Humour is a weapon of mass distraction. As South Africans it is - and always has been - part of our culture to laugh at ourselves. We don’t shy away from racially charged topics knowing full well that laughter is the best antidote to fear.
Yes. South Africa is known for its strong sense of satire.
The beauty of satire is that it gives you the benefit of hindsight - but in the present - existing in a mock-reality that's frequently strangely closer to the truth than the truth itself.
Satirical news source Haiybo.com is just that. As its punch line - "Breaking news. Into lots of little pieces" - suggests, it features articles reporting on national events, providing a biting social commentary on modern South Africa. A recent poll held on the website is a good indicator of its particular brand of humour. On it readers were asked to select a fitting punishment for Julius Malema’s latest outburst with the suggestion he take Helen Zille on a date (breakfast and taxi money optional) winning the vote so far.
Laugh it Off - a "loudly South African" satirical magazine - also promises to provide fun in lousy times, "while laughing stocks last". Aside from producing cutting edge journalism the Laugh it Off team made a name for themselves as “shirt stirrers” creating controversial T-shirts spoofing South African individuals and companies, most notably the one released ahead of last year’s elections. On it the word Zuma is printed above the silhouette of a nude woman, a parody of the Puma logo. Another contentious design was their take on the Black Label slogan, changing it to "Black Labour. White Guilt".
Africartoonist Zapiro continues this theme. Famous for his books: The ANC went In 4x4 (2001), Da Zuma Code (2006), and Don’t Mess With the President’s Head (2008) he also holds the dubious distinction of the cartoonist sued for the highest amount ever. He now focuses on ZA News, an online puppet show satire based on his political caricatures, now in its second season.
ZA News stars a slit-eyed Zuma sporting that iconic shower headpiece, Malema as a bumbling tot sucking on a candy stick, Zille as an opportunistic backbencher (with a loaded make-up bag) and Mandela and Tutu in front of an old television set reminiscing about the past.
In its pilot episode the puppet incarnation of journalist Tim Modise interviews Malema. In the clip Malema insists that the internet doesn’t exist because he can't find that word in his Pedi dictionary. It's this kind of sharp wit that attracted more than 700 000 viewers over the course of its first season last year, shattering previous records to establish it as SA’s favorite online video content.
Yes. Zapiro slices through the fickle heart of public life with no apparent conscience, pointing out hypocrisy wherever he sees it. But, as he says, “offensiveness is in the eye of the beholder”.
Veteran cross-dressing satirist, Pieter Dirk Uys - better known as tannie Evita Bezuidenhout - a plain-talking Afrikaner housewife turned politician, shares this sentiment. “It’s my job to offend,” says the man who made his name lampooning the apartheid government with his impersonations.
The 2009 stage production - written before Thabo Mbeki was ousted as president the previous year - is a Shakespearian-cum-ANC inspired story of a power struggle between "Macbeki" and "MacZum". Here his cast takes a swipe at everyone in South Africa's political establishment down to journalists portrayed as the three witches. Another play of his, Dekaffirnated, underlines how hopes for the new world of the Rainbow Nation have in many cases been cruelly dashed. Pointing out that the South African flag was inspired by the yield sign “If you yield to the right, nothing is left; and if you yield to the left nothing is right” and that “We're quite a successful democracy, because we're all equally pissed off”.
Uys and others like him deftly intermingle light and shade finding humour in subjects where by rights there should be none, knowing full well that that's the only way to survive what's happening. "Apartheid was not funny,” says Uys, “Aids is not funny, but hypocrisy and denial and pompousness and arrogance can be made funny. Not because it's a ha-ha joke but because you see the obscene and the absurd aspect. And then hopefully you don’t take it so seriously.”
Yes. South Africa is known for its strong sense of satire.
The beauty of satire is that it gives you the benefit of hindsight - but in the present - existing in a mock-reality that's frequently strangely closer to the truth than the truth itself.
Satirical news source Haiybo.com is just that. As its punch line - "Breaking news. Into lots of little pieces" - suggests, it features articles reporting on national events, providing a biting social commentary on modern South Africa. A recent poll held on the website is a good indicator of its particular brand of humour. On it readers were asked to select a fitting punishment for Julius Malema’s latest outburst with the suggestion he take Helen Zille on a date (breakfast and taxi money optional) winning the vote so far.
Laugh it Off - a "loudly South African" satirical magazine - also promises to provide fun in lousy times, "while laughing stocks last". Aside from producing cutting edge journalism the Laugh it Off team made a name for themselves as “shirt stirrers” creating controversial T-shirts spoofing South African individuals and companies, most notably the one released ahead of last year’s elections. On it the word Zuma is printed above the silhouette of a nude woman, a parody of the Puma logo. Another contentious design was their take on the Black Label slogan, changing it to "Black Labour. White Guilt".
Africartoonist Zapiro continues this theme. Famous for his books: The ANC went In 4x4 (2001), Da Zuma Code (2006), and Don’t Mess With the President’s Head (2008) he also holds the dubious distinction of the cartoonist sued for the highest amount ever. He now focuses on ZA News, an online puppet show satire based on his political caricatures, now in its second season.
ZA News stars a slit-eyed Zuma sporting that iconic shower headpiece, Malema as a bumbling tot sucking on a candy stick, Zille as an opportunistic backbencher (with a loaded make-up bag) and Mandela and Tutu in front of an old television set reminiscing about the past.
 |
| Me hanging with two of the ZA News Crew |
In its pilot episode the puppet incarnation of journalist Tim Modise interviews Malema. In the clip Malema insists that the internet doesn’t exist because he can't find that word in his Pedi dictionary. It's this kind of sharp wit that attracted more than 700 000 viewers over the course of its first season last year, shattering previous records to establish it as SA’s favorite online video content.
Yes. Zapiro slices through the fickle heart of public life with no apparent conscience, pointing out hypocrisy wherever he sees it. But, as he says, “offensiveness is in the eye of the beholder”.
Veteran cross-dressing satirist, Pieter Dirk Uys - better known as tannie Evita Bezuidenhout - a plain-talking Afrikaner housewife turned politician, shares this sentiment. “It’s my job to offend,” says the man who made his name lampooning the apartheid government with his impersonations.
The 2009 stage production - written before Thabo Mbeki was ousted as president the previous year - is a Shakespearian-cum-ANC inspired story of a power struggle between "Macbeki" and "MacZum". Here his cast takes a swipe at everyone in South Africa's political establishment down to journalists portrayed as the three witches. Another play of his, Dekaffirnated, underlines how hopes for the new world of the Rainbow Nation have in many cases been cruelly dashed. Pointing out that the South African flag was inspired by the yield sign “If you yield to the right, nothing is left; and if you yield to the left nothing is right” and that “We're quite a successful democracy, because we're all equally pissed off”.
Uys and others like him deftly intermingle light and shade finding humour in subjects where by rights there should be none, knowing full well that that's the only way to survive what's happening. "Apartheid was not funny,” says Uys, “Aids is not funny, but hypocrisy and denial and pompousness and arrogance can be made funny. Not because it's a ha-ha joke but because you see the obscene and the absurd aspect. And then hopefully you don’t take it so seriously.”
Comments
Post a Comment