On humor, satire and other nonfunny business

After the dust-up regarding the New Yorker cover of Obama, defenders (and not just the New Yorker) are coming out saying that the cover is satire and basically the outraged and offended just don't get it:

Bill Maher, who is host of a politically oriented late-night show on HBO, said, “If you can’t do irony on the cover of The New Yorker, where can you do it?”

Now, if you found the humor in the cover, fantastic. Rock on with your bad self. Me, I didn't. I see the attempt, but much like my distaste for Sarah Silverman, Andrew Dice Clay and Carrottop, I just don't like it.

Before I delve into this thesis of what's funny and what's not, I'll be telling jokes along the way. Except the punchline will be Jackie Stallone, Sylvester's weird mother.

Two Jews walk into a bar....Jackie Stallone!

I like satire. I find South Park to be funny as hell sometimes with some really sharp commentary on issues of the day. Stephen Colbert is amazingly smart and funny as the conservative blowhard. I know the New Yorker's done covers that poke fun at the current administration and past leaders that made me smile. So why do I feel like this is a bad attempt?

Well, number one -- context. There's no context for the picture. If it's supposed to be nightmare picture of insane right-wingers, why not something that refers to that? Like maybe Dick Cheney in a little set of footie PJ's laying in bed, tossing and turning because that's his dream?

Why did the chicken cross the road? Jackie Stallone!

Second point -- and this might be the one that pisses off a lot of people and crying out reverse racism -- There's certain jokes that really, only a few groups of people can do. Dave Chappelle can do jokes about crackheads because he's black. Lewis Black can't. Gay comedians can joke about being gay, straight comedians can't. The majority can't really joke about the minority in America. People may call it reverse discrimination, but give 200-plus years of white male presidents, I think that saying that black comedians can only make the Osama Bin Ladin jokes is a fair trade (well, not really fair, but you get my point).

Maybe the joke would've been more easily understood as-is if it was on a magazine like Oprah or Ebony, but definitely not the New Yorker.

The New Yorker is the majority -- demographic wise and appearance-wise in the media -- they are primarily white, upper-middle class, liberal educated people. When they created this cover, I hate to say it, but it was like the majority picking on the minority. That's not funny. Now the minority picking on the majority (such as in Blazing Saddles -- yes I know that Clevon Little didn't write the movie, but Mel Brooks and I believe Richard Pryor did), that's funny. That takes away some of the power that the majority has.

Why else do you think the Nazis hated the Dadaists? The Dadaists took the piss out of the Nazis.

Knock, knock,
Who's there?
Jackie Stallone

Anyways, those are the thoughts that have been kicking around in my head. That and this response from one Internet reader, "If you have to go all over the media to explain the joke, then it wasn't very funny."