According to a new poll, eighty-six percent of people questioned say that our system of government is broken. (See "CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll.") The reality is that this feeling has pervaded the American thought since SNL and Jon Stewart became mediums for legitimate political discussion. Far from crucifying the individuals that make up these entertaining escapes from somber political analysis, I wish to show how the satire defines the reality and why this is so poisonous to our political freedom.
To start we should explore what makes our system of government work. The overriding principle that defines our government is that its power stems from the people it governs, as opposed to the early English monarchies who claimed their power originated from deity. We use varying forms of popular election to select every governmental office from the President to your local dog-catcher. When we elect these people we give them a part of our power to act in behalf of those who elected them within their appointed responsibilities. Abraham Lincoln reiterated this point in his famous Gettysburg Address by stating that we are a “government of the people, by the people, [and] for the people.” It is important to note that this system requires serious involvement from the people.
Next we’ll examine how the people and the people’s government act and react to a media influence on political issues. The first amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom…of the press.” The idea was that an active press was essential as a way of educating the population. To work freely, the press must be free from control by the state. Essentially the media was to act as a people’s check on government. In order for that to operate effectively the people must be able to take the media seriously; and that is why the legitimization of sources like Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” or NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” undermines the whole system.
Www.thedailyshow.com claims that its program is “unburdened by objectivity, journalistic integrity or even accuracy” (Daily Show). While that is painfully obvious in the programming, there is a tendency for viewers to mirror the type of sarcasm that the show uses when reporting on what should be seriously important issues. However, Jon Stewart and the Daily Show producers are not the originators of this sarcastic view of the political world.
For years news anchors and political analysts have moved away from focusing on the issues that concern the people and towards scrutinizing the political process. They tend not to question policies and laws as much as they question the popularity of the people involved in the process. This allows the media to affect changes in public opinion the same way they would in a supermarket tabloid. Perhaps what The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live are merely torchbearers, taking the torch from more serious news sources and attempting to make it more entertaining. However, this does not absolve them of all blame in the matter.
During the most recent political election cycle Saturday Night Live’s Tina Fey was asked to do a satirical parody of the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin. This was nothing out of the ordinary because the show had been doing satirical coverage of presidential elections for more than 40 years. What made this character special was the way other media outlets and the public as a whole responded. Suddenly a woman who had achieved praise as a mayor, governor and mother was recognized almost wholly and completely as Fey’s SNL caricature, which was less than flattering. Whether or not someone intended to do harm to Mrs. Palin’s campaign is not nearly as troubling as the ability of this media source to essentially change reality.
Without delving too far into the philosophical issues surrounding what reality is, I would offer the simple idea that our perception tends to define what reality is. So changing reality is almost as simple as affecting people’s perception. When Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart’s protégé, presents the very serious story of John Edward’s infidelity in a satirical manner, Colbert is changing perception of not necessarily John Edwards, but the issue itself. No longer is Edwards seen as a Senator from North Carolina, but as a caricature in a political cartoon whose only issue is how much campaign money to spend on child support.
Perhaps the real problem lies not with Stewart, Colbert, and SNL but with the viewers who consistently choose this type of political programming over Meet the Press or any other hard political news source. Maybe the satirists are only providing a product to supply a demand created by us. Because we are able to express ourselves almost without restraint due to the expansive rights of the First Amendment, could it be that we desire to plaster over our serious issues with a heavy coating of spoofed spackle?
Let’s look at another example. Recently CNN attempted to dive into satirical news with its program Not Just Another Cable News Show. The majority of program time was spent satirizing video segments that had been collected by the network in a myriad of subject areas. One such clip featured 2004 Democratic Presidential Nominee John Kerry attempting to make a joke. It went something like this: “Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.” Pretty funny, right? The immediate response from satirists was not focused towards the actual issues of education and war, but towards the personality of John Kerry.
Jay Leno on The Tonight Show: “John Kerry has apologized for saying those who do not study hard and do their homework will get stuck in Iraq. Now, those that do not campaign well and are boring, will end up stuck in the Senate” (Kurtzman).
Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live: “Senator John Kerry gave his opponents in the struggling Republican Party a much needed distraction when he told a college audience on Monday that if you don’t do well in school, you might get stuck in Iraq. Some people are taking that as a slam against our troops. Kerry says it was a botched joke about the president being dumb. It doesn’t bode well when you try to make a joke about someone being dumb and you wind up looking even dumber” (Kurtzman).
Conan O’Brien on Late Night with Conan O’Brien: “Big story, of course, is John Kerry finally apologized. ... Some political analysts are now saying that Senator John Kerry's botched joke about the troops hurt his chances in becoming president in 2008. Apparently, Kerry's chances of becoming president went from zero to less than zero” (Kurtzman).
It appears to be a very subtle distinction, but the focus is on Kerry’s personality instead of on the issue at hand. Why is this a problem? Satirists are able to redirect our attention from impactful issues and towards less consequential areas within the political structure, and because we’re too busy laughing at politician’s missteps, we don’t give the required meaningful participation that the American Democracy/Republic requires to function in our behalf. If we are unable to pull ourselves out of the doldrums of satire we must ostensibly change the primary checks and balances outlined in the United States Constitution. We must relinquish the democracy because we as a people are unable to act to our own best judgment. However, we can also choose to shake off the chains if satirical politics and seriously challenge our political representatives on issues of policy. If we the people are the same people that the founders referred to in the Constitution then this is what we must do.
Works Cited
"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | About the Show | Biography | The Daily Show." The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Official Website | Current Events & Pop Culture, Comedy & Fake News. Web. 01 Mar. 2010.
Eisold, PhD, Ken. "Our Broken Government | Psychology Today." Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness Find a Therapist. 25 Feb. 2010. Web. 01 Mar. 2010.
Kurtzman, Daniel. "John Kerry Jokes - Late-Night Jokes About John Kerry." Political Humor - Jokes Satire and Political Cartoons - About.com. Web. 01 Mar. 2010.
Patterson, Troy. "How Political Satire Got so Flabby. - By Troy Patterson -." Slate Magazine. 08 Apr. 2008. Web. 01 Mar. 2010.
Steinhauser, Paul. "Survey: Most Americans Believe Government Broken - CNN.com." CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. 22 Feb. 2010. Web. 01 Mar. 2010.
