THE POLITICS OF COMEDY
Is this thing on?
In efforts to promote voter education, laughter is perhaps the best strategery.
Comedy and tragedy prove one in the same, as the saying goes. The variability of the twosome, however, substantiates rather inconsistently in politics, an arena overflowing with participants who take themselves too seriously. And where a potential candidate attempts to utilize comic relief, one often discovers the result to be rather tragic.
In lieu of the consequences politicians may endure with the mere utterance of a poor joke, most tend to stray from the possibility of Meet the Press turned comedy hour. Especially when their reputations are at stake; politicians are well aware, according to Mark Katz, humorist and speechwriter for Bill Clinton, that “a good joke will last about a week”, whereas a “bad joke will be reprinted in you obituary.”
Perhaps responsibility lies within the confines of a narrow-minded media, exhibited as a threat to be avoided rather than a tool to be implemented. But certainly with just cause; “the news media are poorly suited to their role as the principal intermediary between candidates and voters,” rooted in the conception of politics as “game” and a “business” rather than a “struggle” over national policy.
The aforementioned incidents occur frequently, but not absolutely, should candidates appropriately utilize humor. The war on terror provides unavoidable roadblocks on an already-tumultuous campaign trail, and even primitive technology such as television suffices in establishing the general 9/11 ‘fear climate’. The presumption of a candidate’s entrepreneurial priorities over his public relationship undermines the use of humor as the candidate’s ultimate weapon.
The primarily noticeable aspect of political campaign humor pertains to its absence. Undoubtedly humor “is used more sparingly than songs in political commercials” ; the commodity appears even more so in the early campaign efforts of the mid-nineteenth century than recent endeavors. Humor’s effectiveness originates from its multilevel success in the campaigning process. Involuntarily proliferated by an ever-expanding press, the ideal candidate would employ comedy because of its effervescent facility of concurrent humanization and advertisement. Moreover humorous politicians formulate an equally comical and less aggressive response within the entertainment realm, successfully intertwining the sphere of pop culture with the relatively unscathed territory of political science. The general consensus regarding the benefits of humor relates to its malleability; it can “be employed to attack the opposition, or it can serve to enhance a campaign.”
While it can be argued that humor refers to a conscious campaign maneuver on the part of its source, as a tool it only succeeds with regard to the respective candidate.
If you are able to relate to the rest of the population they will be more likely to vote for you. This is because they have confidence that you do acknowledge your mistakes and this means that you are relatable to them causing them to have more confidence that you will make political decisions that will please them. Making fun of yourself for your mistakes is the key way to provide the idea to the public that you are relatable to them. To accomplish this most politicians including Richard Nixon appeared on the show laugh in to show how they acknowledge their mishaps. "Its approach to political satire was less staccato and more sustainable" ( Kolbert,68). Kolbert shows here that many different types of poloticans stoop to conquer after the success of Richard Nixon. ""sock it to me?" He asks, drawing out the "me?" In a way that suggests he has perhaps never heard the line before" (Kolbert, 66). In this quote Nixon is making his mistakes known to the public thus Portraying to the public that he isnt on a higher pedestal than any of them. This then gets him votes because the public understands that he does make mistakes and is relatable to. The last main idea of kolbert is By doing all of this you will make yourself more relateable to the younger generation who might not care, know, or understand the background of
In 1992, President Bill Clinton was a little known former governor from the poor state of Arkansas who thwarted President George H.W. Bush’s effort to be reelected and became the 42nd president of the United States. During the primary and general election, President Clinton’s campaign made extensive use of television to introduce himself and his ideas to the general public. Three examples were chosen as representative of the type of imagery seen during campaign. The first is a TV ad called “Hope”, the next is a picture from President’s appearance on the Arsenio Hall TV show and the last is a TV ad called “1988.” These examples serve to represent key moments that occurred during the presidential campaign.
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
Most people would agree that humor makes more of an impression than stern speeches or passages. For example, if someone were to mention the name “Rudy Giuliani” who is the third most famous speaker in our era, most average people would not recognize the man or know of his title. However, if someone were to mention “George Carlin” who was one of the most famous comedians in the 80’s and 90’s before his untimely passing, there would be many a person who would comment on his broad views and humorous remarks that made his points even more valid than the remarks of most present-day politicians. So naturally, when someone writes something humorous as opposed to preachy, yet still tackling a serious
Popular culture also plays a role in why Americans do not trust politicians. Late-night television shows use politicians in their comedy skits, where their mistakes are punch lines for comedians. A study produced by Jody Baumgartner and Jonathan Morris found that people who view late-night television shows have a more negative view of candidates, (Medvic p. 5). In particular, people who view The Daily Show have drastically less faith in the electoral process, (Medvic p. 5). Russell Peterson argues that these jokes as “implicitly anti-democratic” because they declare the entire system as fraudulent, (Medvic p. 5).
The Presidential election followed a political campaign in which the weapons of choice were partisan criticism and attack ads rather than details that illuminate the character of the candidates. What troubled me about these partisan attacks is that reporters and columnists are governed by the tides of events tending to be too laudatory about candidates on the way up and too critical of politicians on the way down. For example; the coverage of Howard Dean's presidential race.
For over 60 years, presidential campaigns have used television ads to communicate ideas and campaign plans to the American people. With hopes of influencing people to vote, politicians have used various tactics and strategies to persuade. After observing television campaign ads throughout the years, a few themes are observed.
Jones, Jeffrey P. Entertaining Politics: Satiric Television and Political Engagement. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010. Print.
Many people tend to use humor as a positive communication skill to make us laugh. It has long been used as a tool to navigate how we better understand media and politics. In today's crucial times of political chaos, social unrest and in-fighting between political parties, the use of Satire humor is more relevant than ever before. According to Oxford dictionary, satire is defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. In the last decade there has been a staunch increase in technology and a rise in social media, this comes with its own benefits and downfalls. The use of satire humor has been represented
Humor and emotional appeals is what Moore has used in Fahrenheit 9/11 to aid the effect of persuasion. For humor, Moore reaches for an ‘ad populum’ with his audience, looking to exert his opinion as a justification for his claim. An example can be with the Florida election, where Moore has used a fast tempo background piece of music. This sounds much like a stereotypical ‘hillbilly/country’ song; which can be related to Bush’s southern US state background. This music has several functions, including helping Moore’s rapid delivery of facts, but in this case it illustrates Moore’s opinion of the nature of the election – that it can be seen as some sort of ‘joke’. By providing a taunt at Bush’s background, Moore has given the audience humor. Comedy makes these messages more effective as it increases the liking for the source [Moore], and the choice of humor might illustrate a shared sense of hilarity that hints at a similar set of underlying ideas that the audience hold.
...0). Traditional newscasts are not only dumbing down and sensationalizing the news to bring more interest into their programming, but this can be detrimental to the political process. The Daily Show is uses comedy to show the ridiculousness of the political world and news media for his viewers to take politics seriously (Hariman, 2007). The Daily Show has been awarded with prestigious awards, such as two Peabody Awards, 18 Primetime Emmys, a Television Critics Association Award, and also a Grammy Award. (Feldman, 2007). It can be said, entertainment based shows can have the potential to not only educate, but entertaining as well. Today’s generation have grown up in a world where the distinction between of entertainment and news shows have been obscured, The Daily Show has proven the televisions shows can provide the public with entertaining political information.
As I vigilantly watched the ad called “Brutal: Sarah Palin’s Record on Aerial Wolf Hunting”, I seen so much alienation against her. By the end of the video, my attention was so far off of the idea of Sarah Palin being elected vice president, but only on the thought of why a person would support this kind of cruelty. The ad did accomplished one thing, which was to convince the audience that Sarah Palin is a bad person, and why citizens should not vote for her. While seeing so much hatred against one person, this paper will focus on analyzing how pathos, ethos, and logos were used in a tactical move to oppose Sarah Palin becoming vice president.
According to Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz, “Humor has always played an important role in argument.” (38). Humor itself is something that activates amusement or laughter. Moreover, in popular culture, satire is a tool that is used to point out things in our society. Satire opens the minds of people to philosophies they might completely deny, using humor.
Humor is the tendency to look at things from the mirthful or incongruous side. It is the quality that makes something laughable or amusing. Humor is the ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is amusing or comical. It is the source of laughter and the catalyst of smiles. Humor is the spark that lights our eyes as well as the cause of tears that never grows old. Humor is a state of mind.
If there is one way to bring a smile to someone’s face, it is laughter. Funny jokes, comical stunts, sarcasm- Every person is different when it comes to what makes them laugh. Some find dry humor comical. Others think sarcasm or joke-filled ranting are the best. ‘Comedy’ is such a broad term, broad enough to allow everyone to find something they find comical. In fact, ‘comedy’ includes a specific type of drama, one where the protagonist is joyful and happy endings are expected. Comedy is like a drug; it allows you to escape reality. When we say the word ‘comedy’ in the present, we are generally referring to a type of performance which provides humor. However, in its broadest sense, comedy has only one purpose: comedy makes people smile and