If all of the genres we use in western storytelling were kids in a class room then satire would be the jaded, cynical kid who just sits in the back and makes fun of how silly the teacher is. Satire is excellent at finding flaws and using irony, sarcasm and mockery to pick those flaws apart, but is incapable of offering any solutions. This is the kind of dramatic dead end where all satirists eventually get stuck. If you were to actually find a way to fix a problem then there is nothing left to mock and you're out of a job. You're just stuck playing the same note until people get bored and look elsewhere for entertainment.
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Nothing totally exists in a vacuum so this type of creative drought can be seen in our culture most notably through television shows like The Simpsons. The Simpsons gained a great deal of notoriety when it debuted in 1989 as a biting critique of the traditional sitcoms of the past. Homer is a brilliant satirical creation because he functions as a breakdown of the worst cliche's of the sitcom dad like laziness and being proud of stupidity.
The problem with the best satire is you run the risk of mocking something so well that your parody becomes indistinguishable from the thing itself. This happened early in The Simpsons when Homer was so well received that he was turned into the modern sitcom dad template that we still follow today. In turn, The Simpsons went from being this little outsider show poking fun at the mainstream to inadvertently becoming the most obvious representation of what a mainstream sitcom is now.
This paved the way for more overtly cynical shows like Family Guy and American Dad to dominate the airwaves. These are the kind of sitcoms that crank the sarcasm and bitterness up to eleven and don't point them at any particular target. Where The Simpsons aimed to satirically shame the modern sitcom in an effort to change it, many of the shows that copied it were simply being irreverent and mean spirited for the sake of it.
For viewers with a satirical sweet tooth cynicism is like sugar. It's the base ingredient that tastes really good even though you kind of instinctually know it's going to rot your teeth. It's completely unsustainable in the long run and eventually the dentist is going to tell you enough is enough.
Comedy is the alternative to cynicism in modern television. Even though satire is based around humor and making you laugh it is still not the same genre as comedy. Think of it this way: satire is laughing at the characters and comedy is laughing with them. Comedy replaces ridicule with empathy. Do you genuinely care about satirical characters like Peter Griffin and Eric Cartman? Most people don't, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't love comedic characters like Michael Scott, Leslie Knope or Liz Lemon.
This is because they don't shy away from appearing sentimental or uncool and this makes them feel believable. The best thing about a show like Parks and Recreation is how earnest it is even when it's being sarcastic. Take everybody's favorite character Ron Swanson for example. Ron is belligerent, stubborn and ideologically opposed to just about everything his coworkers stand for. It would be so easy to play him up as the only one in the department who is smart enough to see how lame his goofy coworkers are.
He refuses to claim superiority by making fun of them like a satirist would and instead he uses empathy to embrace their quirks. While he may not agree with Leslie's bubbly personality and over the top methods, he respects her work ethic and genuinely wants to see her succeed. Ron avoids becoming a one note character who is just pointing out problems all the time by befriending his coworkers and becoming a team player even when he doesn't see eye to eye.
Ultimately, the goal of television should be to write entertaining, fully fleshed out characters who the audience can relate to and satire seems unable and unwilling to do that.
What is your favorite satire or comedy show?
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