At 04:56 PM 2/27/2002 -0400, Matt Jarsky wrote:
quoted 12 lines Satire or not, you hold the list hostage with your flame-bait.>Satire or not, you hold the list hostage with your flame-bait.
>
>One of the qualities of satire is that it is extreme. Credible on some
>level, yes, but extreme and perhaps incredible on others. Swift's "A Modest
>Proposal" proposed a reasonable argument for eating the poor. His tone was
>matter of fact and many people were outraged. However the fact that his
>solution to the problem of the poor should offend any human is the clue that
>the whole thing is a sham, a satire. Your views, unfortunately, are not that
>extreme. The view you expressed is probably in line with the beliefs of a
>good number of folks. How are we to know what your angle is? Of course
>people who know you will get the joke, but most of don't know you. So people
>must be forgiven for thinking your lame ass joke is the real deal.
True; the problem with most satire is that there are nearly always people
who believe it to be fact. Even in your example of poor people, although
the majority would immediately become outraged, there are numerous "upper
class" who believe all poor people should either be killed off, or do
housework for them.
One of the alternative purposes of satire, besides humor, is to motivate
action, or at least persuade people to consider the situation. It's been a
long-standing "joke" on the IDM list where the only reason females become
interested in IDM is because a more music-savvy boyfriend turned them on to
it. It's also a common misconception among male chauvinists and other
breeds of sexist "pigdogs" that women only serve one purpose -- to make
babies and look good. Hopefully this is not popular opinion on this list :D
Rather, if anything, a post such as mine should encourage people to believe
"hey, women can do anything they wish; they aren't limited by gender or
mental prowess or anything." I'm sure any "flames" I would receive would
recant something to that effect, putting more people in agreement over the
situation. Which was my purpose all along (and, to people such as myself,
it is the utmost in extreme social commentary. If you don't think it's
extreme, perhaps you yourself should reconsider your stance on gender roles
in society).
derek
-------
eggytoast.com
-------
with lather thingy
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org