Is it OK to satirise September 11th?

The self-absorption and arrogance of the majority of the US public has been satirised for years both within the United States and in other countries. The way, for example, the US handled the attacks on Afghanistan is ripe for satire too. The problem is this; many people see satire as the tool of the enemy - to use a phrase oft quoted by your revered president - and unfortunately the world seems to have turned even more black and whote than it was before the attacks. It is this lack of insight in both of the camps that I find despicable and hence a great basis for satire, and even out and out piss-take.

 

"This isn't my apartment! This is Berlin 1945!" -Regis Phillbin.

The reason there are no jokes about Pearl Harbour is because people who are involved in wars usually dont like to make jokes about disasters that happened to them. Go somehwere else in the world, and theres a possibility you might find one (even though I have never heard one myself).

 

Here is a piece from the most recent Onion on the possible invasion of Iraq:

The Onion

 

Yes. So your point would be that is innapropriate satire?

 

No, my point is that it is appropriate and approaching the almost-satire like real life events of the post-September 11th world with satire is the best thing to do and in that case, "Terror's March Backwards" is not only very funny but is also deeply meaningful.

 

Ah. Yes, I would agree with you there.

 

I just read AL's posting of Terror's Backward March, and I thought it was a wonderful example of satire at it's best, though I would say that as I'm a huge fan of the work of Chris Morris and Armando Ianucci. Someone earlier raised the point that would you find it funny if it had happened in your own country, presumably on the basis that this piece is to be seen as simply American bashing by callous brits.
This would be very unfair on the two writers concerned as both have consistently tackled controversial subjects at home, ranging from satirical pieces on Northern Ireland on the Friday night Armistice, to the furore surrounding Brass Eye's send up of the media's hysteria over paedophilia.
One of my favourite movies of all time, The Producers, covers ground that people might consider in dubious taste to say the least. Singing Hitlers, musicals about the nazis, a comedy nazi in the shape of Kenneth Mars. It's not the subject matter, but how you handle it that's crucial. That's why The Producers is very funny and Allo Allo is merely tasteless, as they say in spinal tap it's a fine line between clever and stupid.

 

This is exactly the issue I am getting at. The Producers, arguably Mel Brook's finest film, is a perfect satire that is also hideously funny. Being There, Ahby's satirical look at politics, religion and television, is again brilliantly conceived and produced. Without satire, we start losing the democratic sensibilities and the freedoms which are bases of modern society.

 

Geert Hoste (Belgian Comedian) made fun of 9/11 on his last series of shows. That was in November last year I think. And I admit it, it was damn funny.

 

Too bad it isn't OK to even post any sort of satirical thread here, or any sort of "parody" thread for that matter.

 

Now I consider the September 11th attacks as possibly one of the most important world events of the past 100 years

I think the most important world event was The first and second world war...

But that's a bit off topic.

 

Is AL's last name Qaeda?

 

No, it's Jazeera.

 

In my opinion it isn't OK to satirise the actual event because it would cheapen the lives of the thousands of people who died; but it is OK to satirize the furore of removing songs that radio stations found offensive from playlists and the whole debacle of what to call the war in Afghanistan, as was seen in Private Eye at the time.

 

Personally Al I found parts of it very funny, especially the Jo Moore email line and the insurance claim bits.

Satire and humour are there to create an effect, either by laughter, anger or to get people thinking (ever heard Bill Hick's sketch about gun control in the US & UK?).

A similar thing happened with the furore Billy Connolly (one of the worlds funniest ever comedians IMHO) created with his sketch about the Last Supper being a Chinese Takeaway in Glasgow which Judas paid for - he had recently come into some money. It had Christian groups picketing his shows all over the UK.

Basically comedy is all about laughing at individuals or situations - if you are the target, or affected by it then there is always the off button or turning the page. I am a British citizen, but my mothers is German. A large part of british humour (see reference to Allo Allo above plus the entirity of Stan Boardman's carrer, recent Carlsberg Adverts featuring "bouncing bomb" towels getting the sunbeds first, the tube posters for Spitfire ale etc.) is stereotyping Germans. I simply turn over or ignore the material. Some people find it funny, but I don't.

However I don't have the right to tell anyone they cannot enjoy it simply because I find it offensive, same with the 11/9 material and the Last Supper example above. If you enjoy fine. If not turn off, over or ignore.

In response to points raised earlier, there was a humourous article in Melody Maker about 10 years ago regarding the band The Cocteau Twins and their recruitment of a Japanese guitarist who could not speak any English. Basically the skit was based on the (invented) premise that he joined the band because he thought their song 'Pearly Dewdrop Drops' was called 'Pearly Harbour Drops' and he wanted the band to record an entire album focussing on Japanese triumphs.

To sum it all up, I feel that humour based on 11/9 is allowable as long as is it used to laugh at those that deserve it, not the actual deaths. For example I remember a particular womans group (I forget which one)issuing a lawsuit for a bigger slice of the compensation/charity fund pie. A ripe target and one that deserves satirisation for an act that is far more offensive to the memories of the victims than any joke could ever be.

 

More stuff about September 11th that is satire in itself, I think:

?Improved prospects for independent education in Cornwall were outlined by headmaster Richard White at the annual speech and sports day of Polwhele House School, Truro. ?During this academic year, and partly because of 11 September, we have noticed a marked increase in the number of people with young families who want to relocate to Cornwall and send their children to independent schools,? he said.? -- The West Briton.

?Coming from a small firm in Ayrshire to be president of the Law Society of Scotland was daunting and there were times when I wondered what I had done. Stronger than my doubts, however, was my continuing belief that anyone, whether a sole practitioner, a partner in one of our largest firms or an in-house solicitor, has common values which are core to being a lawyer. Nothing confirmed that belief more than the outrage of the terrorist attacks of 11 September.? ? Martin McAllister, Journal of the Law Society of Scotland.

?Just as the political and spiritual landscape of the world was forever altered last September, so too has every golfer we know reassessed the importance of the sport in his or her life. And most we?ve spoken with say that they?ve come to appreciate the game even more now than before our universe was rocked on that late-summer morning.? -- Golfing Las Vegas: The Complete Guidebook to Golfing Las Vegas 2002.

?Alex undoubtedly adds a sprinkling of glamour to the Big Brother house as the resident model with the drop dead gorgeous looks. His big break came when he was chosen by Armani for their campaign last autumn, but the tragedy of 11 September meant his face went largely unnoticed.? ? Tragic news indeed, from OK! magazine.