The use of Political Correctness to Achieve Communication Goals
Has the use of political correctness overpassed its mandate in allowing people to freely practice their right to expression? Very often, political correctness which can be described as the use of any language that simply tends to avoid insults arising from the use of the accepted language (Morris, 2001). Political correctness incorporates the use of the so not official language in order to convey its message. The use of the vice has often found its roots in various events and acts such as swearing, instances of Homophobia, Racism, Misogyny, satire and any other form of language manipulation method. In this essay, the element of satire will be keenly looked into in regards to how it is used to manipulate the kind of message that is passed to people in regards to the actions of politicians. The paper will look at the various examples of scholarly texts and evaluate them based on how satire has been used in them to manipulate the information passed by people.
The Australian media industry has often highlighted political events in a satirical manner. Major contributors to acts of political parody are people commanding remarkable following in the Media such as Fm radio and TV. One such example is John Clarke, who was known for use of caricature to mimic the actions of politicians through his program, Frontline (Hogarth, 2007). Most citizens regarded politicians as people with higher social status and who were above the recommended ethical and principles of the society. The programs normally ridiculed politicians, tainting them in a bad image. He was, therefore, able to label politicians any names which are considered unaccepted by the society. The comic actions that he elicited through such programs, therefore, elicited some elements of satire in people who often considered his actions funny rather than looking at how he negatively portrayed politicians. Eventually, he was able to inform the citizens that politicians are just normal people who are not above the ethical and principle standards of the society.
The standup comedy entertainment industry is another area where satire has been used to manipulate information passed to the audience. In a normal free world, a person’s speech can be considered as having contravened the laws barring people from speaking ill against certain groups. The issue of racism has become quite a debacle that people are often encouraged to be cautious when freely talking about other races, especially the minority groups. The practice, however, seems to be embraced in the standup comedy groups as comedians can easily poke in some utterances which to the general public may seem offensive but instead, the audience may fall in love with the lines without even considering the implications of the statement. An example is the opening remarks that were made by U.S comedian Tom Segura saying that he liked Melbourne because of it hard many white people. He received much applause from the audience who were thrilled by his joke. The satirical element of the joke, however, stems from the fact that Segura uses irony to entertain the audience in a language that is not accepted by many people. To the comedian, he has attained his objective of entertaining the audience through the manipulation of language that might seem offensive by making people laugh.
The use of satire can also be traced to the recent mural painting by Mindaugas Bonanu. In the painting, two presidents, Trump and Putin are seen kissing each other (Rowley, 2017). The painting may have been encouraged by the kind of communicational ties between the two leaders which indicated that they were on good terms. The two presidents are however loved and loathed in equal measures by people who strongly criticize their leaders. The drawing, therefore, creates the impression of two weak leaders who are engaging in acts of homosexuality. The painting illustrates elements of satire through the fun and ridicule it depicts of the two leaders. The audience, however, does not look into why the artist could be capable of tainting somebody as a gay, an issue that is still contentious and probably not allowed in many countries. The artist, therefore, escapes the guilt of branding a person as a gay through the use of fun which is elicited by the image.
Most people have often found themselves in trouble by having to explain what they actually meant when they used certain vocabularies in their communication. A majority of these people, especially those that are held in high regards due to their social status often have to provide alternative answers as to what they actually meant when they used such words which are not very formal. An example is when John Kerry who in 2003 as a senator told Rolling Stone Magazine that he had voted for the Iraq invasion simply because he did not know that President Bush would ‘‘fuck up’’ the entire operation (Wenner, 2004). Such words are considered abrasive especially coming out from a respected individual. Most people, therefore, find the utterances of the leader at that time to contain some satire due to the ironical nature for such a highly figured person to use words that are considered unacceptable to the public. Regardless of having made such utterances, the communication was taken lightly by most people as John Kerry made his point that he was not to blame simply because he voted for the invasion.
In conclusion, the paper has highlighted how various people indulge in the practice of manipulating language through the use of information riddled with satire when communicating with the general public. All in all, the major objective of such people is to pass information to the audience in the form which they consider most convenient. Such practices have been highlighted above in the form of political bashing by various commentators, use of harsh statements in standup comedy and swearing by leaders and eventually the branding of other people as homophobic. In all these illustrations, the use of satire is quite significant as it provides an avenue for the culprits to provide another argument that is acceptable to the society.
References
Hogarth, M. (2007). The 3rd Degree: Frontline in Australia's Climate War (Vol. 3). Pluto Press (UK).
Morris, S. (2001). Political correctness. Journal of political Economy, 109(2), 231-265.
Rowley, A. (2017). ‘Trump and Putin sittin’in a tree’: material culture, slash and the pornographication of the 2016 US presidential election. Porn Studies, 4(4), 381-405.
Wenner, J. (2004). John Kerry The Rolling Stone Interview Jann S. Wenner November 11, 2004. The Rolling Stone Magazine.
