This got me thinking.
All satire is parasitism. There is no satire without subjects to inspire it. A lampoon is nothing if there is nothing to lampoon. Satirists are entirely derivative; their material is created by others. And the satirists’ work is all about lust: if pornography incites lust for fleshly pleasures, satire incites the pleasure of mockery and scoffing. It is pornography of a different sort, appealing not to one’s prurience, but to one’s self-righteousness. It surely arouses, but not lurid sexual yearnings. It arouses a mockery that titillates an audience’s anger, resentment and, above all, its pride. And it is not about the weak speaking to the strong. It is about the powerful appearing weak, weak as the Everyman, exploiting an audience for social and financial gain.
What do you think? Overstated? Right on?
