Does the New Yorker's cover really qualify as satire?

[pimpdave]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/weeki ... =permalink

Discuss.

[heavycola]

it's great satire. Obama's reaction was rubbish. It made fun of all the stupid people and then he goes and acts like a stupid perosn. Mind you i bet it has the entire dustbowl twisted with confusion.

[Snorri1234]

I loved that cartoon!

[MeDeFe]

I loved that cartoon!

So did I.

[pimpdave]

I also thought it was funny, but the article makes a valid point:

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"By presenting a mad or contemptible partisan sentiment as a mainstream one, by accurately reproducing it and by neglecting to position the target of a slur — the Obamas — in relation to the producers of the slur, The New Yorker seems to have unwittingly reiterated the misconception it meant to lampoon. No wonder so much political humor nowadays contents itself with the smug deriding of the worst aspects of the “other side.” At a time when it is almost impossible to attach a universal meaning to anything, the crossroads linking satire to its target can be very hard to find."
--

So beware the reality of having to play to the lowest common denominator when making a funny, I guess.

[Snorri1234]

I also thought it was funny, but the article makes a valid point:

I suppose so. I really only know crazy american right-wing fundies from the internet, but seeing as I heard Sean Hannity last week actually saying shit I thought was only restricted to crazies on the internet, it's not that hard to see the problem with this.

Subtle really doesn't work anymore nowadays.

[Grooveman2007]

Yes, the media just overreacted when they saw someone possibly criticizing their God.

[Neoteny]

Yes, the media just overreacted when they saw someone possibly criticizing their God.

The media overreacted to the media?

[Grooveman2007]

Yes, the media just overreacted when they saw someone possibly criticizing their God.

The media overreacted to the media?

Yup. I remember watching "The Situation Room" the day that issue was published, Wolf Blitzer spent at least 45 min. talking about how the New Yorker was out of line.