Satire is funny except for when people don’t get it
One of Merriam-Websters definitions for satire is:
trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly
As such the often talked about Obama New Yorker cover is a perfect example of satire. It is using sarcasm to expose and discredit the folly of the Republican smear campaign to convince people that Obama is a Muslim and his wife hates America. I was surprised to hear the uproar over the cover.
It is hilarious, because it is so ludicrous to see what the Republicans are saying actually put down in art. To hear someone claim that Obama is a Muslim could be believable. To hear someone claim his wife is militantly anti-American could be believable. To see him fist bumping, oh sorry “terrorist fist jabbing”, his Black Panther wife while dressed in African garb as the American flag burns in the fireplace below the portrait of Osama bin Laden is just too far out. It should be obvious that when taken to this extreme the Republican claims are ridiculous and unbelievable.
Unfortunately there are apparently many many people who just don’t get it. It is inappropriate. It is not politically correct. It is racist. And so on these people claim. But there is also the real fear that somewhere someone is going to look at that and say “Yup, there’s that Muslim fella that wants to be runnin’ our fine Nation. Just look at that, can you believe he had a flag burning while they took his picture?”
moar funny pictures
July 23rd, 2008 at
Even though this cover was trying to convey the negativity of the racist smear campaign against the Obamas, it still can’t help but capture a young hip and energetic quality about the Obamas. That’s what makes this cover ironic, they look good even when people try to make them look bad.