Is Satire Saving Our Nation? Mockery and American Politics
The book studies the intersections between satirical comedy and national politics in order to show that one of the strongest supports for our democracy today comes from those of us who are seriously joking. This book shows how we got to this place and why
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Is Satire Saving Our Nation? Mockery and American Politics
Sophia A. McClennen and Remy M. Maisel
is satire saving our nation?
Copyright © Sophia A. McClennen and Remy M. Maisel, 2014. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-42797-7 All rights reserved. First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-137-42796-0 ISBN 978-1-137-40521-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137405210 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McClennen, Sophia A. Is satire saving our nation? : mockery and American politics / Sophia A. McClennen and Remy M. Maisel. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Mass media—Political aspects—United States. 2. Political satire, American. 3. Political culture—United States. 4. United States—Politics and government—Humor. 5. American wit and humor— History and criticism. I. Maisel, Remy M., 1993– II. Title. P95.82.U6M383 2014 302.23’0973—dc23 2014019336 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by SPi Global. First edition: October 2014 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my brother, my first accomplice in comedy. –SM To Russia, with love. –RM
Contents
List of Figures
ix
List of Tables
xi
Preface and Acknowledgments
xiii
A Note on Citations
xxi
1 The Politics of Seriously Joking
1
2 Comedy U: Lessons Learned Where You Least Expect It
21
3 Some of the News That’s Fit to Print: Satire and the Changing News Cycle
47
4 The Dynamic Duo: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Redefine Political Satire
79
5 When I Mock You, I Make You Better: How Satire Works
105
6 Mesmerized Millennials and BYTE-ing Satire: Or How Today’s Young Generation Thinks
129
7 Savin’ Franklin: Satire Defends Our National Values
155
8 Laughing So Hard I Could Cry: Analyzing the Satire Scare
175
9 I’m Not Laughing at You, I’m Laughing With You: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Laughter
189
Notes203 Works Cited
225
Index233
List of Figures
1.1
Judd Legum tweet is read on the House floor
3
1.2
Colbert plays the “NOT a Game” game
5
2.1
Jon Stewart talks with 9/11 First Responders about the health care bill
32
2.2
Colbert announces his first run for president
35
2.3
Colbert warns Stewart they can’t coordinate, but they can exploit the small loop-chasm
37
2.4
Colbert Super PAC urges people to vote for Rick Parry
39
2.5
Colbert’s ad calls Mitt Romney a serial killer
40
2.6
Is this tweet ironic or just true?
4
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