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Let’s get this out of the way: Are there limits in satire? My answer to that is “No”. But we have to be careful defining satire in the first place.

Just like love or success – my two favorite examples – many people use the concept of satire to mean something entirely different. Doing so, they use “satire” without limits for purposes beyond the scope of satire.

In this post we’ll take a look at the dynamics of satire, its limits (which there shouldn’t be), and everything else you need to know so that you can offend yourself skillfully!

Defining Satire: No Limits Means Proper Delineation

As I mentioned in the very first paragraph, satire should have no limits. However, it is important to understand this does not give you the ethical right to mock anyone for any reason and in any form with impunity.

For example, making drawings of my neighbor in compromising positions, photocopying them, and then distributing them around town is not satire. It is at the very least unethical, and highly likely illegal, in certain circumstances.

And so, just as “free speech” rightly does not mean you should expect no legal repercussions if you falsely said person X did thing Y, satire has no limits only as long as it is properly delineated.

What does that mean?

Understanding Satire: Back to Aristophanes

Aristophanes was a comic playwright who lived in ancient Athens. I think it’s fair to consider him the father of satire.

Indeed, he mercilessly made fun of any kind of authority: the gods, the rulers of the city, institutions, and everything imaginableBy our modern standards – this is important – his plays are quite disturbing. Not only did they display impressive phalluses, but also casual jokes about suicide or rape. The thing is, in Aristophanes’s historical context, rape wouldn’t be considered a big deal. If the woman were married, it would be akin to damaging someone’s property, but that’s it..

The key word here is authority.

Satire, in order to have no limits in the depth of its offensiveness, must have limits in terms of scope.

If you use speech to offend, ridicule, or debase someone not in a position of power, this doesn’t count as satire in my book. We could have a different discussion – it would be a complex oneAnother important issue is that of (self-)sarcasm. To what extent can we laugh at our own absurdity of existence, if we include others in it? To make it specific with an example, can I make fun of obese people if I am obese myself? How about if I once was but no longer? – on free speech regarding general audiences, but this is not the topic of this post.

Satire Has no Limits as a Weapon Against Authority

Satire, unlike a joke (let alone mere bullying), has a specific purpose. The purpose of satire is to divulge, comment on, and ultimately criticize authority – be it religious, state, or institutional authority.

For Aristophanes, his comedies were not plays with a lot of phalluses and suicide jokes. Rather, they were a way for him to express concern at the state of Athens and the way it was ruled at that given point in time.

How to Be Offended Skillfully

Being offended has two aspects: One is to be offended because of something mentioned about you personally; the other, to be offended on behalf of someone else.

If you are the neighbor of my earlier example, and I defamed you with my drawings, you are free to consider it unacceptable and take action. For reasons we saw, this is not satire and it’s outside our scope.

So, let’s limit ourselves to real satire: Being offended because of something mentioned about an authority.

The first thing to realize about being offended in such a case, is this: Nobody gives a shit that you’re offended. It’s your personal problem if you find a joke about your saint, your president, or your mayor offensive.

Here’s a much more eloquent way of putting it:

Click to display the embedded YouTube video

To be offended skillfully, you must understand the role and purpose of satire. If someone made fun – within the framework of satire – of the political party you voted for, there’s a reason for it. There is something that needs to be expressed; double standards and hypocrisy, for instance.

To… offend yourself skillfully, understand that:

• What you read or hear is a joke, and life is too important to take too seriously. You can laugh with a joke focusing on your favorite… authority.
• Like Aristophanes, most satirists offer a comedic, exaggerated version of some deeper truth. If, say, the president or prime minister you voted for is the target of jokes about his intelligence (or lack thereof), it might be worth pondering on the fact of having an idiot at the helm of a country. Satire offers you knowledge about a situation; embrace it.