One of the most striking features of 21st-century public discourse is the rising prominence of satire, particularly online.
Satire has played a significant role in Western political and societal discourse for centuries, especially after Jonathan Swift laid the blueprint for the modern journalistic satire in his “Modest Proposal.” It has, however, become more and more prevalent in the digital age, with both websites and television shows devoted entirely to satire, such as The Onion and the late “Colbert Report.” As traditional modes of journalism have waned, the demand for parodies of the news has steadily increased.
While thoughtful or particularly witty satire has a place, and can give much-needed perspective on many current events issues, it has reached a point of stagnation and cynicism, particularly in such straightforward outlets as The Onion. The irony employed in such a publication has become a substitute for genuine, thoughtful arguments, and combined with widespread access to social media, many readers have begun to rely more on satirical news than on real journals, newspapers, and magazines. When one can share a quick, pithy headline that seems to really strike at those one disagrees with, it can be tempting to do so instead of explicating or developing one’s own arguments.
One of the issues with The Onion in particular is that it has fulfilled neither of the two possible options for good satire: It is neither particularly witty nor thoughtful. In fact, the co-founder of the site has revealed the “5-step guide to writing a perfectly satirical Onion article,” which include such formulas as “Religion is Dumb,” and “Write Something as Mean as Possible.”
By creating a simplistic and harsh template for a daily site, the Onion’s output has generally been formulaic and callous, perhaps resulting from their “headlines first approach,” which emphasizes catchy headlines with little thought given to the bulk of the article.
To be sure, satire doesn’t have to be trite or cruel, even in the internet age. National Review’s Rob Long writes riotous commentary in the form of imagined emails, Tweets, and press releases adopting the voices of characters in the forefront of the national conscience and revealing their outrageous natures.
Clickhole, The Onion’s sister site, represents a refreshing new trend in humorous commentary. The site is loosely aimed at lampooning sites such as Buzzfeed and other “clickbait” websites, which often rely on lists and images, without even pretending to aim for any sort of meritorious discourse. Clickhole has transcended this mission of straightforward parody, and has, at its best moments, become a surreal experience with a genius that goes beyond satire and becomes a stand-alone experience. Without the rigid formulas of sites like the Onion or the singular viewpoint of productions like “The Colbert Report,” sites like Clickhole, Reductress, and The Toast have become veritable variety shows, showcasing the brilliant, absurd, and hilarious comedy craved by the modern generation.
In order to create authentic, original, valuable pieces of satire, publications cannot devote themselves to simple formulas and callous ridicule. Parody must be motivated by either a creative sense of humor or by thoughtful reductio ad absurdum construction. Without one of these, it becomes a cheap, pandering tool used to mock the viewpoints of others with little care. In the fleeting, faceless environment encouraged by the internet, careless satire is an unfortunate consequence; a renaissance of more creative, subtler societal commentary is, however, on the rise.