just saw the Simpsons movie and was thinking this --
humour can be liberating, defiant, or even insurrectionary, when you laugh in the face of authority.
but in American media humour becomes a very efficient tool used by authority to pacify- a way to shrug off and ignore things we need to change and deal with -- often the very thing we are laughing about - this shrugging-off and ignorance.
we are in a dire situation, yes, but let's have a good laugh about it and not take any of the (pseudo) messages seriously. it's all just entertainment isn't it, and a good laugh will make the viewer sleep well and wake up in the morning to do exactly like Homer.
the priviledged and smug self-entitled (ironic how rarely people deserve their riches, and how all of them feel that it's their god given right) take nothing seriously, and a smirk (often ironic. how is that for meta-irony?)always hangs about their faces -- life is a party/commercial and they are always pleasant and in good cheer.
in fact, there is an inability to be serious. not even for a moment. the world would come crumbling down if one becomes serious -- fear of appearing to not be a good sport or even (GASP!) unhappy. as if all the things swept under the Happy Rug™ will come crawling out and take over if in (manufactured) "leisure" time we do anything other than go-with-the-flow, and project anything other than good humour.
EDIT: i suppose like Zizek says, the official position is irony, sarcasm, and poking fun. so i guess the only thing left to do is to over-identify and become a super swanky cheese-ball / party animal who actually makes others slightly uncomfortable because of how much one is (perversely) enjoying EVERYTHING and finding everything absolutely hilarious ALL THE TIME.
humour can be liberating, defiant, or even insurrectionary, when you laugh in the face of authority.
but in American media humour becomes a very efficient tool used by authority to pacify- a way to shrug off and ignore things we need to change and deal with -- often the very thing we are laughing about - this shrugging-off and ignorance.
we are in a dire situation, yes, but let's have a good laugh about it and not take any of the (pseudo) messages seriously. it's all just entertainment isn't it, and a good laugh will make the viewer sleep well and wake up in the morning to do exactly like Homer.
the priviledged and smug self-entitled (ironic how rarely people deserve their riches, and how all of them feel that it's their god given right) take nothing seriously, and a smirk (often ironic. how is that for meta-irony?)always hangs about their faces -- life is a party/commercial and they are always pleasant and in good cheer.
in fact, there is an inability to be serious. not even for a moment. the world would come crumbling down if one becomes serious -- fear of appearing to not be a good sport or even (GASP!) unhappy. as if all the things swept under the Happy Rug™ will come crawling out and take over if in (manufactured) "leisure" time we do anything other than go-with-the-flow, and project anything other than good humour.
EDIT: i suppose like Zizek says, the official position is irony, sarcasm, and poking fun. so i guess the only thing left to do is to over-identify and become a super swanky cheese-ball / party animal who actually makes others slightly uncomfortable because of how much one is (perversely) enjoying EVERYTHING and finding everything absolutely hilarious ALL THE TIME.
Last edited:
