Regina Cannot Explain It All

jakec:

generic1:

nerdshares:

there are many things that could be (and have been) said about John Carney’s “Annual Guide to Holiday Romance [For Dudes]” but I don’t have as much time as I’d like. So, in bullet form:

• Carney’s list is heavily ironic; the “author” (or authorial voice) is clearly meant to be a DudeBro douche of the highest order.
• Some people, not always women, will not get the irony. Some DudeBro douches of the highest order will laugh at the inherent “truth” in these bon mots.
• Those DudeBro douches think John Carney is on their side.
• Even people, not always men, who get and enjoy the irony, might be laughing at the inherent “truth” in these bon mots.
• Those people are Stealth DudeBro douches.
• They also think John Carney is on their side.
• He might be.
• It is possible to understand but not appreciate the irony, or the idea that irony is free from criticism even when it (and our enjoyment of it) is problematic.
• So: rah rah to freedom of speech and all that, and to holiday lists that are essentially an excuse to flex one’s comedic muscles and exhibit biting, up-to-the-minute insight into gender politics (except it’s ironic! so it’s not really saying that any of those 54 (?) points are true, except maybe a little bit).

That’s all.

Way to confuse irony with satire. I pity the fool who doesn’t “get it”, but regardless of how genuine the list was, the fact is that it was amusing. I certainly won’t put as much stock in it as I do in Cosmo’s boyfriend quizzes (which I get Perfect scores on, FYI).

Satire is inherently ironic and I am talking specifically about claims that people didn’t get “it,” — it being the irony that is a necessary part of satire. I don’t understand how “clarifying” that it’s (ironic) satire makes any kind of material difference. You found it humorous. Great. You know what I enjoy? No, not Cosmo quizzes (nice satirical snap, tho). Dune. But! In Dune, Frank Herbert really closely associates extreme perversion and evil with homosexuality in the character of Baron Harkonnen. So that’s a little problematic. But I can still like Dune!

I can also still enjoy Judd Apatow movies, like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, wherein Kristen Bell is Evil Girlfriend Archetype and Mila Kunis is I-Exist-Only-To-Validate-Your-Man/Child-Feelings lady, and Russell Brand/Jason Segel basically have high-five smile-times over Kristen Bell being an awful bitchy whore. But? It is funny. It is entertaining. I laugh. Some of that laughter is problematic, which is understandable but doesn’t make everything a-ok.