ouch. or, why understanding satire is important to me.
i probably should be writing this from a hospital bed.
i went snowboarding for the first time in my life ever yesterday, and all i can say is "ouch"
i said a bunch of other things yesterday when i fell on my keyster somewhere in the neighborhood of 55 times
but for now, i will only say ouch
i've covered myself in tiger balm, which helps, and makes me all sorts of tingly as well.
speaking of things which are painful, how about people who don't understand satire?
Today, my roomates and I went to see Michel Gondry's latest offering, "Be Kind Rewind"
not quite a Jack Black/Mos Def buddy comedy, but close, and it was great.
full of Gondry's strange magical devices, the comedy worked wonders.
this wasn't quite a satire, but it started a conversation among my roomates and myself, we were talking about why better movies fail and worse ones succeed, especially when it comes to satire vs. parody (Idiocracy barely if ever made it to theatres while Meet The Spartans grossed millions)
it comes down to this: some most people just don't get it
I came across an article recently claiming that Barack Obama was being endorsed by the KKK. This was not framed as satire, or as a joke. In fact, the person reporting the endorsement said something to the effect of "it's so great that the KKK finally opened their minds up, maybe they're not so bad after all"
are you kidding me? this is the reason why blogging isn't taken quite as seriously as the "mainstream media" and why they still control most of the information dissipated to this day. a quick Google search will turn up the article in question, run by The Daily Squib (the UK equivalent of The Onion: a SATIRICAL NEWSPAPER)
satire
noun
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.
So that there should be no confusion, the KKK is pronouncing death threats
against Barack Obama, not endorsing him, Jesus. I can take a joke just
as well as the next guy, but what really pisses in my eggnog is when
people don't get the joke. This isn't about being smart, or well read,
into or out of politics; it's about understanding sarcasm.
sarcasm
noun
the use of irony to mock or convey contempt
i know this all
sounds very condescending. it's meant to be. at this point i'm done
being nice (as if i ever made a real attempt anyway) frustrations with
humanity have sent me spiraling back to my high school days (musically), what
follows is one of the angriest playlists i could come up with. (to hear full tracks instead of the clips, in the bottom left of the player click "launch standalone")
which reminds me, most of these songs on here are high school throwbacks. i was really into the whole mosh/hardcore/emocore/whateverthefuckyouwannacallitcore thing. i AM from new jersey, after all. we built a culture from the ground up which ended up being co-opted by boys wearing girl jeans, eyeliner, and with stupid haircuts, you know the type:
something inside me still loves breakdowns and mosh parts. i don't get as jazzed as i used to about music, and i mostly listen to hip-hop/electronic shit these days. as i've previously said, there hasn't been a band that's really excited me in years, with the exceptions of Yeasayer, Joe Jackson, Feist, The Easy Star All Stars, Battles, Hot Chip and Bomb the Music Industry! There was a time in my life where i was buying a new record every other day and loving the shit out of it; not putting it down until i knew all the words, going to see the shows, and dancing my ass off.
coming soon: my personal musical evolution, guilty pleasures included.
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