That really is one off-putting cover.
Today's issue has some of the most racist comics I've ever read in it. Now, given that it's National Lampoon, we are most definitely in the realm of satire, but the words themselves, regardless of the context, are still hard to read, especially when coming from the mouth of a person, albeit a cartooned one. This is one of the great uses of satire, I think, not just to amuse us, or poke fun at something, but to remind us of the uncomfortable nature of language. In satire we can use words that we might not in our regular, more civil conversation or consideration, but we should never become comfortable with those words. Ironic detachment is fundamental to satire, but unfortunately we don't teach these ideas nearly as much as we could. I can absolutely imagine someone not schooled in the idea of satire reading "Chess Piece" and either being completely and utterly insulted and disgusted by it (as it would be utterly repulsive if not satiric), or, worse, completely convinced by it. In today's world, a story like this would have to have been prefaced by a disclaimer, so that everyone knew that it was satire. Does this mean we've become less-astute as readers?
Probably.
More to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment