Comedy to stand up against Trump
Before his inauguration, director Michael Moore told New Yorkers to “form an army of comedy” to defeat his administration.
“He’s affected by comedy!” Moore said. “If you make fun of him, if you ridicule him, or if you just show that he’s not popular … I’m telling you, my friends, this is how he’ll implode. This is his Achilles’ heel … everyone here has a sense of humor. Use it. Participate in the ridicule and the satire for the emperor who has no clothes. Let’s form an army of comedy and we will bring him down.”
And that’s what has been happening in US top talk and comedy shows. Professor Sophia A. McClennen wrote in an article for Salon that “the potential power of satire is not limited to simply getting under Trump’s skin […] satire always emerges in moments of crisis and Americans have a long, robust history of using satire to productive political ends in our nation.”
In Saturday Night Live Alec Baldwin has been impersonating Trump before election day and received no more than real Trump’s responses. After the 4th December show he said the show was “unwatchable” and “totally biased.”
The Melissa McCarthy stole the show with her impersonation of press secretary Sean Spicer.
Meanwhile, John Oliver returned to HBO with biting commentary of Trump’s distorted view of the truth.
“There is a pattern here,” Oliver said. “Trump sees something that jibes with his world view, doesn’t check it, half remembers it, and then passes it on—at which point it’s taken a life of its own and appears to validate itself.”
Also, Jon Stewart appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to mock Trump. He claimed that in only 11 days and after 20 executive orders we were all fatigued. “The presidency is supposed to age the president, not the public.”
And recently Bill Maher referred to the administration as “the Trump circus” and called Trump “agent orange.”
“As usual, you know, there’s the circus that happens every week, the distractions, that take us away from knowing what is really important which is there is an unprecedented state of crisis in this country.”
Humor has become the political idiom of resistance against Trump.
“So whether you share clips from Baldwin’s appearance on “SNL” tonight or create your own meme, you are making a difference. Each joke shows Trump that he is the butt of it and lets us control the story and create a broader community,” wrote McClennen.
“Our laughter isn’t just making us stronger; it’s reminding us that fighting for our nation can be fun.”
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