Remember satire? Howzbout spoofs 'n just plain ol' funny stuff starin' ya right inna face? Things like a whole lotta people usedta get 40/50 years back whether they wanted to get it or not. Back then ya just couldn't escape cutting and brutal humor that made ya wanna laff yer breakfast out your butt no matter how hard you tried not to!
Whatever it was, for quite awhile it was big patooties what with its birth in fifties MAD magazine and Ernie Kovacs skits rollin' into the seventies of MONTY PYTHON and its various offspring such as RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION and that Dr. Fegg thing not to mention the original SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE before that show's hippie instincts got the best of them. 'n of course the whole megalopolian enterprise that show sprang outta, mainly the long and fermented NATIONAL LAMPOON.
Their fine blend of satire, social criticism 'n just plain ol' bad taste was pretty snat stuff an' much of the time it was downright offensive what with the jokesters at hand pickin' on alla those things that were off limits as far as yuk yuks went. We weren't supposed to laugh given our higher status 'n our parents' generation sense o' morality 'n all that, but laughed away we did even if for the most part WE WERE LAUGHING AT OUR OWN GENERATION'S SENSE OF SELF-INDULGENT GLORY AND MORAL SUPERIORITY AND HOW MUCH BETTER WE WERE THAN THE PAST FEW THOUSAND YEARS OF CIVILIZATION BECAUSE WELL...WE DID HAVE NEATER HAIR.
It's not so surprising that the breed of humor that was busting out throughout the seventies directly led to the dearth of fun-funs that have permeated our planet. The targets of the past are now strictly verboten...sheesh, you can't even laugh at homos on the streets anymore...and all of that snotty and indignant satire that used to have dorks like me talkin' to others of equally dorky demeanor Monday AM's all but gone. The only thing one can snobbishly ridicule (while tossing in some shard or fragments of amusing ha ha's) is the everyday sorta jamoke who is frowned upon by superior forms of life---y'know, people like yourself. The same people that armchair millionaire liberals used to praise to the rafters for being so hard working and gosh darn down home until that became too boring and the same uplifters who once condescended to them went looking for other groups to coddle because hey, they really didn't like lower class suburbia that much an' needed to assuage their guilt feelings elsewhere.
Well, these people seemed to be in for the struggle along with those hayseeds and hicks they otherwise would have spurned with a vengeance, at least until Joe Biden started putting those how much he's down for the struggle with the workers of this nation ads on tee-vee even if for the most part he couldn't operate a forklift if his life depended on it.
But I do digress, and I really gotta say that his NATIONAL LAMPOON SUNDAY NEWSPAPER PARODY sure brings back them fond memories of bad taste seventies bellyshakes that pretty much defined that era. Yes, the same breed of tasteless, offensive 'n pure vile humor that usually gets a good portion of this readership all in a tither (y'know, the same people who used to crybaby over protests at abortion clinics yet see nothing wrong with burning down precinct stations) can be found, and in plentiful supply too which is one reason why humor like this is all the more needed if only to offend these uppity nosed snoots outta existence for once and all!
Loads of gaggin' goodies in this DACRON REPUBLICAN-DEMOCRAT Sunday paper from February 12, 1978 (not exactly that fun of a time in my lifespan tho items like this did perk things up quite a bit) which not only pokes about at just about everything that was goin' on in that Great Plastic Honko Kultur at the time but (believe it or leave it!) brings out its finer, more admirable traits. Really! The Ameriga of shopping plazas and tee-vee and general fun and jamz that has turned sour sometime when I wasn't looking is in for a good ribbing, and even you too will chortle when your own sacred moo comes in for that well-needed grind up.
This paper (shrunk down to the size of most current day papers---talk about futuristic!) almost serves as much as a reminder of the better things that were osmosing in mid-Ameriga as well as the saggier aspects. From the front page stories to the editorials and the various sections and enclosures, a much-needed twist on reality and making one laugh at our comparatively innocent past is truly in store. And best about it, unlike a contemporary burlesque from any other humor mag (talkin' those that were riffin' on MAD's fame to varying degrees of ineptitude) this looks authentically real enough that I'll bet it woulda fooled some brain addled relative at least until they saw something fishy with the porno movie ads.
Everything here is a hoot, from the ad inserts which remind me of late-fifties MAD's keen copycatting taken to its logical conclusion to the magazines and various special features that'll have you doin' a few head turns, especially if you are one of those who pride yourself on being more pious than others and can't believe that Negroes are in for spoofing as well as everyday whites. Really, if you are a part of the current protest kiddies class you might even die reading some of the outright "racist" and whatever flavor of the second cause offenses that are popping about all over this effort! And a good thing too, because the way I look at it if you cant laugh at amputees or fentanyl-laden criminals who get offed who can you laugh at?
Really there's too much here to discuss without me goin' on a giganto floor roll of total abandon. I did find a
site where the better portions of the paper have been reproduced (including the entire comics section, perhaps the best thing about this) which should give you a nice gist of the nastiness that appears here. There were plenty other goodies to be found worthy of reprinting, tho for the sake of time 'n space I decided to present the following piece on my sainted blog. for obvious reasons as you can see. Live it up, kid!
I have to dig this out of storage and read it again. But as I remember the High School Yearbook parody was even better.
ReplyDelete(((Satire)))
ReplyDeleteDinesh D'Souza is the real chicken vindaloo.
ReplyDeleteThat's better.
ReplyDeleteHah! Lampoon was the stuff, Chris! I still have my copy of this issue, and many more dating back to the second ish.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
The Driveways seem like a band Chris would like. Losers.
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