Dgar“Satire is meant to ridicule power. If you are laughing at people who are hurting, that’s not satire, it’s bullying.”
- Definitely not Sir Terry Pratchett.
Psy Chuan 
@dgar GNU PTerry
noodlejetski 
Keith DaggettYes.
That's never cool.
bdk@dgar GNU Terry Pratchett
Ged|Net@dgar Indeed!
AUGSCHBURGER@dgar der Buchautor überhaupt. Gibt es einen besseren als Terry Pratchett?? Ganz sicher nicht...
@DerLechfelder great stories, and such a prolific writer!
smial@dgar Kannte er Nuhr?
Jennie Blake
KazK@dgar so true GNU terry
PapaPearThere’s a reason why the best musicians, artists, actors, comedians, etc are liberal in nature
Esp in comedy. Coming from an authoritarian position, it always is based on denigration and mockery in its vilest of forms. Jokes based upon a person’s looks, disabilities, struggles, etc when coming from a person in a position of privilege or power will never be funny. It’s the most vulgar form of expression.
When comedy does work, it’s from a position of the underdog or self-deprecation. That’s why a struggling comedian making jokes about their hardships works. Or mocking a corporate fat cat or politician works.
This is why people like Limbaugh who think they’re cracking jokes are actually the most vile of people. Racist jokes based on denigrating a group of people will never be funny (eg Limbaugh’s ‘Barack the magic negro’ song he sang on his hate radio show)
The greatest poetry and lyrics were written from positions of struggle and strife, not privilege and power
Empathy is an estimable aspect.
sneedy maccreedy@dgar god bless terry but i think he may have forgotten that juvenal mocked a slave. satire is a mode. it can be used against anyone. it's up to us to use it to mock the powerful - or not.
Adam@crumbleneedy @dgar I don't think Terry ever said this
But I agree with the sentiment... Roman Satura was a formal mode, Celtic satire was a means of holding power to account, part of a system of checks and balances in a fragile and brutal world, and those who were entitled to use it were also held to account in its use by their peers by it, so context matters. As a tool, the distinction (punching up vs down) is a valid one in contemporary society
@mythstory @crumbleneedy yes, I believe you are correct. I edited to add (Attributed without source), as is commonly is.
But the quote is nice, so I’m going to leave it up.
“Don’t believe everything you see on the internet.”
- Abraham Lincoln.
highfellow@crumbleneedy @dgar it's something that observers can be aware of though - whether a person is punching up or punching down.
@crumbleneedy @dgar David Graeber wrote well on this role of the audience in conflicts between bully and victim in his essay 'The bully's pulpit: on the elementary structure of domination' https://davidgraeber.org/articles/the-bullys-pulpit-on-the-elementary-structure-of-domination/
@crumbleneedy @dgar so it's possible as an onlooker to decide that you want to act in ways that don't support this kind of bully - victim dynamic but question and disrupt it instead?
@crumbleneedy I guess this is what you were already saying - that we have that choice?
@highfellow right. we should definitely punch up, not down, but satire is not inherently one or the other - it's the punch itself
paulGNU Terry Pratchett
Akra5ia@dgar @HolyMachina Thanks! This is the first thing I read this morning. I feel like I’ve learned something and my coffee is still brewing.
🌈D. 'Xalior' Rimron-Soutter@dgar The words are true, the source -- sadly -- is commonly misattributed to Sir Terry.
There's an interesting (archived) story of how this misattributation came into play here - https://web.archive.org/web/20220121141445/https://vrabia.tumblr.com/post/180186839716/hello-friends-let-me-take-you-on-a-journey-a
hello friends! let me take you on a journey. a journey about how i unknowingly, and very much unintentionally, released a fake terry pratchett quote into the wilderness of the internet, where it’s been roaming free for nearly 3 years.
hello friends! let me take you on a journey. a journey about how i unknowingly, and very much unintentionally, released a fake terry pratchett quote into the wilderness of the internet, where it’s...
Paul Porter@dgar Hmmm… still thinking about this. People in power are still people and may have feelings or may be hurting as well. The quote appears to assume people in power are bad.
Spicy but not too Flamey@PaulsWorld @dgar Another way of looking at it is the way Mel Brooks (I think?) described what makes a comedian sympathetic or cruel. A good comedian punches up, and one who punches down is just a bully. Afflicting the powerful can be hilarious, but not mocking the less fortunate.
Cegorach@PaulsWorld @dgar well, the thing is: it doesn't matter if people in power are good or bad
They just don't need our help - ever. They already have all the power to deal with things.
The powerless masses need help though.
@drazraeltod @dgar Preachers, Teachers, Company Owners, Parents, your small time mayor, fire chief... even you have power over someone, something. The scales pf power are clearly different. They could use help. I do better understand my struggle with the original post is ambiguity with the definition of "power, powerful."
@drazraeltod @dgar and I love good satire!
dbelveze@dgar Sure, but the answer to the question "who is the powerful" and "who is the weak" is often not as obvious as one may think
Catherine Schmidt@dgar love this
Tofu Golem@dgar
Or as American comedians put it, always punch up rather than down.
Or as American comedians put it, always punch up rather than down.
Trojan Duck@dgar We'll have to be satisfied that it's the kind of thing he would have said
🦫💧🐸 🌻🌹@dgar thanks gor sharing this. I could not agree more. Teasing (another socially condoned activity) is cruel and always at someone's expense. It is not okay.
@dgar ha! He does have some good ones along the same lines though.
Sue@dgar
Well said
Well said
@dgar Thin line. Everyone is hurting. Everyone is stupid and imperfect. Musk is an idiot. But he didn't choose that. He was just born and made one by this imperfect Universe. So how can any humor or satire be ok? If we really care. Thin line!
John Faithfull🌍🇪🇺🏴🧡 ✊🏼✊🏿@[email protected] maybe not "definitely not": see this tumblr post by the person who seemed to start this quote and attribution: https://www.tumblr.com/vrabia/180186839716/hello-friends-let-me-take-you-on-a-journey-a (needs a tumblr account I think :| )
EarthOne@dgar Thanks for this crystal clear reminder.
Note to self: don't be cruel.
Kyrah Abattoir 😈✌@dgar We will greatly miss Him...
Buddy@dgar Satire is a poor attempt at humor, being funny. Should not be used at all as it can be misunderstood. Many people say mean things and when called out for them, use the excuse it was just satire. No, I think most meant the hurtful thing they said.
qbic@dgar
Agree for the second part, bullying. Satire exclusively as a function of ridiculing power might be true for states like Russia, China and maybe the US. However satire can be more complex than that. Just found a great satire on ZDF Germany "Normaloland" https://www.zdf.de/serien/normaloland
Some great US satires out there too that do more than ridicule the powerful. They ridicule the mindset of common people like me enabling others to seize power.
Agree for the second part, bullying. Satire exclusively as a function of ridiculing power might be true for states like Russia, China and maybe the US. However satire can be more complex than that. Just found a great satire on ZDF Germany "Normaloland" https://www.zdf.de/serien/normaloland
Some great US satires out there too that do more than ridicule the powerful. They ridicule the mindset of common people like me enabling others to seize power.
Adrian Dymorz@dgar Thanks for taking care about the source of this quote.
I first was a bit annoyed by the edits, but it's better to check the origin of a quote late than never.
I just found out that you are not the first struggling with this topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/quotes/comments/9y9b7d/source_needed_satire_is_meant_to_ridicule_power/
I first was a bit annoyed by the edits, but it's better to check the origin of a quote late than never.
I just found out that you are not the first struggling with this topic: https://www.reddit.com/r/quotes/comments/9y9b7d/source_needed_satire_is_meant_to_ridicule_power/
⁂ Fish Id Wardrobe@dgar I have no idea if Terry ever said this, but it's certainly an idea that I think he would have got behind. Maybe phrased it a little more subtly…?
edgeoforever 🍎
Gen X-Wing
Grannygreenteeth
Sasha Fox@dgar Dude has Total King status.
SanityNow@dgar
EXACTLY! Which is why fascists suck st humor. That and they are completely lacking compassion, empathy and emotional intelligence to do it.
EXACTLY! Which is why fascists suck st humor. That and they are completely lacking compassion, empathy and emotional intelligence to do it.
Aviva Gary@dgar heh! Nice edit ;-) ❣️
@Xalior if I were on Twitter, I could have saved myself the researching, confirming, reading, and editing. Being a leftie is hard. 😂
A Vernal Pool@dgar OK, he didn't say it but GNU Terry Pratchett anyway.
@westerling indeed.
Torlais Neoini
Keith D Johnson