Political humor A feature of free societies

What’s funny depends on who you are Tremendous variation among audience members – “Depends on whose ox is being gored” – ‘Sacred cows’ – Beliefs about what is true, what is nonsense – Background necessary to get the ‘joke’ – Preference for different forms of humor

Why humor? More appealing than vitriol or ‘earnestness’ Attention-getting Memorable Satisfactory for humorist

What is the nature of humor Many different views Major “types” of humor – Silly or childish behavior Behavior that would be considered immature, clownish – Clumsiness or making a mistake – Foolishness or demonstration of ignorance/stupidity – Imitation or mocking – Unexpected/surprising representation – Exaggeration – Irony/satire – Norm-breaking behavior

Clumsiness eo/clips/ford-on-the-phone/229148/ eo/clips/ford-on-the-phone/229148/

Foolishness

Unexpected/surprising representation

Imitation or mocking Fey&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f# Fey&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#

Exaggeration mamania&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=Obama%2 0McCain%20ad&hl=en&emb=0 mamania&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=Obama%2 0McCain%20ad&hl=en&emb=0

Irony/Satire trangelove&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=Dr.%20Str angelove%20War%20Room&hl=en&emb=0 trangelove&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=Dr.%20Str angelove%20War%20Room&hl=en&emb=0 new-yorkers-right-to-take-satire-to-the-brink / new-yorkers-right-to-take-satire-to-the-brink /

Norm-breaking behavior mamania&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=Obama%2 0McCain%20sex%20ad&hl=en&emb=0 mamania&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#q=Obama%2 0McCain%20sex%20ad&hl=en&emb=0

History Early political humor was often partisan—ridicule of the opposition – Often quite extreme because of the level of partisanship within political discourse A second source came from literature that was meant to critique the customs, government in general – Comedy of manners – Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” – Benjamin Franklin – Yeomen critics in newspapers, periodicals – Mark Twain – Will Rogers

Media influence Political cartoons became a significant influence during the latter half of the 19 th century – Thomas Nast – Puck Film – Charlie Chaplin Animation

Modern development Late-night television – The Tonight Show monologues Fairly innocuous skewering (nonpartisan) – Jay Leno takes over Jay Leno More emphasis on political humor – Clinton – David Letterman Saturday Night Live – Chevy Chase impersonation of Gerald Ford – Became a continuing emphasis of the show

Modern development Talk Radio—one feature of radio talk is its use of satire and derision of liberals/enemies Daily Show with Jon Stewart – Mocking of media, politics Colbert Report spins off

The Internet Professional and amateur political humor explodes on the Internet – Replay of popular culture SNL, Daily Show, Colbert Report, Late night talkLate night talk – Internet-only ‘professional’ political humor The Onion – Explosion of amateur political humor Much of it very bad or very ‘edgy’ – Sexual humor applied to political figures

The increasing presence of real political candidates on non-news media – Clinton much more willing to be featured on a wide array of popular culture shows Arsenio Hall

What is the special effect of humor? Humor appears to have the ability to reduce the audience member’s automatic critique of new ideas and information – We usually are very skeptical of anything that does not fit with our existing views of the world Generates automatic counterarguing – Because the humor is seen as entertainment rather than political argumentation, we process it differently However, the very act of ‘not taking this seriously’ tends to reduce its credibility with the audience

Why would it be more effective, then? The combination of psychological forces seems to provide the potential for a “sleeper effect” where we remember the concept or idea but forget where it came from – Evidence of the “sleeper effect” in political communication is often found for propaganda, etc.

Why would it be more effective? With partisans, humor seems to make the ‘fight’ more enjoyable, mingling positive affect with the partisan belief system For nonpartisans, humor appears to make somewhat more extreme negative rhetoric palatable – An outright accusation may be seen as unfair or unseemly while a humorous one was “just in fun” The humor itself is enjoyable, so expectations of enjoyment may draw audiences to content that otherwise would not have an audience