Charlie Hebdo, Stephen Colbert, and ‘real satire’

Charlie Hedbo, the author argues,doesn’t publish “real satire.” It traffics in “pseudo-satire,” which, unlike the work of satirical geniuses Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, fails to advance the political dialogue or “educate our electorate.” In fact, much of the piece reads as an ode to Colbert’s brilliance, especially when compared to the rude, unfocused, and “pure entertainment” satire of other American shows such as Family Guy and … South Park. (Note: Really?)

Then there’s this familiar line, which many others have deployed in their “terrorism is bad, but…” responses to the Charlie Hebdo murders: “True satire never punches down—the target must always be someone in a position above the satirist, not someone less privileged.” Or as the author more succinctly puts it: “There’s just nothing brave about secular white men mocking everybody else.”

Truly brave satirists, such as Colbert (who is white, btw), are able to “stand just inches from President Bush at the White House Press Correspondents Dinner and criticize the administration during the height of the War on Terror,” an episode that was almost universally cited in the fawning liberal eulogies to the Colbert Report, a show that many credited for helping them “survive the Bush years.”