The way to use comedy to fight politics

Many of you would have heard and laughed about Trump and Sean Spicer getting angry at Melissa Mccarthey impersonating Spicer on SNL. And this isn’t the first time. Shows like the colbert report, the daily show and last week tonight have all done sizzling pieces on political news and made fun of world leaders and political ideas.  But I think many forget that a certain group of people have been doing that too, but goes rather unnoticed. Take C.K. Louis. Many associate him with crude humour but if you really look at his pieces he really dissects some societal ideas in just a 4 or 5 minute joke. His bit called “Offensive Words” perfectly dissects political correctness, the changes in language use that affects slurs and the bigger problem which is the (blank)ism behind it. His bit on “Being Single Again” changes your way of thinking about divorce as a tragedy. His bit on “I Love Being White” explains and shows white privilege better than any essay i have read (so far). So. On each of these, he explains and dissects and takes a stance and makes you laugh and makes you understand and makes you PAY ATTENTION. So I put these into 3 categories for 3 different uses.

1. Personal jabs. This is the Mccarthy Spicer. This is the small hands joke. This is the laughing at the tan or the hair. This has almost no effect on the politician's supporters. If anything, it helps them paint the other side as logicless. But it is still very very important. It number one hurts their egos so they know there is still a resistance. Number two, it's gives those insulted and infuriated a sense of solidarity and support. And number three, it shows who these people really are. When we laugh at small hands, we don’t actually laugh at them, we laugh at the idea that the most powerful man in the world is insecure about his hand size because he is an egomaniac. Comedy is the best place to use little things to show someone's true personality, and don’t we all want to know our leaders real personality?
2. Dissecting individual news stories. Using comedy can show the irony or ridiculousness of the situation. Comedy is also much more attention grabbing. If we want to fight sensationalistic false headlines we need something just as eyeball grabbing. Small British comedian anyone?
3. Evaluating of bigger ideas. In these pieces, which are usually in standup,  the whole idea is really taken apart and teased comedically. Take Jim Jefferies piece on Gun Control. He laughs at all the ideas from protecting your family from robbers but keeping guns in a safe to boasting about the love of protection as if they love padlocks as much as guns. All the theories and debates are nice but connecting it to real life and showing how IRL the arguments make no sense really puts people in their place. Comedians have the special ability to make people feel connected to them and be relatable. If they can make people go huh yeah that does make sense IRL I can relate to that. THAT is how we change minds.

So yea. Not really related to movies but i love comedy to and politics and jokes about politics. So the next time you watch the daily show or SNL think about how it makes you really feel and then think about how you can use this feeling on others whose mind you want to change.

PEACE!