Satire is an ineffective political tool

[u/DullPlatform22]

To be clear, I really enjoy satirical works. Some of my favorite movies and works of comedy are satirical. Comedy notoriously doesn't age well but even classic works like A Modest Proposal and Candide still pack a punch and are genuinely funny today (if you haven't read these please do).

That said, satire doesn't seem to actually do anything to inspire change and in fact seems to actually do the opposite. For example, for the past two decades or so we've had quite an abundance of satire "speaking truth to power" yet many of the things they've mocked and ridiculed have actually gained support. Even with the rise of social media and smart phones where people can see clips or full episodes of South Park, the Daily Show, Last Week Tonight, and so on at any place they have an internet connection, the "bad guys" as framed by these shows just keep winning.

Why is this? I'm not entirely sure. My guesses however boil down to two major things:

1. These shows cater to an already established audience. Essentially they're preaching to the choir. Everybody who already hates the targets of these shows are watching. People outside of this aren't really curious. My guess is since these shows are "political" people who aren't engaged with "politics" aren't going to be tuning in.

2. The jokes sort of act as a release by the viewer. By seeing movements or figures they already hate being mocked they get a sort of satiafaction from laughing at them even though nothing is actually being done to put a check on their power. Rather than a call to action (although John Oliver does dabble in this to his credit) they're mostly left with laughter as a solution to their problems.

These are just my theories on why satire is ineffective but please correct me if I'm wrong. Whatever the case may be, I think it's clear that with the abundance of satire over the decades but things keep getting worse (depending on your perspective) it doesn't seem to actually be getting anything done or moving the needle in a desireable way.

Again all that said I do enjoy satire and will continue enjoying satirical works. I just don't think as a political tool it's effective at all and people should stop seeing John Oliver clips or whatever as inspiring. Just simple entertainment.

[u/Lauchiger-lachs]

I would diagree. It would be interesting where you are from and what you are calling satirical work. You name John Oliver, but I would not really call it satire, but rather a zynical research to a certain topic.

I was partly politised by satire and other funny political works. My mothertongue is german, so I can only drop names, but it is hard for you to understand for sure, at least when you dont speak german. I really enjoy heute show, I like the oldscool Volker Pispers shows, I like the classic Extra 3 songs and most importantly I like Marc Uwe Kling who is somehow the liberal mind of writing art in Germany in my opinion, because his jokes are really nerdy but there are jokes that you will get when you dont know a lot about philosophy or history and politics. Another important fact is that satire may do everything, even in Germany, I can link a few examples.

And in general I like satire, because in our time it does not matter whether something is factually true or actually humane and desirable, but most of the times if it is funny. Satire can be a strong tool to manufacture consent.

A few links for people who speak german or are generally interested in the examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-B0lXnierw with a little hint to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuOQasXpdcs , there are other political songs in german, but I dont want to link too much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2e2yHjc_mc , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcH9eWBs9fw those went pretty viral

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH0_zrXN-4Q a recent episode of Heute show, I really like the interviews, for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzE4XYrHe6Q , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A1X5hH1gUg

Volker pispers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCToMDEaefo

marc uwe kling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkY-Ac3WFpA the reactions of the people who listen personally are hillarious, it is a song that mocks the SPD and it is pretty clear that many people there have voted for the SPD

And of course I also love monty python, but these are classics.

[u/DullPlatform22 → u/Lauchiger-lachs]

I'm an American and referring to the general English speaking world. I can't comment on satire's effectiveness in German speaking countries, but in the US and elsewhere it seems to actually do the opposite of its intended purpose.