Poe’s Law In Action

We may not have seen the end of history, but the Trump and his supporters are Poe’s Law in action, dealing a death blow to parody and satire.

I woke up late, to what has so far been a good day. So I’m not going to jinx that by talking about it too much, and that I’m not going to ruin it by looking at too much news today.

I am going to share one of my favorite comedians on Twitter, whose feed is essentially Poe’s Law—“an adage of Internet culture stating that, without a clear indicator of the author’s intent, it is impossible to create a parody of extreme views so obviously exaggerated that it cannot be mistaken by some readers for a sincere expression of the views being parodied in action“—in action. Ladies and gentlemens, Brent Terhune, Pro 2nd Amendment and follower of Christ:

His feed is full of stuff like this—and there are some gems in this one like how Mike Pence has likely worn a mask a few times, “probably the one with the zipper on the mouth”—but it’s the responses that have me laughing out loud. His impression of a Trump supporter is so perfect that people actually believe he’s the real thing. Here’s a quick sampling:

And of course why wouldn’t people think Terhune is an actual Trumpist? Just this morning, on a Facebook conversation about China, a random old man who I have never once met—called me “a commie” and then went on some crazy rant about how I hate America like the rest of the Dumbocrat Socialists. Just last week, the Lysol Company had to issue warnings for folks not to start drinking or shooting up their products. And then of course, there was this display:

Protesters stand outside the Statehouse Atrium where reporters listen during the State of Ohio’s Coronavirus response update on Monday, April 13, 2020 at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. About 100 protesters assembled outside the building during Gov. Mike DeWine’s weekday update on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, upset that the state remains under a Stay-At-Home order and that non-essential businesses remain closed. (Joshua A. Bickel/The Columbus Dispatch via AP)

Francis Fukuyama wrote during the Soviet collapse that we had seen “the end of history” (which he later postponed. Perhaps I’m a little over my skis, but I do believe the Trump years may be the end of satire.

I mean, how do you parody a movement that’s such an obvious joke?

Author: Brendan Skwire

Brendan Skwire is a cultural and media critic. He offers nearly two decades of experience as a journalist, video editor, blogger, and community organizer. Skwire has worked for the Philadelphia Weekly, Scrapple TV, and Raw Story, and is a former member of the News Guild.

5 thoughts on “Poe’s Law In Action”

  1. Egads what a coincidence. I posted a comment on C&L regarding Pence not wearing a mask and his wife claiming he didn’t know about the policy; as being “believable” in what was meant as a sarcastic comment. (Like no one there would give him one?) And a bunch of people took it seriously. It really floored me. But that is exactly where we are at right now.
    It’s an epidemic of stupidity!

  2. I have only stumbled onto Brent Terhune in the last couple of weeks. It really doesn’t surprise me that so many people simply don’t recognize a parody, when in this case to me it’s so obvious. Maybe it’s because most people simply don’t seem to have a functioning bullshit detector anymore, or even know how to take anything, except as it reflexively appears from our respective tribal high grounds. In this case it could more likely be missed because so many of us actually know people like Terhune’s chararacter, and those people we know are certainly not trying to be ironic in any sort of way. I mean, I see and hear people every day saying shit just as stupid and ignorant as this character. It is every fricking day! So why wouldn’t some liberal cruising through their Twitter account not assume that it’s just another MAGA dumbass high on whatever Trump-meth that everyone’s smoking on that particular day?

    I hate looking foolish, so my impulse is almost always to be skeptical of things that just seem a little too off kilter, and to hold back passing judgment until I have enough facts to be comfortable in my assumptions. Of course, looking foolish on Twitter is a full time passion for millions of people, so it doesn’t surprise me that so many people there just dropped their comments and moved on. But it is kind of sad that we all can’t simultaneously share, in real time, such a relevant and humorous flaming by Terhune of the MAGA ignorance that is surrounding us in these troubling days. After all, today the Michigan statehouse was occupied by dozens and dozens of gun toting MAGA maniacs threatening the Governor of the state over her stay at home order. And absolutely nothing happened to them. So maybe I can find it in my heart to give a mulligan to those who might take Brent Terhune’s schtick seriously.

  3. Liberal parody trolls. I play one at times over on MoJo.

    It’s fun when you can troll other liberals with inane bullshit, and it’s even better when you get conservatives agreeing with the inane bullshit you say.

  4. It was the same thing with The Colbert Report. A good chunk of the right-wing would watch his show and cheer him on thinking he was a legitimate conservative, absolutely clueless to the fact that it was a parody. The modern-day Republican party and conservatism is beyond parody at this point.

  5. One morning recently, I stumbled on one of those “OMG, The Trump Base Consists of Demented Idiots!” photos and sent it on to a couple of family members with a bit of snarky commentary.

    After my 2nd cup of coffee, I sent an email to my son, who was one of the recipients:

    “Actually, I’m beginning to suspect this sort of image may be really fraudulent–that is somebody manufactures and plants them.
    Possibilities:
    Unserious young folks–for giggles
    leftish creatives–to make the right look crazy & stupid.
    Foreign operatives–to enhance division.

    What do you think?”

    His response was, “I’ll take “C” for $500, Alex”

    Maybe it’s because I’m old and take this shit too seriously but if it’s A or B, I am not amused.

Comments are closed.