The Role of Comedic News in Society
posted by Dominque Elliott | November 28, 2017 | In Arts and Culture, NewsWhen it comes to pain, human beings commonly use humor to cope. A numerous amount of studies have been conducted that shows humor can help people be distracted from or numb to pain, according to Time magazine.
Humor can also help people and society analyze internal and external problems. It’s tactic that comedians generally use to aid conversation about politics and sensitive topics in America, like race relations.
This is because comedy can take the tension away from talking about and listening to uncomfortable topics. Laughing about a joke about racism is easier than discussing and debating about the consequences, where emotions and personal beliefs can complicate the conversations.
That’s why it seems there has been a rise in comedic news since the election. Comedic news is defined as news about political, racial, and financial news delivered in a political way. While these types of shows have existed for a while, Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update has existed since 1975, there seems to be some indication that this type of comedy has been on the rise where it previously didn’t exist and have successful for venturing into it. SNL, itself, has experienced a ratings bump, according to CNN, since doing more Trump-related sketches, as well as earning more Emmys. Also experiencing a ratings bump is Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show,” a show which previously, under other hosts, has been fairly apolitical. Political comedians Bill Maher on HBO and Samantha Bee on TBS have also experienced better ratings since the election.
Reasons for this may be because the election has produced a lot fear, anger, and aggression, especially between people of opposing parties. Humor lessens the intensity of the emotions and make it easier for people to have conversations and stay informed.
There are various shows who utilize comedy to their advantage and use the election to gain attention. For example, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, who says comedy made it easier for people to talk about apartheid in South Africa, where he’s from. He’s stated that he thinks comedy is important because it allows people to have a voice and rebel, even if their rights in speech everywhere else is being oppressed.
Comedy is not only a coping mechanism for individual people, but also society as a whole.
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