The Paradox of Satisfaction

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Comedian Hathe lamar calls this the paradox of satire. He says it's not like straightforward speech that's easy to decode. It requires interpretation which is what draws you in, but has a cost. A lot of thinking becomes devoted to what the comic means and who its target is. This leaves very little mental resources available to think about whether the comedy has truth.

In the political turmoil of mid-1990s Britain, a brilliant young comic named Harry Enfield set out to satirize the ideology and politics of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His parodies became famous. He wrote and performed a vicious sendup of the typical Thatcherite nouveau riche buffoon. People loved it. And what happened? Exactly the opposite of what Enfield hoped would happen. In an age dominated by political comedy, “The Satire Paradox” asks whether laughter and social protest are friends or foes.

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