her sister for the size. And he knows which brands run big or small.”
People didn’t know what to make of it. Was it satire or someone’s real
list of random life advice? It was mostly unclear because it seems that
men get this kind of specific advice all the time.
For nearly two decades, “South Park” has lambasted . . . everything.
The cartoon’s raw satire offends left, right and center; all races and
religions — and atheists, too. But some are just too dense to get it.
October.
Set in the 1920s, “Chicago” is a scathing satire of how show business
and the media make celebrities out of criminals. It has Bob
Fosse-inspired choreography, skimpy outfits and killer songs such as
against him since the incident.
Englander maintains the act was social satire and said he is not a
racist.
After Mother Jones magazine unearthed the article last week, Sanders
spokesman Michael Briggs called it a “dumb attempt at dark satire in an
alternative publication.”
“I assure you she was a bigger star than the president. People were
gathering around our table, not the head table,” said Plepler, who was
speaking on a panel about political satire at the Cannes Lions ad
festival.
“It’s a magnificent demonstration of agit-prop,” said Amanpour, adding
that political calls to action in America have been left to satirists.
Political discourse has become so chaotic and dysfunctional that it’s
Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, also known as Charb, in
September 2012. Charb was killed in the January 2015 terror attack on
the satirical French weekly. Photo: AP Photo
MORE FROM:
If there is any group of people on the planet who should feel
solidarity with the slain editors of the French satirical magazine
Charlie Hebdo, it is writers.
As short-story writer Deborah Eisenberg argued in a long letter to the
executive director of PEN, satirizing Catholicism is fine because it
“has represented centuries of authoritarian repressiveness and the
abuse of power.”
This is a version of Garry Trudeau’s argument that Charlie Hebdo was
“punching downward” against the defenseless, when satire should punch
up against the powerful.
Actor Loren Anthony told The Associated Press on Thursday that he and
eight others quit the production of satirical western “The Ridiculous
Six” after producers ignored their concerns about its portrayal of
Apache culture.
“The movie has ‘ridiculous’ in the title for a reason: because it is
ridiculous,” a company statement released by Netflix said. “It is a
broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized,
featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of — but in on — the
joke.”
Whether that happens anytime in our lifetime — or tomorrow — is
anyone’s guess. (Recently I wrote a satire on the right of college
athletes to be paid. I favor it. This is in response to that.)
*
Scientologists ‘recognize satire’ in ‘SNL’ skit mocking them
By Page Six Team
While Scientology has had a tough week, or rather, year in the media, a
rep told us of the sketch: “We recognize it’s satire.”
Meanwhile, after HBO aired Alex Gibney’s exposé, “Going Clear,” on
Visitor Jeanie Slade, who posted a pic of herself and a pal at the site
with the hashtag “#beingtourists,” said Saturday that it was “satire
. . . to point out how many people post selfies in inappropriate
times.”
Sunday.
“I’m so sorry for any miscommunication and my satire was in poor
taste,” she said.
“#weresocreepy.”
Asked about the selfie by The Post, Jeanie called it “satire.”
“My heart goes out to the people of New York, and this satire post was
in poor taste,” she insisted. “My intention was to point out how many
people post selfies in inappropriate times and it backfired.”
*
‘It was all a joke’: Gamergate villain says online threats were satire
By Michael Blaustein
February 24, 2015 | 5:07pm
Modal Trigger ‘It was all a joke’: Gamergate villain says online
threats were satire
Jan Rankowski, who posted online as a character called Jace Connors,
claims that his threats against female game developer Brianna Wu were
And those death threats he made against the female game developer? They
were all part of a big satirical joke, according to Rankowski.
Posing as Connors, Rankowski made headlines when he posted a terrifying
74,065
‘It was all a joke’: Gamergate villain says online threats were satire
Bill Clinton's pardon of fugitive Marc Rich continues to pay big
28,232
‘It was all a joke’: Gamergate villain says online threats were satire
Awkward, pandering spectacle of Hillary Clinton trying to ‘be real’
25,246
‘It was all a joke’: Gamergate villain says online threats were satire
Don't be fooled by Bernie Sanders
he's a diehard communist
Funny, in a not-so funny, Joe Pesci way, how ESPN provides both shelter
and nourishment to sports’ most reliably satire-proof absurdities.
Thursday was a hoot.
How did the Golden Globes respond to this cavalcade of dire news?
Hosts Fey and Poehler, instead of mercilessly satirizing North Korea,
instead mocked one of the targets embarrassed in the Sony leak (Scott
Rudin, who fairly inarguably was revealed to have termed his colleagues
Committee of Pyongyang? They were the Manchurian hosts.
About the massacre of their fellow satirists in Paris, Fey and Poehler
said nothing at all. People who, broadly speaking, are in the exact
same line of work as Fey and Poehler were gunned down at the office for
Actually, if that were to happen, the perpetrators would be shouting
“Allahu akbar.” And then, Hollywood would grit its teeth, clench its
collective fists and do a really harsh, relentless satire — on Mormons,
or Catholics, or maybe Wall Street.
Millions of people streamed through the streets behind them and across
France to mourn the victims of deadly attacks on a satirical newspaper,
a kosher supermarket and police officers — violence that tore deep into
the nation’s sense of wellbeing in a way some compared to Sept. 11 in
detailing how the attacks were going to unfold. That gunman, Amedy
Coulibaly, was also linked to a new shooting, two days after he and the
brothers behind a massacre at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were
killed in nearly simultaneous police raids.
including two police officers. Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen said it
directed the attack to avenge the honor of the Prophet Muhammad, a
frequent target of the weekly’s satire. Charlie Hebdo assailed
Christianity, Judaism as well as officialdom of all stripes with its
brand of sometimes crude satire.
Francois Hollande, Angela Merkel and Mahmoud Abbas walk during the
rally in Paris.Photo: Getty Images
In any war, the goal is to put your enemy in a position where he has no
good options. The murderous attack on the offices of the French
satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo does exactly that. Consider the
response from the Western media with regard to the Mohammed cartoons.
offensive.
For instance, I think most satire of Christianity is particularly
cowardly and lame precisely because Christians are such a safe target.
Also, after centuries of tolerance for satire of Christianity,
opportunities for cleverness or originality are few and far between.
slaughter in Paris only makes that more of a reality.
Whereas last week, running satirical pictures of Mohammed largely made
sense only as a matter of opinion journalism, it is now a requirement
of news reporting — because those images are central to the story.
to have it both ways, running a photo of Charbonnier while pixelating
the issue of Charlie Hebdo he was holding so that readers couldn’t make
out the satirical image of Mohammed.
This “compromise” was worse than refusing to run the cartoon at all
speaking out for what they believed in.
The French satirical paper — where 12 people were slaughtered by Muslim
terrorists Wednesday — never stopped mocking the hate and hypocrisy of
Islamic fanaticism, even after their Paris offices were firebombed in
present our New Year’s wishes.”
Charbonnier was aware that such satire put the publication in the
radicals’ cross hairs — and he said he didn’t care.
along with four others, including two policemen.
Charbonnier said he believed satirists had a duty to take on any
subject — Charlie Hebdo had run more than one cover tweaking the pope —
and that included Islam.
Charles de Gaulle, Time reported.
Many of the banned paper’s staff joined the new satirical paper, which
was named “Charlie Weekly” after the “Peanuts” character Charlie Brown.
script found its way into his hands. “It was a beautiful, smart,
hilarious mix of brotherhood stories, family stories, and fatherhood
stories that everyone can relate to and just brilliant satire about
today’s fame industry and the television industry,” Lowe says.
bulldoze their way through a rain forest.
Photo: UniversalInstead, Roth bulldozes his way through a bloody satire
of such stock campus figures as the bearded revolutionary (Ariel Levy)
who entices an easily outraged freshperson (Lorenza Izzo) to join his
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Comic satire elects a teen girl as 'Prez'
Beth Ross is a POTUS facing a country full of problems in the near
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Beth Ross is a POTUS facing a country full of problems in t
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Comic satire elects a teen girl as 'Prez'
[writer_entertainment-Truitt_Brian.png] Brian Truitt, USA TODAY 2:05
Beth Ross is winning the presidency in 2036.
Debuting Wednesday from DC Comics, the futuristic comic-book satire
Prez smartly skewers politics, culture and technology but also
introduces a cool heroine who'd be the right woman for the job no
Debates and other real-life political elements get
Debates and other real-life political elements get satirized in the
futuristic world of "Prez."
(Photo: DC Comics)
really what her education is in office."
Russell sees satire as "quality control," and we the people are always
looking for ways our society is going wrong. "Prez is an attempt to
identity those and also to come up with solutions for them," says the
"That's really what appeals to me, the idea that I can be honest and
sort of edgy and satirical, and know that some kid in Iowa is going to
be able to get my comic at a Walmart."
Hollywood star, who’s also a horse. A comedy voiced by a handful of
your favorite stars (Will Arnett, Aaron Paul, Amy Sedaris and Alison
Brie, among others). A stinging satire with arguably the best
repertoire of pop culture references on TV today. A startlingly bleak
tale of fame and relationships that lures you in with its silly animal
And in one critical episode from BoJack Horseman‘s second season, which
premiered this weekend on Netflix, the show is a prescient cultural
satire.
BoJack‘s second season transcends its animated-shows-for-adults
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Cronenberg loves new film's 'exaggeration of satire'
Famed director finally films in Hollywood for movie about the movies.
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Cronenberg loves new film's 'exaggeration of satire'
[writer_entertainment-Truitt_Brian.png] Brian Truitt, USA TODAY 5:13
The 70-year-old filmmaker filmed his first scenes ever in America for
his new film Maps to the Stars (opening nationwide Feb. 27), a
satirical drama about a show-business family and its hunt for celebrity
starring John Cusack, Julianne Moore and Robert Pattinson.
that drew in Cronenberg, adds the director: "The stuff that makes it
work is the human relationships on a very naturalistic evil — the
exaggeration of satire."
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Will Paris attack have 'chilling effect' on satire?
Will Paris attack have 'chilling effect' on satire? Not according to
satirists.
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Will Paris attack have 'chilling effect' on satire?
[writer_people-Puente_Maria.png] Maria Puente, USA TODAY 12:43 p.m. EST
January 8, 2015
Where do journalists and cartoonists draw the line on satire?
Grief in Lille
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The sound of gunfire in the newsroom of a Paris satirical weekly echoed
around the world of satire on Wednesday, but those who make their
living at mockery vowed to press on.
Possibly because of the time difference, it was the European satire
press that responded first to the attack on Charlie Hebdo — in which 12
people were killed — with vows not to let the murder of journalists and
cartoonists chill their free-press right to make fun.
But soon, as the news spread, American satirists, journalists,
humorists and comedians were joining in the condemnations and clarion
calls for freedom.
Comedian Lizz Winstead, a co-creator of one of America's premier
satirical programs, The Daily Show, tweeted her shock.
This story in France hits very close to home. I will honor #Hebdo by
— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) January 7, 2015
One of America's most prominent satirists, Garry Trudeau, declined to
comment, but that didn't stop his admirers on Twitter.
— The Independent (@Independent) January 7, 2015
"Satire is a human right," declared Tim Wolff, editor-in-chief of
Germany's most popular satirical publication, Titanic, according to an
interview in DW, a German publication. Satire becomes "even more
relevant" after attack like this, he added.
"Of course, on the personal level, we are scared when we hear about
such violence," he said. "However, as a satirist, we are beholden to
the principle that every human being has the right to be parodied. This
should not stop just because of some idiots who go around shooting."
Satirists in Britain, where satiric publications and commentary are a
tradition and pointed mockery is widely admired, also railed at the
attack.
Salman Rushdie, the British novelist once under a death-threat fatwa,
also issued a statement defending satire.
"I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of
satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny,
dishonesty and stupidity," he said.
"Here at Jyllands-Posten we live in fear," Rose said. "There have been
numerous episodes that deal with how the handling of Islam and
violence. But Charlie has insisted on their right to make satire, and
now they've paid the highest price for that."
French crowd rallies in Toulouse on Jan. 7, to show solidarity for the
victims of the attack by unknown gunmen on the offices of the satirical
weekly, 'Charlie Hebdo.'
(Photo: ERIC CABANIS, AFP/Getty Images)
It was announced Tuesday that Saget - who made his Broadway debut in
2006, in the musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone
will step into the
role on Pastor Greg in the critically acclaimed Broadway satire Hand To
God. The actor/comedian will replace current cast member Marc Kudisch
(who has an upcoming gig in Chicago) starting Nov. 3.
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'Hebdo' attack strengthens resolve of collegiate satirical writers
By Rachel Rosenbaum, Emory University January 13, 2015 2:30 pm
EMAIL
Days after three militants stormed the headquarters of French satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo, the world has joined together in the name of
free speech. More than 3.7 million people gathered in France on
been used to show solidarity and support.
The tragedy has sparked a discussion about the role of satire and free
speech — a discussion that has included the editorial meetings of many
student satirical publications across the country
“It was a bit of a shock,” says Sachin Medhekar, the editor-in-chief of
UCLA’s Satyr Magazine. “We all write comedy, we satirize things, but it
was a shock seeing those words responded to with such violence.”
Cover of the 'The Satyr Magazine'. (Courtesy Sachin Medhekar)
reveal that it would have the opposite impact.
“We won’t apologize for what we’ve done and hopefully other satirical
publications won’t either,” Medhekar says.
Medhekar helped revive Satyr in 2012 because he believes so strongly
in the power satire can have both on and off college campuses.
Related: Student journalists respond to ‘Charlie Hebdo’ attack
Cynthia Counts, a first amendment attorney and Emory Law School
professor agrees that satire is a vital form of free speech on college
campuses.
“These satirical publications provide students a forum for the free
expression of their ideas and opinions and encourage students to openly
confront and deal with the challenges of their time,” Counts says.
Sierra Katow, a writer for the Harvard Lampoon, agrees that satirical
publications are needed for democracy.
we wanted to show solidarity with them,” Katow says.
Editor-in Chief of the Emory Spoke, Martin Sigalow, has seen satire
trigger important conversations on Emory’s campus about issues that
students are too afraid to bring up themselves.
During Sigalow’s freshman year, the administration removed one of the
magazine’s posters and inflicted sanctions on its editor-in-chief. The
satirical “wanted” poster called for the student body president to be
brought in dead or alive — a move the administration believed
demonstrated a willingness to inflict bodily harm on another student.
“It’s a slippery slope when you start saying ‘what is OK in a cartoon?’
It [satire] is challenging thinking and ideas and that’s what the whole
point of the first amendment is,” Counts says.
While the attackers might have hoped to incite fear and challenge the
first amendment, it appears the tragedy will have quite the contrary
effect on these satirical publications.
“Any real change that we make is letting the terrorist win. We will
The attack has opened Katow’s eyes to the power of her words.
“This certainly demonstrates the power of satire and I’ll keep that in
mind more so than before,” says Katow. “I’ll put more effort and more
energy into trying to understand the weight of what I’m putting out
miracles against science, natives against immigrants, heterosexuals
against homosexuals. That they do so in the context of a cosmic
apocalypse is a wicked bit of satire that perhaps only this
Indian-born, British-raised, American-transplanted author, so
conversant in the language of disaspora, would have attempted.
South African comedian Trevor Noah, 31, begins his tenure as the third
host of The Daily Show Monday, seven weeks after Jon Stewart ended his
16-year run at the helm of the Comedy Central news satire. Noah has
promised some changes to the way the show approaches stories. Unlike
Stewart, who was easily riled up by hyperactive cable-news outlets,
Though he’s largely unknown in this country, Comedy Central president
Michele Ganeless says Noah is a fitting replacement for the news
satire. He was endorsed by Stewart, and rose to the top based on his
qualifications for the job description: A funny, smart workaholic with
a broad range of interests.
seriously. Either way's fine with Halsey: "If the song speaks to you,
that's incredible, but if you think the song is a topical cop-out,
good, you're supposed to — it's a satire."
Badlands starts treating her good. New Americana appears on Halsey's
Winners: Who took home an Emmy award
"To quote our political satire, Veep: 'What a great honor it must be
for you to honor me tonight.' Oh no, Donald Trump said that, I'm
sorry." Julia Louis-Dreyfus, accepting her fourth consecutive award for
of exhibits and programs, in a statement. "They are part of America's
cultural and media history, telling an important story about how
political satire and news as humor made 'The Daily Show' a trusted news
source for a generation."
Wrapping up a 16-year stint as the host of "The Daily Show" with an
unmatchable approach to political satire, there are too many
captivating Jon Stewart moments to count. Krystin Goodwin
(@krystingoodwin) highlights five notable memories. Buzz60
If you close your eyes and read him, for all the colorful characters,
verbal mischief and crazy wisdom you might think it’s Tom Robbins; or
for the dark satire and intelligent mirth, Kurt Vonnegut.
But Moore has brings his own game and creates a novel that pulses with
Lifetime, 10 ET/PT
We've reached the finale of this Bachelor-ish satire, a show mocked and
attacked by Bachelor host Chris Harrison. Which is reason enough to
watch and support it.
Beautiful You by Chuck Palahniuk (Anchor, fiction, reprint)
Satire about a billionaire and his sex-toy empire.
[635485384722504781-978-0-385-53803-9.jpg]
USA TODAY
Dark satire 'Beautiful You' takes on modern erotica
The Long Way Home by Louise Penny (Minotaur, fiction, reprint)
Lifetime, 10 ET/PT
You could watch the After the Rose special. Or you could spend the hour
with this satire of the genre instead, which hits its next-to-last
episode with Rachel questioning her reality show future.
his FX series, American Horror Story.
"Scream Queens is a much more satirical, cartoonish quality (to the
violence) than American Horror Story does, which is much more
sexualized and darker at times," he told writers during a Fox panel at
Curtis, the iconic Halloween star who plays a college dean who forces
the exclusive sorority to open its doors to all, pointed to the show's
satirical focus.
"It is a social satire and actually we say what people think. We live
in a bubble where (people are) all trying to behave and look a certain
way. This flays imagined behaviors of human beings," she said.
"The movie has ridiculous in the title for a reason: because it is
ridiculous. It is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes
they popularized, featuring a diverse cast that is not only part of
but in on
the joke," said Netflix in a statement after the actors'
is a joke, nothing else, as the context and the monstrosity of the
metal cage indicate. This joke obviously appealed to a number of
satirical writers and artists in the following centuries, who fully
understood the great value of the chastity belt for their own purposes
to entertain their audiences. Indeed, the literary examples that I
could uncover consistently belong to the genre of satire, while the
chastity belt never appears in serious texts or art works. No author of
sermon literature, of penitentiary texts, or didactic and legal writers
"Clearly this planet's gone bonkers"
Jon Stewart has no regrets about bowing out of political satire –
despite Donald Trump‘s headline-grabbing run for president.
Rick Kern—Getty Images for Comedy Central Daily Show Host Jon Stewart.
The popular satirical news show ends this week
With “The Daily Show” ending this week, the show’s set will be donated
president of exhibits and programs, in a statement. “They are part of
America’s cultural and media history, telling an important story about
how political satire and news as humor made ‘The Daily Show’ a trusted
news source for a generation.”
Stewart’s first episode of the show aired in 1999. In February, he
announced he’d be retiring from the wildly popular satirical news show.
For more on the show, read Fortune’s look at some of the most memorable
It’s difficult to know, in retrospect, whether the captions might be
tinged with a hint of satire, or whether Rejaunier’s participation was
entirely voluntary or urged by eager publicists. Whatever the intent,
the effect was to suggest that a few sultry glamor shots would go
when they have figureheads to rally around, when the mainstream media
treats it like it’s actually news. People like Donald Trump should be
either ignored, or put purely in entertainment and satire coverage, as
opposed to legitimate news coverage. That’s my opinion. Because it
really does prevent us as a society from evolving and becoming more
Johnny’s dinosaur act may be intentional; but the show’s references and
rockumentary clichés are just fossilized. Besides Sting, there are jabs
at David Bowie and Radiohead, making this the edgiest rock satire of
1993. There is a set piece about rock bands’ over-the-top greenroom
requests (“Twelve filet mignons in a box, like meat donuts”), not to
doomed suicide mission to spoof America’s entanglements in Pakistan.
I’d say “satirize” instead of “spoof,” but even bad satires have
something to say. The Brink, built around a doomsday crisis involving a
ruthless Pakistani general, the country’s nuclear arsenal, a
book about a clique of neurotic, messy abusers of substances and one
another, centered around one Carrie Bradshaw, the worst of the lot. It
was a scathing satire of fin de siècle life in the world’s most
important, and most self-important, city, and Bradshaw’s pathologies,
though understandable, were far from cute. The HBO adaptation began,
too, as a pretty biting satire, but Parker’s winsome portrayal ended up
turning Bradshaw into the sort of heroine that can inhabit the center
of a profitable movie franchise and become something of a Zeitgeist
Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner, who is on bail on bribery
charges, wasn’t laughing as he cited a work of satire published in the
Onion on Sunday.
The mocking suggestion of the article is that FIFA would be willing to
organize a “summer World Cup” simply to appease U.S. authorities.
However, the satirical point was lost on Warner. He asks why the U.S.
would be willing to host such an event “if FIFA is so bad.”
On Ed Sullivan, Dylan planned to put a spin on his
clothespin-on-the-nose honesty with “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid
Blues,” a satirical song written from the perspective of a John Birch
Society member who is so terrified of communist infiltration that he
looks for Reds everywhere, including in his chimney, toilet and glove
Even though he never got to play the song, Dylan still got some press
from the non-appearance. He clearly occupied the moral high ground in
the New York Times’ dispatch about the dustup, headlined “Satire on
Birch Society Barred from Ed Sullivan’s TV Show.” And, per Rolling
Stone, he bounced back from the crushing disappointment when someone
authors have criticized the writers’ organization PEN for honoring
Charlie Hebdo’s commitment to freedom of expression. The French
satirical magazine had published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, an
unforgivable insult in the eyes of the Kouachi brothers, who burst into
its offices and shot eight of its staff, as well as four other people,
Power and prestige are elements that must be recognized in
considering almost any form of discourse, including satire. The
inequities between the person holding the pen and the subject fixed
on paper by that pen cannot, and must not, be ignored.
The imagination sees and draws and describes many
things—pornographic, erotic, satiric, and blasphemous—that are
uncomfortable or ugly. But they are not actually happening. The
imagination is a place where hypotheses and conditionals rule, and
That sensibility is still there in season three, but it’s honed,
assertive and blisteringly satirical, as in a birth-control ad where
the boilerplate “Ask your doctor if birth control is right for you”
morphs into demands that you also ask your boss, your boss’ priest, and
conceit into absurdity into a faux-melodrama about the male gaze
arguing against itself. (“Am I the only one thinking with my dick
here!” one furious juror demands.) It’s a satire of how women are
assessed, and of how men are socialized to assess them, and of how pop
culture presses a standardized, and thus boring, idea of sexiness on
everyone. At the same time, it’s both a pitch-perfect satire of Sidney
Lumet-style social-issues movies and an effective piece of social
issues comedy.
Africa. Definitely merits a frowny-face.
Satire: throw in a little giggle into your reading list.
* Cat’s Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut): some say Slaughterhouse-Five is his
best, I say this one. Also: Bokononism!
promise you, it’s gorgeously ironic.
* The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams): you kill two
birds with two stones here: sci-fi and satire. Whee!
This is where I reach the end of my endurance. I haven’t even gotten
touches them–a hug, a hand clasp, a warm pat on the shoulder.
Parks began as a much sharper-edged, satirical comedy, closer to the
spinoff of The Office it was kinda-sorta conceived as. It ended as
something much warmer, more expansive and optimistic–and, toward the
and Recreation
That’s typical of Parks: it’s combines a sense of satire about the
larger world with unashamed positivity about the smaller individuals in
it. What makes the endings happy here is the characters’ mutual support
by making them superfluous. Who needs to watch someone simply read the
news when you can watch someone deliver the same information, plus a
satire of the medium itself? Especially for people under 50, who have
no memories of Papa Cronkite and who remember supposedly legendary
anchors such as Dan Rather only for bizarre episodes (“Kenneth, What is
— Accidental Writer (@accidentlwriter) February 4, 2015
Indian satire website Faking News took it one step further with an
article entitled “Gay couples excited after Hindu Mahasabha announces
weddings on Valentine’s Day,” pointing out that homosexuality remains
Arise, Sir Prince Philip! Honestly, you couldn’t make this stuff up!
Well played, Tones. Keeping political satire alive and well.
— Rohan Connolly (@rohan_connolly) January 25, 2015
1,000 young people leaving to fight on the side of ISIS or other
jihadis in Iraq and Syria, and now the murderous attack by two men of
Algerian descent on the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Why, and where
will this latest attack lead?
Modern France thus produced a strong tradition, especially in Paris, of
opposition to organized religion, and satire of its pretensions.
Charlie Hebdo succeeded a long line of satirical magazines that
ridiculed religion, and Charlie took down all with pretensions:
Christians, Muslims, Michael Jackson—everyone.
France will not change its decades-old foreign policy, nor are rights
and practices of satire likely to fade away. But the main impact may be
to use the attacks as an excuse to blame Islam and immigration for
broad anxieties about where things are going in Europe today. Such a
Award-winning author Salman Rushdie, who once received death threats
for portrayals of Islam in his work, expressed his support for the
satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo after an attack that killed at least
12 on Wednesday.
“I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of
satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny,
dishonesty and stupidity,” he wrote in a statement posted by the
Guardian. Gunmen killed at least 12 people in the paper’s offices
“‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of
religion,’” Rushdie wrote. “Religions, like all other ideas, deserve
criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.”
Read more: The Provocative History of the French Weekly Newspaper