That is the danger and the allure of satire. To write it or to understand it, you have to be so deeply aware of and invested in the paradigm it attacks that you feel the pain of the contradictions it exposes, which is what makes you laugh. The danger comes when you accept the satire as normative discourse. Then you become an ethical monstrosity like Sean Hannity. Or Hunter S. Thompson. In those cases, the only real language becomes the ability to mock and distort your opponents, a process that leads you to forget how to structure or express compassion, even when the only means you have for expressing it is frustrated anger.
I'd prattle on about this for hours, but I have to shove on. The tarantula is looking for me.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-09-09 04:05 am (UTC)I'd prattle on about this for hours, but I have to shove on. The tarantula is looking for me.