Opinion
Laugh if you like. But we need satire more than ever
Owen Jones
Illustration by Mitch Blunt
'Satire is so subversive – and often politically fatal for those who
rule – because it exposes the absurdities of power.' Photograph: Mitch
Blunt
strangers; a tool to broaden horizons, or to be bombarded with
nonsensical junk. But our social media, increasingly, are assuming a
role that is crucial in a democracy: satirising and ridiculing the
powerful.
small-fry account the Twitter trend of the moment.
Political satire is booming online, where taking the mighty and the
powerful down a peg or two is a sport. On the web you can find Vine
videos of George Osborne looking spaced out at prime minister’s
on our TV screens.
Satire is so subversive – and often politically fatal for those who
rule – because it exposes the absurdities of power. Authority attempts
to assert itself partly through a veneer of respectability and
ago, “Where is the Spitting Image of today? ... Imagine the sport the
show could have with Cameron and Clegg. But I don’t care whether it’s
puppets or cartoons or real people. Just give us some decent satire.”
The humorous ridiculing of the powerful has a proud pedigree in
Britain. Back in the mid-19th century, it was Punch magazine that
championed satire, being sympathetic to the rising demands of democracy
against the country’s oligarchic, unaccountable elite. More recently,
satire has episodically flourished on our TV screens: That Was The Week
That Was audaciously challenged the stultifying deference of the early
60s; Not the Nine O’Clock News stuck it to the political elite as
disproportionately young audience, entertaining and informing them.
Stephen Colbert takes on the US’s ranting rightwing shock jocks.
Depressingly, we’re even exporting satirical talent such as
Birmingham-born John Oliver, who presents Last Week Tonight on HBO.
likely to see politics as a realistic vehicle to transform society.
But quality satire does not just scrutinise and ridicule the great and
the good. It helps engage those who otherwise find politics tedious.
Politics can be made fun, raucous and appealing (at least for those not
and derided. There’s too little punching up. Where is the scrutinising
– and yes, ridiculing – of the poverty-paying bosses, the tax dodgers,
or the bankers responsible for economic disaster? Satire can be
brilliantly effective at encouraging us to challenge the way our
society is run. It is a more crucial element of our democracy than we