Using politics as a source of humor is detrimental to the democratic process, and during the presidential campaign, political comedy has become very main stream. There are many people that actually believe shows like The Daily Show and Colbert Report are actual journalism that is intended to inform the viewer, not entertain them. Even when the hosts address important topics such as the economy or foreign relations, the issue is put aside to make a funny comment about the politician’s age or race.
In the digital age, any mistake or flaw can make it to the web in a matter of minutes and ruin a career just as fast. Politicians must be on guard at all times to not say or do something that would hurt their campaign. While both presidential candidates have said little about the jokes directed at them, Palin has accepted the humor, specifically by Tina Fey of SNL and it seems to have helped her. Several times during the vice presidential debate she made jokes and gave off a more casual feeling. Despite what people say about her inexperience or opinions on issues, many people think she is funny and she is more widely known than her opponent Joe Biden especially with a younger audience.
Young voters will be vital in this election more than ever. Despite low turnouts in previous elections, voters under 30 are expected to be much more active this year. With many sources of media targeting this young audience, it is crucial that there is information available that is coming from a reliable and unbiased source. Comedy is a great way to get people to know that issues and problems facing the country exist, but there is no one bridging the gap between comedy and information. This is probably why myself and many friends find informational political news such as the debates or various speeches by candidates to be uninteresting.
While looking for videos to use for this class on youtube every search about a serious topic would have one or two videos of the actual event and thousands of spoofs or clips of a funny section. Elections of the past have had their humor, with nicknames and slogans being commonplace, but it seems that since the 2000 election, comedy has overshadowed everything else. This may be due in part to President Bush, who has had more slip ups and mistakes in 8 years than most people do in a lifetime. Everyone knows about “strategery” and “misunderstimated”, but who knows what he was speaking about when he slipped up on one word? It is because of this that an entire generation only knows their political leaders from what they see on youtube or comedy central.
2 comments:
Hey Bill,
I definitely agree that in today’s day and age, it is critical to constantly be “on your game”, so to speak. Any slip up will not only be on the internet within a minute, but a parody/satirical parody will be done in 10. Not only that, but some of the most watched parodies are done in formats that appear to be done by news anchor/ journalist as a profession. It states in “From Insiders to Outsiders: The Advent of New Political Television” that, “these shows demand a level of sophistication or knowledge about both politics and popular culture” (59).This quote is specifically talking about political satire shows like The Daily Show, Bill Maher and Dennis Miller.
It almost explains while watching the debates, especially the past 2 presidential debates, that each candidate is obviously so conscious of the style and content of their answers. Any perceived slip up will be dissected until each word is traced back to its origins. However, this self awareness, I believe, is choking the life out of what the debates are suppose to be. Watching debates from the past in last week’s class, I am still waiting for a moment that the same class will analyze 20 years from now. It’s a sterilization process that is informative, but lacks a certain something that leaves the undecided voters unable to heavily lean one way or the other, based on argumentative skills alone. Despite what the opinion of the current president is, his charisma during the Bush – Gore town-hall debate leaves a lot to be desired this past town-hall debate.
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