Irony and Outrage : The Polarized Landscape of Rage, Fear, and Laughter in the United States

For almost a decade, journalists and pundits have been asking why we don't see successful examples of political satire from conservatives or of opinion talk radio from liberals. This book turns that question on its head to argue that opinion talk is the political satire of the right and political satire is the opinion programming of the left. They look and feel like two different animals because their audiences are literally, two different animals. In Irony and Outrage , political and media psychologist Dannagal Goldthwaite Young explores the aesthetics, underlying logics, and histories of these two seemingly distinct genres, making the case that they should be thought of as the logical extensions of the psychology of the left and right, respectively. One genre is guided by ambiguity, play, deliberation, and openness, while the other is guided by certainty, vigilance, instinct, and boundaries. While the audiences for Sean Hannity and John Oliver come from opposing political ideologies, both are high in political interest, knowledge, and engagement, and both lack faith in many of our core democratic institutions. Young argues that the roles that these two genres play for their viewers are strikingly similar: galvanizing the opinion of the left or the right, mobilizing citizens around certain causes, and expressing a frustration with traditional news coverage while offering alternative sources of information and meaning. One key way in which they differ, however, concludes Young, is in their capacity to be exploited by special interests and political elites. Drawing on decades of research on political and media psychology and media effects, as well as historical accounts and interviews with comedians and comedy writers, Young unpacks satire's liberal "bias" and juxtaposes it with that of outrage's conservative "bias." She details how traits like tolerance for ambiguity and the motivation to engage with complex ideas shape our preferences for art, music, and literature; and how those same traits correlate with political ideology. In turn, she illustrates how these traits help explain why liberals and conservatives vary in the genres of political information they prefer to create and consume. Cover Irony and Outrage: The Polarized Landscape of Rage, Fear, and Laughter in the United States Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Prologue Chapter 1: The Counterculture Comics versus the Hate Clubs of the Air Hate Clubs of the Air The History of American Political Satire: These Blobs Aren’t Going to Go in a Straight Line The Comedy of the Counterculture Chapter 2: Political and Technological Changes That Created Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly The Reagan Era’s Deregulation of Media Profit-Oriented “Journalism” and Erosion of Trust in News Why Political Polarization? (And No, It’s Not All the Media’s Fault) Cable and Digital Technologies Create New Programming Opportunities “Breaking Up America” Chapter 3: Outrage and Satire as Responses and Antidotes Response Option A: Outrage Response Option B: Satire Chapter 4: The Psychology of Satire A Note on Improvisation and Humor Irony: A Contrast Between “What Is and What Ought to Be” Irony Factors Can We Laugh and Be Angry at a Joke at the Same Time? Chapter 5: Who Gets the Joke? Attardo’s Criteria for Humor Appreciation (“Funny Factors”) Not Too Complex or Too Simple Nonthreatening and Operating in a Playful Mode Based on Available Scripts/Knowledge Can You Ever Appreciate a Joke without Comprehending It? The Strange Case of Irony Chapter 6; The Psychology of the Left and the Right The Psychology of Aesthetic Preferences For Some People, an Ellipsis Is Not OK The Psychology of Political Ideology Genes: The Big Elephant (or Donkey) in the Room A Note from Dear Ol’ Dad Chapter 7: The Psychological Roots of Humor’s Liberal Bias Aesthetic Preferences of the Left and Right Boundaries in Conservatives’ Minds (and on Their Borders) Irony Is Extremely Ambiguous Could Humor Production Be Political Even If the Joke Is Not? Trump: A Case Study in the Noncomic Ideology as an Aesthetic Chapter 8: The Aesthetics of Outrage Irony and Outrage: Left and Right But Isn’t Satire “Outrageous-ish?” Moral “Un-certainty” and Genre Hybridity Two Aesthetics Collide: The Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium Conservatives’ Trouble with Hybridity The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear: A Study in Hybridity Humor: Ambiguous and Inefficient Chapter 9: Satire and Outrage: Parallel functions and impact Functions: Who Watches and Why? Satire, Outrage, and Political Knowledge How Satire and Outrage Programming Both Shape Public Opinion Political Participation and Interest Satire, Outrage, Political Efficacy, and Trust Different Look, Same Great Taste Chapter 10: Playing against Type: Liberal “outrage” and conservative “satire” Air America: Liberal Outrage Can’t Escape the Comedy The 1⁄2 Hour News Hour : Conservative Comedy Can’t Escape the Outrage Life under Trump: Is Comedy Getting Outrageous? Comics Try to Strike a Balance Chapter 11: Irony and Outrage: A wild raccoon versus a well-trained attack dog To Hell with the Other Side? Not So Fast. The Limits of Satire and the Dangers of Outrage In Sum: A Wild Raccoon versus a Well-Trained Attack Dog Notes Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Index For almost a decade, journalists and pundits have been asking why we don't see successful examples of political satire from conservatives or of opinion talk radio from liberals. This book turns that question on its head to argue that opinion talk is the political satire of the right and political satire is the opinion programming of the left. They look and feel like two different animals because their audiences are literally, two different animals.In Irony and Outrage, political and media psychologist Dannagal Goldthwaite Young explores the aesthetics, underlying logics, and histories of these two seemingly distinct genres, making the case that they should be thought of as the logical extensions of the psychology of the left and right, respectively. One genre is guided by ambiguity, play, deliberation, and openness, while the other is guided by certainty, vigilance, instinct, and boundaries. While the audiences for Sean Hannity and John Oliver come from opposing political ideologies, both are high in political interest, knowledge, and engagement, and both lack faith in many of our core democratic institutions. Young argues that the roles that these two genres play for their viewers are strikingly similar: galvanizing the opinion of the left or the right, mobilizing citizens around certain causes, and expressing a frustration with traditional news coverage while offering alternative sources of information and meaning. One key way in which they differ, however, concludes Young, is in their capacity to be exploited by special interests and political elites.Drawing on decades of research on political and media psychology and media effects, as well as historical accounts and interviews with comedians and comedy writers, Young unpacks satire's liberal "bias" and juxtaposes it with that of outrage's conservative "bias." She details how traits like tolerance for ambiguity and the motivation to engage with complex ideas shape our preferences for art, music, and literature; and how those same traits correlate with political ideology. In turn, she illustrates how these traits help explain why liberals and conservatives vary in the genres of political information they prefer to create and consume. This book explores the aesthetics, underlying logics, and histories of two seemingly distinct genres-liberal political satire and conservative opinion talk-making the case that they should be thought of as the logical extensions of the psychology of the left and right, respectively. One genre is guided by ambiguity, play, deliberation, and openness, while the other is guided by certainty, vigilance, instinct, and boundaries. While the audiences for Sean Hannity and John Oliver come from opposing political ideologies, both are high in political interest, knowledge, and engagement, and both lack faith in some of the United States' core democratic institutions. This book illustrates how the roles these two genres play for their viewers are strikingly similar: galvanizing the opinion of the left or the right, mobilizing citizens around certain causes, and expressing a frustration with traditional news coverage while offering alternative sources of information and meaning. However, the book proposes that these genres differ in a crucial way: in their capacity to be exploited by special interests and political elites. The book concludes that due to the symbiotic relationship between conservative outrage and the psychological and physiological characteristics of the right, conservative outrage is uniquely positioned as a mechanism for successful elite propaganda and mobilization-in a way that liberal satire is not The Counterculture Versus The Hate Clubs Of The Air -- Political And Technological Changes That Created Jon Stewart And Bill O'reilly -- Outrage And Satire As Responses And Antidotes -- The Psychology Of Satire -- Who Gets The Joke? -- The Psychology Of The Left And The Right -- The Psychological Roots Of Humor's Liberal Bias -- The Aesthetics Of Outrage -- Satire And Outrage : Parallel Functions And Impact -- Air America : Liberal Outrage Can't Escape The Comedy -- Irony And Outrage : Wild Raccoon Versus A Well-trained Attack Dog. Dannagal Goldthwaite Young. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.