The literacy narrative I wrote in response to the comparison of the two artworks was meant to dissect the absurdity of the political cartoon while informing the reader on the importance of comedy in all aspects of life. I never found the political cartoon remotely funny, but I understood why it was created and what audience it was meant for. With this information, I wanted to explain to the reader why we cannot just banish this political cartoon before taking into consideration why it was made at all. While writing the section on the state of comedy, I immediately remembered the words of the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are both truly inspiring comedians and often incorporate political satire into their own works. Their motto that either ‘everything is funny, or nothing is,’ truly shaped my entire argument for why the cartoon was wrong, but in a strange way important.

When I say important I do not intend to praise it, rather it is important because for us to discern what is right, there must be things that exist that are wrong. The most difficult aspect of the narrative was trying to conclude my thoughts without unnecessarily incorporating my stance on viral media, which was a huge topic that kept sneaking its way into the paper. In a world where media intentionally escalates itself for shock value, it is tempting to immediately dismiss things that we disagree with. Yet I know from my experience on the debate team and all the speeches I gave, that things like this should not be let off so easily. When we discern why this is a poor comparison, we take away all its power to be upsetting, because in the end it will just be an attempt at a joke.

When I had finished the paper, I felt a sense of accomplishment in that I managed to express the importance of uncensored comedy, without making it seem as if the political cartoon was right in their comparison. I wanted to make my audience think more critically about what they read. In turn, it should open their minds to the modern issues of censorship, and why not to buy into things that try to upset them. As for myself, I learned that I have a great respect for activists from generations well before my own, and I now know better than to dismiss satire on the basis that it upsets me.

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