question of the day: Have we finally entered the post-satire world?I woke up this morning to the news that BP has requested that the hilarilous Twitter feed for “BP Public Relations” label itself a parody. It seemed, to my eyes, to be so obviously a parody that no one could mistake it for the real thing, but BP felt otherwise. Via MediaBistro: Twitter VP communications Sean Garrett told PRNewser today, "BP requested that the account holder be asked to comply with Twitter's guidelines regarding parody. Twitter subsequently provided the account holder suggestions of best practices that are found on our parody policy page here." And maybe BP is right to be worried that readers might mistake the parody feed for the real thing, at least after the steady stream of astonishing bullshit that has actually come from the genuine BP, from the denial of easily provable scientific fact -- such as the presence of oil plumes in the Gulf of Mexico -- to CEO Tony Hayward’s “I want my life back” comment. Because the “BP Public Relations” is full of stuff that sounds no more ridiculous: Will Twitter please shut down @BP_America - no one can tell if it's a joke! #bprebrand (Hayward does actually own a yacht -- no word on its name -- as noted in a Times Online article from November 2009 with the unfortunate headline “Tony Hayward makes his mark on BP: Ruthless cuts by the new boss have produced results in higher than expected profits.”) So I got to thinking about some of the other news this week that anyone would be forgiven for suspecting could have been the invention of the wags at The Onion. But all of these are real headlines: Demi Moore Reportedly Sells Memoir for $2 Million Mr. T Bashes New 'A-Team' Movie Elton John Not Feeling the Love After Playing Rush Limbaugh's Wedding Boehner Defends Bush, Demands That Paul McCartney ‘Apologize’ For His Crack At The Former President Elton John played at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding? That has got to be a joke, hasn’t it? Demi Moore is writing an autobiography? About what? Has the world just gotten so ridiculous that it is now beyond ridicule? Have we finally entered the post-satire world? (If you have a suggestion for a QOTD, feel free to email me. Responses to this QOTD sent by email will be ignored; please post your responses here.) support
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Thu Jun 10 10, 12:19PM categories: talk amongst yourselves permalink 5 pre-Disqus comments Disqus comments tip jarshare
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A-Team
BP Demi Moore Elton John end of satire George W Bush John Boehner MediaBistro Mr T Onion Paul McCartney qotd Rush Limbaugh Times Online Tony Hayward related· Roger Ebert’s new show needs a second host; studio hopes Netflix is fading; does the U.K. need a Fox news?; more: leftover links · question of the day: How will the change represented by the incoming Obama administration be reflected in movies, TV, and other pop culture? · watch it: “Gaiman on Copyright Piracy and the Web” · “That Bitch J.K. Rowling Hates That Jerk Daniel Radcliffe” · caption this! image from ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ · 5 reasons I’m psyched for ‘W.’ · question of the day: What actors would you ban from working in Hollywood, and for what offense? · “Stupid Internet Videos May Make You More Productive” · Nowhere Boy (review) · trailer break: ‘Nowhere Boy’ bloggyprevious post: deep thought next post: trailer break: ‘The Last Airbender’ |
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pre-Disqus comments
posted by JoshDM (Thu Jun 10 10, 12:57PM)
Boehner Defends Bush, Demands That Paul McCartney ‘Apologize’ For His Crack At The Former President
Emphasis mine.
posted by Funwithheadlines (Thu Jun 10 10, 3:22PM)
We are not in a post-satire world, as the popularity of this BP feed suggests. What we are is in the contiinuing corporations-don't-get-satire world.
All the more reason to do it.
posted by Paul (Thu Jun 10 10, 6:25PM)
I'm not sure which surprised me more, that Elton John went to the wedding, that he was invited, or that four women have married Rush.
But I think corporations do get satire. That's why they're afraid of it. There are many people/businesses in this world you can't tell the truth about without being insulting, but that's impolite and only appeals to Ditto head types, so you cloak it in humor like a spoonful of sugar to help the medicene go down, and people accept the truth because they are laughing.
posted by misterb (Thu Jun 10 10, 11:43PM)
Yes, since Constantin called DMCA on the "Downfall" Hitler clips, satire is dead.
It's Godwin's law: once Hitler has been brought into the thread, the conversation is over.
posted by Ira Nayman (Fri Jun 11 10, 10:44PM)
I'm actually surprised that Twitter has a "parody policy." I'll bet it's long and detailed, too. Still, shouldn't comedy have as few rules and restrictions as possible?
I signed up for a Google Alert on the term "satire" a couple of months ago. It seems like every other day somebody writes something about the death of satire. As somebody who writes satire, I am chagrined that so many people seem to announce that I am out of a job.
Whenever this issue comes up, my response is: satire is complex It can deal with virtually any subject and uses pretty much every comic device. If something seems to satirize itself, it just forces satirists to dig deeper.