Jon’s poking makes us feel uncomfortable. Will he reveal our trust in this bringer of ‘real change’ to be nothing but a flimsy illusion?
(via kapookababy)
I’m totally comfortable and happy they take the piss out of Obama. Satirists aren’t advocacy journalists but merely comedians making jokes with statements/commentary behind them, so no public figure or institution should ever be out of bounds for satiric treatment no matter how much love is felt towards them. Satire needs to be enjoyed only in the context that it is getting made. Too often audiences take it as being some kind of major stealth attack to take down a government/individual.
