COMEDY

POLITICS 103comedy show demonstrates that not all issues are covered by a blanketlicence granted to comedy to speak out of turn.SATIREBrass Eye’s defence was built entirely upon its self-identification assatire. While claiming that something is satirical does not exempt it fromcriticism, it does imply a parodic tone that should not be confused witha straightforward correspondence with the author’s views. Satire existsall over the media, and is by no means an exclusive effect of comedy,but it is the most directly political of comic forms and the one that hascaused the majority of censorious government interventions. Satire aimsto denounce folly and vice and urge ethical and political reform throughthe subjection of ideas to humorous analysis. In the best instances, it takesits subject matter from the heart of political life or cultural anxiety, reframingissues at an ironic distance that enables us to revisitfundamental questions that have been obscured by rhetoric, personalinterests, or realpolitik. Michael Moore’s satirical documentary on USgun laws, Bowling for Columbine (2002), had an enormous impact onaudiences and provoked fierce criticism from conservative groups, andMoore was both cheered and booed when the film received an Oscar.As for fictional works, Stanley Kubrick’s 1963 film, Dr Strangelove; or,How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, is an excellentexample of how satire can ask a question that has been dismissed by theestablishment as naive, but remains absolutely crucial to the future ofhumanity. Kubrick’s film is the story of an insanely paranoid Americangeneral who initiates a nuclear strike on Russia to prevent them fromstealing his bodily fluids. Russia launches a counter-strike, and bothgovernments try to recall their planes, but one gets through and drops ahydrogen bomb on the Russian base at Laputa, named for one of Swift’slands in Gulliver’s Travels. Dr Strangelove therefore asks a perfectlyreasonable but basic question: are our military leaders and their fail-safesystems competent enough to prevent a devastating nuclear accident? Inthe character of the psychotic ex-Nazi Strangelove, it asks if we canreally trust the individuals who lurk behind the anonymity ofgovernment departments. In the wake of President John F.Kennedy’sassassination, Columbia Pictures delayed releasing the film to avoidaccusations of anti-Americanism. When the film did appear, thefollowing disclaimer appeared over the title sequence: