American Hypersensitivity

To avoid any possibility of beginning this article with a rhetorical question-which, if committed, would be tantamount to stylistic self-immolation-I offer the following statement: this sentence is not a rhetorical question, but the next one will be.  This gracefully leads me to the core issue of my column: why has the American population become so sensitive and so emotionally unstable that it is totally incapable of enduring sarcasm?

Before I can launch into the fundamental elements of my argument, I feel it is necessary to prove that our society has, in fact, become a delicate pushover that bursts into tears when it's the victim of an innocuous prank.  To accomplish this, I give you the example of the July 21, 2008 issue of theNew Yorker, the cover of which depicted a caricature of President Obama dressed in a turban and traditional Muslim dress while fist-bumping his similarly-exaggerated wife, Michelle Obama, who was wearing camouflage and toting an AK-47 (sure, the example's a little stale, but time doesn't mean anything in journalism).

Unsurprisingly, this cover elicited an intense downpour of criticism, including that of Mika Brezezinski, co-host of MSNBC'sMorning Joe, who went as far as to suggest that the cartoon was "a dangerous joke." Ironically, this type of reaction only added more depth and more significance to the satire than was originally intended.

Indeed, as legions of talking heads fail to recognize, overreaction feeds parody, and when the media goes to great lengths to remove itself from a cartoon that's based on ridiculous misconceptions, it merely becomes a part of the joke. I mean, sure, maybe some people saw the cover and felt that it was irrefutable confirmation of Obama's Muslim ideologies, but doesn't the very fact that it's a cartoon-on theNew Yorker-imply that it's sarcastic? The truth is, any hesitance in answering this question suggests that the country has abandoned its comedic acumen and replaced it with unwavering moral dependence on the media; as sad as it may seem, our reliance on television, newspapers, and the Internet has given such outlets the unparalleled ability to determine what we deem offensive.  We are hurt only when we are told to be hurt.

The country's hypersensitivity to irony is derived largely from the fact that, for a vast portion of the population, it serves an exclusively negative purpose.  The media, which is, regrettably, reflective of our pervasive vulgarity and misconstrued insecurities, has forgotten the sweetness of hilarity and has instead grown to appreciate specific details and utterly inane information (In the words of Dickens, "Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else"). Indeed, our own desire for the banality of  "facts" has antagonized irony, transforming it into little more than a destructive and critical weapon.  But this too is a pitiful misconception, because although satire does not actively alleviate the situation it mocks-i.e. it is not an immediate remedy-it is in fact a mirror (albeit a distorted mirror), and it takes a reflection to recognize the symptoms.

Today, the American population has become so self-oriented and proud that, as the late David Foster Wallace described, it shares the same fundamental mentality as a teenage boy who routinely looks in a bathroom mirror to "monitor his biceps and determine his better profile." We, like the child, spend ample periods of our time thinking about how wonderful we look and how right we always are.  Tragically, our society has become so comfortable in this sustained state of ignorance that we actively seek to combat any external commentary or illumination, regardless of whether such influence takes the form of satire or unrelenting censure. We lock the bathroom door, so to speak.

I could get really corny right here and suggest to the country that "it's time to unlock the door! We must embrace our demons and seek to improve them," but by structuring the previous clause in such a manner, I not only distanced myself from such a terrible metaphor, but I also managed to use it.  Nevertheless, it is high time we realize that satire is not a crass assault on our way of life or our notion of morality, but rather a magnifying glass that exposes the numerous structural flaws threatening the integrity of our culture.  And so, for maximum impact, I'll leave you with the imperative: suck in your stomach and roll with the blows, America .You'll feel better in the long run.