Hitting Trump Where It Hurts: The Satire Troops Take Up Comedy Arms Against the Hyper-Sensitive Pres
Salon Magazine (via Alternet)
February 13, 2017
By Sophia A. McClennen
Nineteen years ago a small group of non-violent, pro-democracy protesters, Otpor, decided to play a public prank on Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic.
The protesters took an oil barrel, taped a picture of Milosevic to it and set it up in the middle of Belgrade's largest shopping district.
Next to it they placed a baseball bat.
They then moved away to a spot where they could anonymously watch what happened next.
As Otpor co-founder Srdja Popovic recounted, "Before long, dozens of shoppers lined the street, each waiting for a chance to take a swing at 'Milosevic' - the man so many despised, but whom most were too afraid to criticize."
After 30 minutes the police arrived, but they were at a loss for how to stop the mockery of the dictator.
The culprits were nowhere to be seen and those wielding the bat were just innocent shoppers.
So the police decided to arrest the barrel.
Popovic explained that the image of the two policeman dragging the barrel to their police car went viral: "Milosevic and his cronies became the laughing stock of the nation, and Optor became a household name."
A small group of students grew to 70,000. Milosevic's days were numbered.
Fast-forward to the present where in the United States we have recently inaugurated the Donald Trump administration in what is ostensibly a democracy but that increasingly feels like an authoritarian regime.
As was the case in Serbia under Milosevic, we are able to watch the role that comedy can play in unsettling a despot.
In Serbia, a small group of laughtivists sought to use humor to bring down a dictator; in America we already have a full-blown satire rebellion.
Last week comedian Melissa McCarthy impersonated Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer on "Saturday Night Live."
It was one of the most potent impersonations yet of the Trump regime.
The clip went viral and was seen by more than 20 million viewers in less than one week.
Even better, though, the impersonation has apparently rattled the White House.
Politico reported: "Trump's uncharacteristic Twitter silence over the weekend about the 'Saturday Night Live' sketch was seen internally as a sign of how uncomfortable it made the White House feel."
It further reported that Trump is especially unhappy that a woman impersonated Spicer.
Word is that Spicer may be at risk of losing his job.
That same week Jon Stewart appeared on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" for the first time since the inauguration.
In a mock Trump impersonation, Stewart 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."
More:
http://www.alternet.org/culture/satire-hits-trump-where-it-hurts
= new reply since forum marked as read
