Week 6 – Gray, Jonathan, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson. “The State of Satire, the Satire of the State” in Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era. Edited by Gray, Jones and Thompson. NYU Press, 2009, pp. 3-36. 

Satire is an important element of western popular culture. This week’s reading analyses the relationship between ‘parody’ and ‘satire’, and also introduces the development history of satire Tv programs in America. As an international student, studying comedy news is also a way to know more about western culture. Under the influences of this popular media genre, some Asian countries start to produce similar ‘satire’ projects. I will discuss the obstacles Chinese satire shows encounter, and compare with cases of American comedy news mentioned in the reading. 

The article argues that “television networks is unwilling to promote satire because it may offend audiences”. I very much agree with it that satire programs are choosing their audiences, and it is also the reason cable television and online media can flourish this culture. ‘Parody’ generally refers to an action that copies someone or something in an amusing way. This media form requires more rational audiences who can accept attacks and critiques, and are willing to make fun of their own. In 2017, a Chinese comedy show named Roast released on an online video platform (Tencent Video) and the first episode had been played 250 million times. The produce team has already created a late night talk show before Roast that attracted numbers of young audiences. Similarly, educated young people who know about western talk shows and satire culture become the main audiences of this show. A newspaper commented that “Chinese entertainment industry always bet against satire talk show because of the different audiences and environments from western countries. However, the fast-developing online media changes the situation and attracts great attention”. As the reading states, web show is a good way to target more precisely on its potential audiences — elite young people because of their online viewing habits, and to have a relatively free creation environment. 

Unfortunately, China still doesn’t have a real satire show that analyses or criticises social issues due to its political structure. Recently, a writer posted a satire comedy phrase about the biggest search engine Baidu on Weibo (social media platform). First, this post was banned on Weibo after three days, then he was sued by the company and asked for compensation of 5 million yuan. From this example, Chinese society is not ready and not willing to accept satire culture, that most people still consider it as an offence, let alone in political aspect. In my opinion, the political participation is totally different between western and eastern countries. From the reading, I understand that political humour is very significant now in America, and using it properly can enhance one’s public affection. However, Chinese government currently doesn’t have this thought. Educated young people keep criticise and satire the monopoly enterprise and sometimes government, which proves the importance of this culture. Good satire writers need the free environment to create, and the society needs rational discussions to maintain order.