The Irony of Satire
This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology.
Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism. Finally, a post hoc analysis revealed that perceptions of Colbert's political opinions fully mediated the relationship between political ideology and individual-level opinion.
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http://hij.sagepub.com/content/14/2/212.abstract
Basically, conservatives just couldn't see through the jokes to get the satire.
I haven't seen Colbert that much but, when I have, I think he's generally a funny guy. However, isn't the purpose of satire to caricature, ridicule, or humorously exaggerate something you believe is an embarrassing truth?
I think for Colbert to be an effective satirist, he must believe the subject of his humor is based on at least a kernel of truth. No?
No.
Hmmm. It appears Merriam Webster disagrees
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satire
Holding up human vices and follies to ridicule and score seems -- while it can be funny -- to be based on the belief there is vice and folly present to ridicule and scorn.Definition of SATIRE
1
: a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2
: trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly
And, exposing or discrediting vice or folly would also indicate a belief it exists to be exposed and discredited.
Just saying.
Believing dishonesty exists is not the same as believing the subject of the dishonesty carries some truth.
Satirizing the concept of dishonesty is one thing. Satirizing the dishonesty of a person necessarily requires the consumer of the satire to assume there is a basis for the person to be ridiculed or shamed with respect to that dishonesty.
Are we really going to argue semantics simply because I disagree with the premise of your post?
I have no interest in arguing semantics. You're the one bringing the Dictionary definition of "satire" into the discussion, and you're still wrong.
Colbert is almost irritatingly left-wing partisan. To suggest he is simply exaggerating concepts that he believes have merit would suggest you don't have a clue what he's doing.
He's lampooning conservative pundits and their audience. He's making fun of you. He thinks you're a clown.
Yes, he probably believes the conservative media personalities he is parodying really are as stupid and obnoxious as he pretends to be.
By the way Yoni, thanks for illustrating the OP's point: conservatives don't get satire.
No, I'm not.
The only time satire doesn't contain an element of truth (from the perspective of the satirist) is when the satire is directed at someone who makes false claims of another person's vice or folly. But, then, the satirist is merely directing the scorn at the liar and not the subject of the lie.
For instance, if a satirist wanted to hold up for ridicule or scorn the idiots on the left who spent years chanting, "Bush lied and people died," he might create satire that incorporates the concept that "Bush lied and people died," without believe the concept to be true...the truth in that satire is that the satirist believes the people who hole that position are the one to be ridiculed and scorned.
The satire is still based on a truth held by the satirist.
Colbert? Oh, yes, the entertainer.
Okay, you win, Colbert is secretly a hardcore conservative and his act is a subliminal Trojan horse intended to plant conservative ideas in the minds of young liberal hipsters.
I get it fine, it's just disingenuous to claim the satire isn't derived from some article of faith held by the satirist.
That doesn't make Colbert unfunny.
Parody, like impersonation, is merely an exaggeration of some basic truth about the subject of the parody.
I don't know enough about Colbert to know what are his politics. I just know satire relies on exaggerating a perceived truth.
Just think about how much of American political discourse is dominated by the utterings and mutterings of these talking heads. Of course, they have their soapbox for a reason, as people watch and hang on their every word, including those who believe they fundamentally disagree with the viewpoint expressed.
Poli ainment exists because, at the end of the day, Americans are a fundamentally incurious lot in need of confirmation. I would say incredulous, but I've seen too much to so claim. The formula is the same: here's how it really is, you and I are the only ones who really know what's going on.
This thread is such bull ...
A biased thread about the other side's bias?
Mental Masturbation at it's finest...
I know you are, but what am I?
DING DING DING!
He gets it.
yoni really believes Colbert is a right wing bag pretending to be a right wing bag.
Wow RG, this is really ground-breaking research. I hope they do another study to see if conservatives think Jon Stewart is liberal based on his nightly mocking of conservatives and Fox news. Maybe another "study" would conclude that conservatives think Bill Maher leans to the left.
I wonder if a majority of liberals would think that Dennis Miller is conservative?
Oh, you have made a fantastic point.
To wit:
* I call myself, and believe (at least until I was enlightened by your post/link) myself to be a conservative.
* Colbert CAllS himself a conservative, but he really isn't - he just pretends to be a conservative using satire and sarcasm.
* Other conservatives believe Colbert to be a conservative, and that he believes much of what he says, despite the satire and sarcasm.
* Liberals recognize Colbert's satire and sarcasm for what it is, and correctly surmise that his views as expressed do not indicate what his actual political leanings are.
* Liberals are, thus, intelligent, while Conservatives are, at best, ignorant dupes.
ERGO
If I do not want to be an ignorant dupe (at best), I ought to be liberal.
Thank you so much for that.
Now I've got to go. Got to study why the War on Poverty is actually working.
I was hoping to have a little fun with this bit, but this exceeded my expectations.
I love the internet.
Honest, intelligent, respectful. Are you *sure* you're a conservative?
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