Satire and Politics

Abstract

News is commonly considered to be the most important channel for mediated political discourse, mainly because it is seen as the primary means of acquiring the information required in order to make rational democratic choices. However, as Gray, Jones, and Thompson argue, “political comedy, satire, and parody all provide important narrative critiques that enable democratic discourse and deliberation.”2 I do not wish to overstate the cultural and democratic relevance of films dealing in political satire, but as the logic of satire began to gain relevance in the 1990s, political issues in popular film did win some ground.