Two huntsmen are out in the forest when one collapses and looks like he isn't breathing with glazed eyes. The hunter standing takes out his phone and calls the emergency line. "My friend is dead! What should I do?". He panicked. The operator says, "Calm down. I can help. First, we have to make sure that he's dead." There is a momentary silence; a gunshot is heard. Back to the phone, he says, "Okay, and now what?"
This is the world’s funniest joke as per Richard Wiseman’s research. It appropriately tells how a setup works and how the punchline breaks through that setup. Jokes seem to be something very simple and enjoyable to many but they can serve a very important purpose in society–to cut the clutter.
Political satire is a form of humour that deals exactly with this purpose. It points out discrepancies in any political idea and shows how dumb a policy is. Political satire can be seen in shows like The Daily Show with Trevor Noah which analyzes the politics of the day, parks and recreation which is a comedic retelling of government life in the USA, and Veep which talks about how senators work towards getting a presidential seat. It might seem like all fun and games but it recently started playing a role most important for democracy–the role of being alternative journalists. In America, the news media has been forced to bring in people who hold radical views due to Trump’s influence. They’ve been forced to talk about the many meaningless tweets of Trump thus taking attention away from the policies and bills being discussed in the assembly. Late-night shows have begun filling in this gap. They quickly cut the clutter that’s discussed in the news media and begin talking about important pieces of legislation which is what the press is supposed to talk about.
The role of media is no longer being fulfilled by traditional institutions and is now being replaced by political satire. Indian media has also failed in upholding its duty but we don't have a structure of political satire as the US has. Media is often called the 4th pillar of democracy; if it fails, then we all fall. We have only one channel, The Week That Wasn’t with Cyrus Broacha. We also have our fair share of political comedies, tragedies, and tragic comedies. Comedy can help renovate the notion of the 4th pillar, especially in polarized countries. There is still a tremendous journey left to go but this is a good start. As Confucius used to say, “we move mountains by first moving small stones”.
References:
Quote by Confucius: “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying...” (n.d.). Goodreads. Retrieved November 20, 2022, from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/64564-the-man-who-moves-a-mountain-begins-by-carrying-away
Revealed: the funniest joke in the world | UK news. (2002, October 3). The Guardian. Retrieved November 20, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/oct/03/3
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