Rare News Desk
Despite the right’s domination of cable news, they have never been able to breach the gates of mainstream political humor.
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In the last decade specifically, liberal programs like “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report” and “Real Time with Bill Maher” have raised the standard in news media humor, but conservative viewers continue to tune into Fox News Channel.
Each time conservatives try versions of these politically satirical programs, they almost all immediately fail. Maybe Republicans can laugh at themselves but Democrats can’t? Thus why all parties can watch the left-wing programming? Probably not. Conservatives certainly enjoy laughing at Democrats, and generally delight when the Jon Stewarts and Stephen Colberts of the world stick it to any Democrat, especially the president.
Splitsider.com, the Associated Press of pop-culture and humor, recently investigated this topic. They found that it isn’t the content itself that is unpopular or doomed to fail, but the execution. The writer, who admits he leans to the right politically, analyzes several instances of Republican comedic failure, including the online weekend-update-like program “News Busted.”
From Splitsider:
As a comedy critic who (if anything) leans somewhat to the right politically, even I have to admit that every one of these shows is a disaster of poorly crafted jokes and a complete lack of insightful commentary. When [Jason] Mattera runs a clip of Harrison Ford’s recent rainforest awareness ad (which attempts to use chest-waxing as a metaphor for deforestation), there is an opportunity for some top-shelf skewering of an admittedly ridiculous moment in pop culture. Instead, he chooses to make fun of the fact that Ford is wearing an earring.
By going for the easy payoff, that has nothing to do with liberals, the show completely avoids any chance of true political commentary.
Both Mattera and comedian Steven Crowder, exist in a world where the name of the game is “liberals are dumb” and they are there to show you why. Rather than merely stating their opinion over and over, thoughtful and perhaps more balanced criticisms could lead to stronger comedic material. Obviously shows like the “Daily Show” have gone for many easy payoffs, but they do so under the complete guise of humor. They would rather make the joke than point out the issue; Republican programs often cannot make that distinction. The basis of Stephen Colbert’s entire program is that he is a hotheaded Republican pundit. Could you imagine if Republicans were to try the opposite? If someone had a show where they exemplified all the things wrong with the Rachel Maddow’s of the world? This could play against the narrative, and through a deeply committed performance piece subtly point out flaws of the left.
As humorous as it could be, ripping off Stephen Colbert’s act would merely play into the same cycle that conservative humor shows often fall prey to. By billing themselves as “conservative” versions of otherwise popular programs, these shows never give themselves a shot to do something unique or original. Nobody expects them to re-invent the wheel, however doing something different could further engage an audience.
This has worked with Fox’s “Red Eye” program, a political panel show that mocks daily news, is well aware of its audience and heavily incorporates viral content. Though “Red Eye” has found their niche, many other programs never have the chance too. By examining their stylistic execution as carefully as they examine how much they hate liberals, conservative programming could one day have a chance.
Similar to alcohol-free beer or soy burgers, the attempt to brand yourself as a polar alternative to the product you’re ideologically opposed to is rarely accepted in America. In trying to convince young people that the rock and roll lifestyle is destructive and immoral, the Christian music industry has spent the last few decades following mainstream trends in rock music and constructing Jesus-flavored alternatives of their secular rivals. It’s become a lucrative business, but has garnered very little respect from critics or mainstream audiences. Meanwhile, the reggae genre is one of the most highly regarded of the last forty years; and yet these bands will proselytize no less about the Rastafarian religion as Christian rock bands do about Jesus, but they’re more highly regarded and listened to because they’ve delivered an original sound.
Even Jon Stewart knows that isn’t funny to go for the easy joke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gsJrgwxQDo
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