Why the British Are Better at Satire • Hacker News Board

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#61

Post by lelandbatey » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 9:31 AM UTC

SeanDav wrote: post #59

At times my work has brought me into contact with Americans and in general they just do not get sarcasm and satire. Obviously not true of everyone but in general in my experience, Americans (not sure about Canadians) take things that you say very literally. Take my advice, when dealing with people from the USA, as a default, avoid irony/sarcasm/satire and even humour until or unless you know they will appreciate it.…

I'd say to avoid complex signalling in all early communication with people. Until the other party is understood,it seems logical to stick to as clear of communication as possible.

I think this is done because American culture can be a very diverse thing. In an effort to be universally understood, we stick to more straightforward communication.

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#62

Post by m-i-l » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 9:34 AM UTC

code_duck wrote: post #45

femto wrote: post #37

Maybe it's driven by the UK's libel laws, and lack of a First Amendment? In the US, the media can report on powerful people, then claim protection from the US constitution. In the UK, there is no such protection, so reporting facts about powerful people is a dangerous business. Instead, the strategy is to turn the events into a satire. One has to walk a fine line with the satire. It has to be realistic enough that th…

Interesting that the British have basically been doing this for hundreds of years. In medieval times, the court jester could speak freely and criticize the king in a way no others were allowed to. http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~ckank/FultonsLair/013/nock/jeste...

And more than 150 years of Punch magazine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_(magazine)

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#63

Post by conradfr » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 9:38 AM UTC

SeanDav wrote: post #59

At times my work has brought me into contact with Americans and in general they just do not get sarcasm and satire. Obviously not true of everyone but in general in my experience, Americans (not sure about Canadians) take things that you say very literally. Take my advice, when dealing with people from the USA, as a default, avoid irony/sarcasm/satire and even humour until or unless you know they will appreciate it.…

You can see that if you look at U.S adaptation of Britain or French series or movies, they often lose the tongue-in-cheek humor (if that term makes sense) in the process.

The Office U.S became great when they stopped copying the U.K version and I don't think it's just a difference of bleakness as the article states.

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#64

Post by lucozade » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 9:41 AM UTC

I think our friends across the pond are doing themselves a disservice. We need satirical TV because our politics is largely inanity e.g. Question Time or slapstick e.g. PMQs.

The US has a system that allows them to have Sarah Palin run for VP. You can't write that stuff, it's comedy gold.

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#65

Post by estefan » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 9:42 AM UTC

It's not just satire: Irony, sarcasm, comedy above the level of a 5 year old (i.e. where there's more than just a setup immediately followed by a predictable punchline: "Don't open the box Tommy!" Tommy opens the box, etc.).

Classic quote: Speaking to an American about not having ridden a motorbike in years, my brother said "I'm sure it'll come back to me - it'll just be like riding a bike". The girl replied in all seriousness "Well, it IS riding a bike."

Our appreciation of comedy must be different (or there's NIH syndrome), or Americans wouldn't keep remaking British comedies.

We aren't as good at being loud though, so we don't have it all...

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#66

Post by cmdkeen » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 9:44 AM UTC

lucozade wrote: post #64

I think our friends across the pond are doing themselves a disservice. We need satirical TV because our politics is largely inanity e.g. Question Time or slapstick e.g. PMQs. The US has a system that allows them to have Sarah Palin run for VP. You can't write that stuff, it's comedy gold.

Armando Iannucci said he stopped writing The Thick Of It because too many of his mad plot lines were coming true and he was afraid to predict even madder things.

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#67

Post by dagw » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 9:44 AM UTC

TylerE wrote: post #46

jonnathanson wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"But I think in the end, American audiences want to see the good in people, especially the main characters." I used to work in TV series development. One of the ongoing legends in the TV development business is how every American TV exec loves Fawlty Towers , and even though everyone's tried to adapt it for American TV, none of their attempts has been successful. The reason being that American audiences need the prot…

Is that really true? See, for instance, House: MD.

House is smart, confident, funny, always right and always wins in the end (well almost) against the 'idiots' that surround him. Even when he seems to suffer setbacks they are always minor and he always twists the world to his will to get out of them. The destruction and pain he inflicts on the world never touch him.

I think a lot of people like House, not necessarily as someone they'd want to work with, but as someone they'd want to be like.

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#68

Post by aptwebapps » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 10:05 AM UTC

SeanDav wrote: post #59

At times my work has brought me into contact with Americans and in general they just do not get sarcasm and satire. Obviously not true of everyone but in general in my experience, Americans (not sure about Canadians) take things that you say very literally. Take my advice, when dealing with people from the USA, as a default, avoid irony/sarcasm/satire and even humour until or unless you know they will appreciate it.…

In America sarcasm in speech is usually heavily signaled via the tone of voice. You don't usually just drop it in deadpan. So it's not so much that we don't get sarcasm or satire but we're used to having it more clearly demarcated. At least in speech - satire is quite popular and common in print.

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#69

Post by kokey » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 10:08 AM UTC

I found political satire to be a very good way to learn about British politics and a bit of culture before, during and after I lived in the UK. I have looked for something similar in Ireland, and even with a country that has some shared history and a lot of exposure to British culture, it doesn't seem to be able to replicate it.

Re: Why the British Are Better at Satire

#70

Post by pluma » Wed, Feb 18, 2015, 10:08 AM UTC

bad_user wrote: post #60

SeanDav wrote: post #59

At times my work has brought me into contact with Americans and in general they just do not get sarcasm and satire. Obviously not true of everyone but in general in my experience, Americans (not sure about Canadians) take things that you say very literally. Take my advice, when dealing with people from the USA, as a default, avoid irony/sarcasm/satire and even humour until or unless you know they will appreciate it.…

Well, for what is worth, many Europeans, like the Germans, are even worse at satire and humor than Americans are.

As a German, I have to agree. My favourite comedians are British, Irish or Australian, not one of them is German. I find most German comedy unwatchable at worst or unfunny at best.