"Praise undeserved, is satire in disguise." — Alexander Pope

tj:

“Praise undeserved, is satire in disguise.” — Alexander Pope

[…snip…(see Undercover Nun) ]

This reminded me of The Irony of Satire Political Ideology and the Motivation to See What You Want to See in The Colbert Report. You probably heard about this because HuffPo glommed onto it and reported it, especially because the original report was stuck behind a pay-wall. Today I found a free PDF of the entire thing.

[…snip…]

Thanks for posting this! I’ve often wondered what “the other side” thought of the Colbert Report — and the results of the study are very interesting. It’s really so much more than “people hear what they want.” It actually raises new questions for political commentary.

History has demonstrated just how powerful political satire can be at bringing clarity and swaying audiences en masse. But the authors suggest something different may be happening with Colbert’s ambiguous “deadpan” approach to satire. Rather than moving viewers in one direction, results suggest that the Colbert Report only reinforces viewers’ sharply polarized perspectives, as he simultaneously feeds one side hilarious caricatures of hated pundits, while showing the other side a hilariously “purified” version of everything they stand for.

Being a big fan of satire, I’d never even considered the possibility that Colbert’s satire wasn’t “working” the way I thought it did. It makes sense, I suppose, that unlike traditional satire that holds up a carnival mirror to the “other side” that suddenly makes them feel ugly… Colbert holds up a mirror that makes the other side feel even better about themselves, with a new image that’s not only flashy, cutting, and streamlined, but totally hilarious. It’s like when someone you like looks you straight in the eyes and into your soul and says with full sincerity, “You know what? I totally get you. You know why? Because I know what’s most important to you in this world is to feel A, B, and C… right? WELL, I HAPPEN TO FEEL *EXACTLY THE SAME WAY*

If you’ve ever fallen for that “line,” then you not only know exactly how irresistibly validating that feels, but exactly why “the other side” can’t hear the satire. Without any obvious cues that he’s making fun of them, it just feels like really intense and sincere flattery, delivered with a humorous flair. And who doesn’t love that?

(Source: quotationsblog)