Lately, with all the excitement and fascination surrounding the presidential election, I find myself investing a lot of my time watching and reading about it. This means when I'm not procrastinating homework by binge watching "Parks and Recreation", I'm doing so by binge-watching skits about the real government. I know I'm not the only one; I see people sharing satirical videos and articles relating to politics on social media now more than ever. Because everyone can relate to all the political chaos that's going on across the country, political satire is everywhere, and everyone loves it.
This got me thinking about how important political skits are in this specific election. Even millennials, who have been criticized for being uninvolved in political issues, have begun to take interest in this presidential election through mediums like political comedy skits and satirical articles. These jokes do more than make audiences laugh; they provide genuine information about the candidates and get people interested in issues surrounding them.
Let's face it—it's not exactly a challenge to make jokes out of the two major party candidates this season. Both are very well-hated throughout the country and are basically caricatures of themselves. That's why political satire is so powerful in this specific election. People have been feeding their passionate hatred for their opposing candidate(s) by investing their time in sketches or comedic talk shows that make fun of them. Besides making people laugh and/or making them hate the candidates even more, political satire gathers a larger audience's interest in current politics in a new way.
These skits and jokes allow people become more deeply informed about issues through entertainment. If someone hears a good joke about Trump's many sexual assault charges or Clinton's countless political scandals, they may be more motivated to look up more about this topic and become more educated about it in order to better understand the punchline of the joke.
Ultimately, political satire in cartoons, articles, sketches, etc., helps bring people, especially young adults, to the polls. It sparks interest in complex political issues and motivates people to stay up to date on these topics. Election 2016 has had a lot to make jokes about, after all.
Personally, watching political skits and reading satirical articles lessens my guilt regarding homework procrastination, because I'm doing so in a way that educates me and keeps me informed on crucial issues. Keep it up, SNL.
