Ohhhhhh...So that's why you mad...
We all need to understand that those who engage in humor with bite (be it satirical, sardonic, political, etc), don't do it to make light of bad situations or bad people (though it may seem that way at first glance). They do it out of frustration, anger, worry, confusion, and that general sense of "WTF" that we all feel when our leaders (in politics, entertainment, business, etc) engage in douchebaggery. These late night talk shows and sketch comedy shows are really our last hope of getting information on what is going on and why we should be outraged. It works so well because often times the comedians on those shows are outraged.
It's why Letterman was on fire when he lit into John McCain for cancelling on him at the last minute to do an interview with CBS news (he was angered by the snub). Its why those skits with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin were such a hit (the possibility of her being our next VP was THAT frightening). Its John Stewart is able to kill it every night with his expose on the hypocrisy of certain institutions (i.e. political parties and members of the MSM), the most recent of which being CNBC (his expression of that general "WTF...Am I the only one seeing this for what it is?!?" type of feeling that we all get). The angrier the comedian is the more biting his/her jokes become and the louder we all laugh, because we are just as angry. Sounds paradoxical, but that's how this type of comedy has worked since the days of feudalism (and perhaps before that time).
And its not like those in power can scare these shows into being the sycophants that many in the MSM sometimes (well...most of the time) are. Danielle Belton explained the situation best on her blog. They don't have to kiss the butt cheeks of those people for fear of getting shut out from talking to those people again. If they do ever get Zero Access to any these stars, personalities, or politicians, they’ll just make fun of those people until those people have to come on their show in an attempt at damage control (McCain on Letterman, Cramer on the Daily Show, Palin on SNL). In the end its all done to give you what the news used to do back in the day (when it was on for one hour every day) give you the information about the world around you(only with lols attached).
So next time you watch one of these shows and your laughing your butt off, stop and think for a minute about why its all so funny. After you've done that, think about why perhaps you should be mad!
-Noface
8 comments:
Yeah Cramer got torched on that one. When John Stewart is giving the best interviews these days regular journalists might want to think about a career change.
Indeed!
Nice coverage!
Whenever I watch this, I have flashbacks of me getting whooped as a kid for stealing.
Cramer just got spanked!
After a while I actually start feeling sorry for the guy (but then I remember what he did). He was totally unprepared for the onslaught. The Daily Show has become the late night version of Meet The Press (with Tim Russert of course).
If the market keeps coming back, declaration of Kramer's demise may be premature.
@ Legal Pub
Perhaps you're right and this is not the end of Cramer. I feel though, that his credibility will never be what it once was, or if that is too extreme, it will take a long while for him to earn back much of the clout he lost at the hands of Stewart. The bottom line is Cramer's credibility has been severely damage (knocked off his high horse if you will) so his road back to being a reliable source will be a hard one no matter how well the market does.
I personally will never take what he or anyone at CNBC (or really any major news outlet) at face value again. Who am I kidding, I've never taken anything CNBC has said at face value.
Very Nice Post!
I totally agree.
Jaycee
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