Exactly, thanks! I think a lot of these guys drift to offensive humor because it gives them a cheap defense against criticism. "Oh, yeah? You just can't take it, buddy!" But most of my favorite comedians are crude and pushy -- George Carlin, Bill Hicks, David Cross, Margaret Cho... And the thing about them is, they're insightful. I love them because their offensiveness pushes people to recognize uncomfortable truths.
Meanwhile, Parker and Stone are just a couple of goofy teenagers. Lovable goofy teenagers, but they got nothin' and they know it. They can provoke people's emotion, but they haven't the faintest clue how to provoke awareness, because they're not really themselves aware. Their style of satire can get them just short of making an important point, and then one of them drops his pants and farts.
When that starts to get old, they make fun of themselves for farting. Then they make fun of their audience for farting. Then they make fun of Comedy Central for showing them farting. Then they do a pretty clever mimicry of American society's tendency to mistake fart jokes for real satire. And that's enough for most of America, because the sad thing is they're right. But they still never get around to the part where they offer them anything better than fart jokes and irony.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2004-10-17 11:52 pm (UTC)Meanwhile, Parker and Stone are just a couple of goofy teenagers. Lovable goofy teenagers, but they got nothin' and they know it. They can provoke people's emotion, but they haven't the faintest clue how to provoke awareness, because they're not really themselves aware. Their style of satire can get them just short of making an important point, and then one of them drops his pants and farts.
When that starts to get old, they make fun of themselves for farting. Then they make fun of their audience for farting. Then they make fun of Comedy Central for showing them farting. Then they do a pretty clever mimicry of American society's tendency to mistake fart jokes for real satire. And that's enough for most of America, because the sad thing is they're right. But they still never get around to the part where they offer them anything better than fart jokes and irony.