20 people I admire (VIII): Zack Parsons

Who? Internet comedy writer who started out as one of the main writers at SomethingAwful, then moved into writing novels.

Why? Parsons is likely one of the least well-known people on my list. Nonetheless, a decade ago his writing opened me up to the fact that you can find a comedy angle to nearly everything there is, especially the sometimes depressing world of early-aughts Internet. Parsons came from a place of essentially understanding the tragedy of pathetic MySpace pages, low-cost pornography or the shallow universe that C-list celebrities inhabit. In addition, he’s a smart and versatile writer who has an eerie knack for adopting and then doubling down on his imitation of the minds of people he mocks.

What resonates with me? Parsons can kick down without being totally mean about it. In one joke, he can both recognize that poor American whites are victims of a perverse political lie and simultaneously eviscerate their horrible racism. It takes skill to do that. Also, Parsons remains the creator of one of my favourite lines of comedy ever written: “There are two kinds of people in this world: people who hate or fear circus clowns, and people who are circus clowns.”

Best bit? Reportedly his novel ‘Liminal States’ is pretty good and very eerie, but out of the work I know him best for, I would say his soul-crushing reviews under the label ‘Horrors of Porn’ manage to capture his spirited vein of black comedy best.

Next up: Hadley Freeman, American journalist.

Treating everyone like shit

There's this thing in comedy, especially brutal, cynical comedy, where no one is safe from harm. As I said before, everything and everyone can be the subject of a joke, satire or parody. It's also the first line of defense that people bring up against critics of South Park, Team America: World Police, the Grand Theft Auto games and similar cultural products that leave no political side, no gender and no ethnic group unmocked. The basic attitude is: nobody should be exempt from criticism and comedy.

Basically, I agree with this. It is certainly miles better than comedy that, out of ignorance or malevolence, singles out groups of people that are relatively powerless. A good and often-used example is making a joke about rape that rapists will think is funny but that degrades victims.

Some would argue that comedy that singles out white people, the rich, or heterosexuals also falls into that category. It might, depending on the circumstance, but the fact of the matter is that these groups are 'the norm' and hold a lot more sway in society than other groups. As a group, they tend to be fairly well insulated against prejudice and discrimination.

That's what makes the 'everybody is shit' comedy a little disingenious sometimes. Mocking everyone and everything is all well and good, but it doesn't level any playfield. It keeps the status quo as it is. Everyone is stereotyped, yes, but some stereotypes are more harmful than others.

'Everybody is shit' is another way of saying that the truth is somewhere in the middle, which is certainly not always true. There is no middle ground between the Ku Klux Klan and the Civil Rights Movement, for instance. There's no truth to be gleaned from taking a position in the middle between climate change deniers and environmentalists.

There was a case in France, recently, where an advertisement for students was pulled because it was 'sexist', while it clearly stereotyped everyone involved. Did censors go overboard on that one? That's a debate in itself. But it's also a fact that debasing everyone isn't going to take care of a lot of social progress. An increasing objectification of men, for example, has led to a greater number of boys developing eating disorders in the past two decades.

The above is why I maintain that social progress is not about taking away privileges from everyone that has them: it's about bestowing them on everyone, and that's not the same. So, treating everyone like shit may sound like the ultimate in democracy, but at best, it only serves the status quo, and at worst, it ends up with everyone in a worse position than before.

The problem with ironic sexism and racism

I love comedy, and not in a bland, inoffensive Ned Flanders sort of way. I admire the audacity and cleverness of the Onion's best articles, I found it hard not to laugh and squirm at the same time when watching Ricky Gervais' original 'Office' and yes, I actually believe any topic can be the subject of a joke - if it's actually funny. Good comedy is hard, and the more sensitive the subject matter, the harder it is to be funny about it.

Of course, there is also a time and place for everything. Joking about the allegedly terrible quality of the Russian car brand Lada might be deeply offensive to someone who is an engineer for that brand and has spent their life trying to design the Perfect Lada.

The issue of context brings me to the actual topic I wanted to discuss - ironic sexism and racism. Especially among twenty-something college-educated people, it's almost sort of a shibboleth that attempts to express (1) how past actual sexism and racism they are so they can joke about it and (2) they are edgy enough to say offensive shit.

Indulging this particular kind of comedy is pretty typical for people who live in a bubble where they don't have to deal with gross instances of sexism and racism, but the world beyond that as well as the hidden world within that bastion of lily-white, self-described liberalism is a scary place where racism and sexism have violent and harmful consequences.

In addition, there's this thing called Poe's Law. Who knows whether you're being ironic or not? You can't expect people to read your mind.

There's the danger that if you propagate your ironic forms of abusive comedy, it gives actual sexists and racists the idea that it's okay to think that way. Next time you post something inane like 'make me a sammich bitch' on Facebook, the people who like that post may actually be the vile sort of guys who think a woman's place is in the kitchen. That may also be a good place to ponder where you really stand on that sort of issue. It's not because you don't think of yourself as a sexist, that you don't hold any sexist notions.

But what about free speech, right? For one, not every place in the democratic world is required to humour that right. Even so, the point is not that I think it should become illegal to make (bad) jokes, but if you're hell-bent on saying something offensive, you should know that people are going to respond to it and call you out on bad taste. Covering yourself in the Free Speech Blanket will be about as effective as constructing a bunker made out of poop.

Minimal effort #1: Stop laughing

"Lighten up, it's just a joke." Criticism that is often directed at minorities and mostly at women when they are made the butt of a joke. "After all," many men seem to say, "we have no trouble being made fun of, so neither should you." Yet, there is a difference between the exchanges that go on between acquaintances and friends, or the self-deprecating comedy a lot of stand-up comedians employ, and the punchline "women, am I right, guys?". In addition, it's hard to be funny if people make fun of other groups who are a few notches below them on the power totem pole.

But, the bottom line is, some jokes are also simply not funny or stale. As a micro-effort to improve overall conditions, here's a thing you can do: stop laughing at them. You don't need to lecture or moralise, you don't need to get up and storm out of the room. Simply don't laugh. People love being found funny, so they will repeat what works well - and the reverse is true, too.