Banksy and the death of satire
Among the various ‘news’ stories that came and went without much notice over the Christmas period was the installation of a new work of art by Banksy in south London. This time the elusive artist erected what was widely believed to be a call for a ceasefire in Gaza: three drones were superimposed on a traffic ‘Stop’ sign. It was stolen in under an hour, which either speaks volumes about how much the residents of Peckham appreciate his agitprop art or, more likely, that a couple of geezers armed with bolt cutters saw an opportunity for a nice little earner which would have made Del Boy and Rodney proud.
The news covered the crime, not the craft, and few actually spent any time analysing the predictably dreary image itself. Banksy isn’t an artist any more and he has nothing to say: his message is not even his medium, it is, instead, all about its location and whether a council or a resident will try to steal it or destroy it. It has as much personality as its artist.
The whole piece is quite short and well worth reading, particularly this reference to the sense of social and intellectual smugness we now see in comedians. It has been with us for some time too, Stephen Fry being an example. By the time I gave up on it, Private Eye was another example.
Of course, it is not news to claim that political comedy, once subversive, is now sanctimonious and monocultural. The satirical stance of That Was The Week That Was, and Not Only… But Also is long dead. Aaron Brown, editor of the British Comedy Guide, suggested that many popular comedians ‘have this air of intellectual superiority, using comedy to look down on those who see the world from a different perspective.’ That sense of social and intellectual smugness, encapsulated in comedians ranging from Steve Coogan to Stewart Lee, acts as a strong antidote to appreciating anything humorous they are likely to say unless you also subscribe to their views.
6 comments:
I'm of one accord with you AK' I've hated Stephen Fry for years and gone off Private Eye too.
I think the main problem with Banksy is that he is a conceptual artist, and in turn the problem with conceptual art is that once you "get" the concept, the work instantly loses any interest. Drones. On a stop sign. Ah! Yes! "Stop drones!" That's about all there is to it, really. You can't go back to it, you can't savour it, it has no craftsmanship to admire, no enduring appeal.
The effect is much like hearing a simple child's pun, or a poor "dad joke". A quick flicker of recognition, and then it's gone. Like chewing gum that loses its flavour after one second.
And those dreary left-wing comedians are just the same. "Ah! He's found yet another way to say that Trump is stupid, or Rees-Mogg is a toff, or Fatcher was nasty!"
I was in the room during a small potion of the (best of) Have I Got News For You 2023 program. I was astonished by how smug the entire program was. It used to be mostly satirical but seems more like a drunken dinner party of People Who Matter. Or who think they still matter.
Nigel Farage in particular came in for a lot of ridicule. I guess for some people they are never going to forgive him for Brexit.
Surely there are laws against defacing road signs?
I still wonder at the humour we used to read in Private Eye, about the legendary Clintistorit of Wintistering, and Arthur Bastard! It was so funny back then, probably because Peter Cook was in control!
When Paul Foot did the journalism, it was electric - he was a proper journalist, not a cheap rag's cardboard cutout or a flimsy Beeboid kidult!
Tammly - I agree, Fry couldn't even suppress a supercilious smirk when playing Jeeves.
Sam - yes that's it. I'm reminded of communist era posters where visual exhortation hammered away at a few themes nobody had ever misunderstood since childhood.
DJ - it's almost creepy how such programmes are seen in a markedly different light if you avoid them for a significant length of time. It's obvious conditioning and it works. Such programmes lead regular viewers towards biases they would be better off avoiding and possibly would avoid were they capable of standing back from them.
Vatsmith - there are, which might make it difficult to sell.
Scrobs - yes it drifted towards the establishment and lost the jester's role it once had.
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