Slacker Humor
I have said for years that we find ourselves at the nadir of artistic expression at this time in history. A Calendar cover story on so insignificant a trifle as the utterly unfunny humor periodical the Onion is yet another case in point (“Not Necessarily the News,” by Paul Brownfield, Jan. 23).
The Gen-X slackers featured and the examples of their work both in The Times and on their Web site illustrate perfectly why these self-referential and tedious trendoids are successful: They say nothing to a generation that has nothing to say so therefore demands nothing--but they certainly know how to market themselves!
Written humor, when it is done well, exhibits wit and clarity, an incisive perception about what is being lampooned or discussed, which gets a laugh because of a core of truth in the observation expressed. But if the subject matter is irrelevant, as is the case with most humorists of the past 15 years, what really makes it funny, or the perception lasting?
Gen-X-age self-proclaimed humorists resort to high decibels (watched “Saturday Night Live” the past 15 years?) or ever more dumbed-down and vulgar sight-gags or references because they don’t have a point of view or anything to offer that’s new. They aim so low because they don’t understand the heights--the heights of good taste and learning.
JEFF SOFTLEY
Los Angeles