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My doctoral dissertation is on satire; specifically, race, gender, & generational trends in satire in theatre. So allow me to give you some ammunition for the people who are attempting to shut down your irritation w this by claiming "T H I S I S S A T I R E!!!! IT IS A JOKE!!!" https://twitter.com/CBSSunday/status/1335600402033762305
Satire is successful almost exclusively as a tool for the marginalized. This is what we call humor that "punches up." Satire that punches up has historically been used as a tool of resistance, dissent, & political activism.
Privileged satirists are usually making fun of their own privileged class. Sedaris here is engaged in a kind of satire that's based on a kind of humor we call "punching down." This means someone w privilege mocking someone w/o privilege. This has several historical uses.
Punching down has been successful when used by governments looking to shift public opinion to meet their ends. Classic example you may have seen in school are Nazis mocking Jews, white America cartoons in the 19th c featuring caricatures of Black ppl & abolitionists, and
19th c white American cartoons mocking Native ppl & their supporters. Another version of punching down is regular ppl who have an interest in exercising their cultural privilege by demeaning others w/o that privilege-- sexist humor, racist humor, ableist humor, fat jokes, etc.
This is why it's silly to use "it's just a joke! Lighten up!" when ppl are defending some random comic's racist or sexist jokes. Humor is a powerful-- maybe THE MOST powerful-- political tool. Look at Trump's reaction to #DiaperDon as opposed to, say, a statement from Biden.
Trump has threatened to *defund the military* if Congress refuses to attach a rider removing liability protections for tech cos, tweeting that Twitter's "trending" was a danger to national security at the exact moment #DiaperDon was trending.
1000s of sober, well reasoned political statements against him from high profile ppl went unremarked that day, but that small piece of satire made him so angry he is still threatening to defund the military over it, still wanting an unrelated rider abt tech co liability attached.
So let's agree that humor is extremely powerful. Back to punching DOWN.
Humor that punches down is ALWAYS used by ppl w power to hurt, minimize, & otherwise keep in line ppl w/o power. Ther's no question that Sedaris, a wealthy, famous white man, has more power than any clerk.
Humor that punches down is ALWAYS used by ppl w power to hurt, minimize, & otherwise keep in line ppl w/o power. Ther's no question that Sedaris, a wealthy, famous white man, has more power than any clerk.
Sedaris has more power than any store clerk, any cashier, any waitstaff. These are service positions that also have more women & BIPOC than are in the general population. It's important that the two ppl he fantastizes abt firing are women.
He has several different types of privilege those two women lack. And, as many have pointed out, the woman w/o materials to wrap up those "expensive cups and saucers" doesn't supply those materials, & suggesting-- YES I KNOW IN JEST-- that she use her bra & underwear is also imp.
Not her sweater. Not the plastic bag her food court takeout came in. Not napkins from the takeout next door. Her underwear. That's the kind of detail that elevates satire, one we use ALL the time-- a moment of personal humiliation.
Underwear or nudity is actually a SUPER common element in satire. Think of all the many many times you've seen cartoons of famous powerful men in their underwear or nude. That intimacy made public strips them of their power. It's a common tool of satirists.
However, when used to punch down, it rubs the power of the satirist in the faces of the category he's further marginalizing, the group the satirist is asserting dominance over. That, too, is a very common tool in the history of satire.
I was actually going to give some examples here but they're too gross. I don't want to give them any further reach. But you can imagine.
The problem here is that Sedaris, who has become wealthy, famous, and powerful, used his enormous gifts in satire to PUNCH DOWN. During a pandemic when service personnel are faced w layoffs &/or risking their lives to ring up your "cups & saucers," the cruelty is stunning.
No, I don't imagine firing service personnel, & I can guarantee Sedaris that I have had worse customer service than he has if his hot take examples are a pool closing early & a shop w no bags. Let's talk prescriptions & pharmacies for one.
I think the privileged, pampered detail of "expensive cups & saucers" & the fact that Sedaris would never, ever, ever allow a working class stranger to do her laundry in his hosue really drives home the reasons ppl were repelled by this.
Side note-- laundry has nearly the same impact as underwear in satire-- a personal detail. Also going to the bathroom, personal grooming habits, having sex, even eating. Body stuff. Anyway, back to my point.
Sedaris is a gifted satirist, so I'm astonished that he didn't stop to think if punching down to attack (YES, THROUGH HUMOR IT'S A JOKE) a less privileged economic class & gender would land. It seems SO OBVIOUS to me that it would not. But I'm not a wealthy man.
So there you go. Satire is powerful. Punching down is a tool of the privileged to keep the less privileged in their place, often (but not always) inservice to some political or cultural end. Punching up is the best kind of satire-- and the kind that made Sedaris famous.
I hope this helped.
