In Praise of Silliness < Columns | PopMatters
Alas, even the best of the political satirists cannot stop me from occasionally weeping at the state of the world. They say you gotta laugh to keep from crying, but the cliché doesn’t always prove true. As good as Colbert’s #NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement Twitter trend was, I caught myself thinking, am I really laughing about a politician blatantly telling a lie on the Senate floor and then having it erased from the Congressional Record? Is that funny? The Borowitz Report is some of the tightest, most clever current events writing available, but even it can’t stop me from wanting to sob when I see the words (let alone the woman) Sarah Palin. Sometimes even Private Eye‘s cartoons make me angry.
At times like those, there’s only one thing we can turn to: silliness. Yes, meaningless, absurd, nonsensical silliness. It can be our haven in a world of ignorance, ignominy, and inhumanity. Simple silliness.
Published at: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/143743-in-praise-of-silliness/
In Praise of Silliness < Columns | PopMatters
Alas, even the best of the political satirists cannot stop me from occasionally weeping at the state of the world. They say you gotta laugh to keep from crying, but the cliché doesn’t always prove true. As good as Colbert’s #NotIntendedToBeAFactualStatement Twitter trend was, I caught myself thinking, am I really laughing about a politician blatantly telling a lie on the Senate floor and then having it erased from the Congressional Record? Is that funny? The Borowitz Re
port is some of the tightest, most clever current events writing available, but even it can’t stop me from wanting to sob when I see the words (let alone the woman) Sarah Palin. Sometimes even Private Eye‘s cartoons make me angry.
At times like those, there’s only one thing we can turn to: silliness. Yes, meaningless, absurd, nonsensical silliness. It can be our haven in a world of ignorance, ignominy, and inhumanity. Simple silliness.
Published at: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/143743-in-praise-of-silliness/