"Comedy is a way to get people to let their defenses down. We are in a hyper-individualistic, transactional, consumerist kind of culture. So for us, entertainment is something to be consumed. Sometimes it might spur you into action, but a lot of times it feels like a good laugh is a safety valve—a way to release the discomfort."
"There is a normalization when you take the buffoonery of something that's actually really insidious and evil and package it into something funny. But it doesn't have to be that way. The comedian's and jester's job is to say that the emperor has no clothes."
"The power of humor and the biting joke is the ability to say, No, this person is not as important or powerful as you think they are. If a joke can cut a ruler down to size, that can ease the path toward fighting back."
"Perhaps that's why Franklin Roosevelt reportedly encouraged Charlie Chaplin to make his Hitler parody The Great Dictator, released in 1940. Comedy deflates the strongman's image as invincible."
Political comedy during Trump's presidency raises concerns about its effectiveness in combating authoritarianism. While it can provide relief and laughter, it may also normalize dangerous behaviors. Comedians like Sasheer Zamata and Jenny Yang emphasize the importance of humor in challenging power dynamics. They argue that comedy should not sanitize evil but instead expose it. Historical examples, such as Charlie Chaplin's parody of Hitler, illustrate how humor can undermine oppressive figures and inspire resistance against tyranny.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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