Sara Taksler said that she loves political satire because it inspires people to take action. She said that it is the spark that ignites the viewers inner fuel to take action and change the world they are being exposed to, but how come those who watch satire are taking the least amount of action?
Political satire is a genre that grew from the Greeks. The Greeks use to put on a playwright competition where the best playwrights would write a drama, a comedy, and a satire. This competition was called the Dionysia. Dionysia was a 5 day festival where all Athenians would flock to enjoy some of the best and wittiest playwrights pieces. These pieces were praised by politicians in power and enjoyed by all. This competition died out as wars raged on, but these genres lived on through the will of the people. Now these art forms have evolved and are being practiced and preformed on platforms that have evolved with the evolution of media.
Now we have papers such as the Onion that write satires that are now available online. We now have shows like Last Week Tonight, The Late Show, The Daily Show, and so many more. These shows reach millions of viewers and have cult fan bases. The largest audience of these political satire shows are millennials. The millennials who watch these shows are associated with a more democratic or liberal mindset. According to Sara the millennials who watch these shows should be the most driven to create change, but facts from the recent election and primaries would show other wise. According to Election Project, the age group of 18-29 year olds had the lowest turnout rate by a margin of 20% during the 2016 election. This age group also declined by more than 5% from the previous election and declined almost 10% from the last controversial election of 2008. Despite the fact that more satire shows are showing up and despite what Sara said, viewers seem to be getting more complacent and are taking even less action then before. Satire might not be the spark that lights the fuel anymore, it just might be another platform of information.