THERE’S nothing like turning on Saturday Night Live at the end of another long week of hearing political attack after political attack. Just when Sarah Palin’s run-on sentences become so nonsensical that you almost sympathize with her total inability to sound intelligent, Tina Fey’s dead-on impersonation of her reminds you that you are not alone in your frustration. Just as the incessant arguing of television’s most annoyingly opinionated political pundits makes you tighten your fists in irritation, the familiar sound of The Daily Show’s theme music fills the air — and you — with relief.
Ever since the presidential campaign began, and arguably much earlier than that, we have relied on comedians, YouTube videos, political cartoons and satirical blogs to remind us exactly how much of a farce this entire period has been. In the space separating the left and right wings, the liberals from the conservatives, political humor beckons to both sides. So why do we continue to take politics so seriously when it appears that in the absence of seriousness, we can all come together and laugh at how ridiculous our political institutions have become?
That is not to say I condone embracing “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” as your only news source. There is something to be said for actually picking up a newspaper and reading more than just the headlines. However, when the news inevitably gets to be too much, political comedians come to the rescue. Not only do they help us find something to laugh at, but they also offer us comfort by reminding us that ridiculous statements, whether they are racist, misogynist, naïve or misguided, make the most sensible of us cringe in disbelief and shame. They illuminate the absurdity of these comments, and in doing so, they allow us to come together in laughter.
Not only is the most pressing news dealt with and processed by comedians and humorists through various forms of media: Sometimes the most pressing news revolves around these very media. The announcement that Sarah Palin — yes, the actual candidate, not one of the many YouTube impersonators — would appear on Saturday Night Live became one of the only breaking news stories that didn’t involve the economy, Bill Ayers or the War in Iraq. According to the Associated Press, her appearance on the show gave NBC its highest ratings in 14 years.
Even the two major presidential candidates have been able to shed their partisan exteriors in pursuit of a little fun, attracting the attention of the news media at the same time. Both Barack Obama and John McCain recently exchanged jabs at the Al Smith Dinner, a charity event at which presidential candidates who attend have traditionally given comedic speeches. Both men were in fine form, and it was almost refreshing to see McCain finally smile naturally instead of forcing a spectacularly creepy half-grin. Reviewing the Smith Dinner, Wall Street Journal columnist Laura Meckler wrote, “Both men offered good-natured and well-crafted nods to their own foibles as well as gently placed digs at their opponents. The result was a remarkable night of comity in a presidential campaign that has been at times brutally tough.” If only we could have a few more remarkable nights.
Today, we tend to paint critics and comedians like Jon Stewart and Tina Fey as heroes who are far more representative of our worldview than actual politicians and political experts. Perhaps this is because politics is such a dirty game, and we question the motives of anyone who opts to play it. Or perhaps it is because deep down, we understand the absurdity of it all, and that the game is not so much dirty as it is ridiculous. Regardless of why — personally, I’m a proponent of the latter explanation — the fact is that for a lot of Americans, the light at the end of the electoral tunnel is not just the victory of either Barack Obama or John McCain. Instead, the light is found in listening to those who truly speak to us, whose message is clear and blunt, straightforward and free of hidden agendas.
This belief in the freeing nature of humor is what will hopefully help bandage the rifts that have been growing throughout the country — political rifts, racial rifts, ethnic rifts, class rifts. The election of a new president, whoever he may be, will no doubt incite a variety of reactions among Americans. I doubt very strongly, however, that it will ever be able to incite one single reaction among us all: laughter.
Amelia Meyer’s column appears Wednesday in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at a.meyer@cavalierdaily.com.
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