We live in a time when what’s said and done must be woke appropriate. That word is relatively new, however the underlying meaning has been around for some time. Originally it meant keeping clear of racial utterances, undertones or slurs, or political correctness by another name.
Today, the term is broader than a hippo’s beam. It covers not only the aforementioned, but also any negative or mischievous references to sexual orientation, religious persuasion, officialdom in general and indeed anyone else who bears scrutiny. Great satirists like Pieter Dirk Uys often skated politically on thin “Uys” to roars of applause.
Other greats in this field of humour are Trevor Noah, Chester Missing and Casper de Vries, among many others. Who can ignore the inspired cartoons of Zapiro and of Stephen Francis as well as Rico Schacherl of Madam and Eve? Are those “greats” inundated by hate mail and plagued by sinister stalkers out to cut their throats?
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I doubt it. My own sense is that, in the main, even those being made fun of tend to be entertained. Jewish people for example, who, despite their vilification since time immemorial, have an incredible ability to laugh at themselves.
In fact, and here I speak from experience, given my many Jewish close friends and acquaintances, is that some of the best Jewish jokes and anecdotes accompanied by the relevant accents, are told by Jewish people. A story, related many times, but worthy of repeat, is the scene where a Jewish family is gathered for the reading of a patriarch’s will. “To my brother Hymie, I bequeath $1million.
To my sister Rachel, she too will receive $1million. To my loving wife, all my property and $10million. To my brother- in-law Louis who lived with us for 30 years and never contributed a cent and who said I would never remember him in my will — hello Louis!” There is no doubt that extremes exist, but the fact of the matter is, people are remarkably good at laughing at themselves.
Black Africans, for example, are a demographic that leads the way in the ability to laugh easily at themselves, as well as others. Speak Zulu to a Zulu in your broken, totally grammarless and corrupted way, and they will laugh, not at you, but with you, as they express their joy at your “sterling” effort, however dubious. Indeed, satire exposes the absurdities that exist in society.
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