So Jonathan Pie started out as a comedy sketch in which a journalist loses his temper and starts ranting and swearing about the realities of politics on camera. It was a good joke, and like all good jokes on the internet, it loses its appeal on being constantly repeated. There are now dozens of these videos, with Pie ranting at everything from Trump's election to identity politics. The joke got lost by the wayside a long time ago, and now its just a weekly political screed telegraphed by a comedic persona.
If you have friends like mine - the kind who get disproportionately annoyed at concepts like trigger warnings or safe spaces - the chances are you will have seen one of Pie's videos in your facebook feed already. Pie, or rather, the show's writers, have pegged themselves in the political position of the self-hating left winger, presupposing the viewer hates Brexit or Trump whilst using most of run time to slag off "crazy lefties" and the things they are meant to be getting worked up about. And that's kind of what I find the most objectionable about these videos; Pie goes to the trouble of shining a glaring spotlight on some issue, only so that he can yell about how irrelevant it is. This week, Pie had a particular ire for the news that google adjusted an emoji picture of a salad, removing the egg for the sake of vegans. "WHAT VEGAN ARE YOU HELPING WITH THIS? WHO CARES ABOUT EGGS?!" he shouts. Yes, I agree Pie, it is totally trivial of google to make this minor adjustment. That's why I'm not shouting about it, and in fact, hadn't even heard of this none-news til you yelled about it. That's the irony of Pie and his politics; he's a gag who is outraged about outrage politics, making videos for viewers who too need fodder to be outraged about.
I've saved the most obnoxious video for last though, in which Pie for once changes up the format and positions himself interviewing a feminist author about the gender wage gap. At first I was pleased to see Pie had tried something a little different, and freshen up the joke. But that's not the real reason behind why he did it on this occasion. You see, Pie's writers wanted to claim the wage gap is fictional and women should stop being victims, but knew that they'd be "called out for mansplaining" if they did that, so instead they try to legitimise the arguments by putting them in the mouth of a fictional feminist character. It's the craven, Vivian James approach of inventing a fictional woman who agrees with your visibly sexist opinions. It speaks to me of a contempt for its audience and critics.
Now Pie might hide behind the "it's all a joke" routine, but the show has a political argument to make; one that often finds itself being praised by the alt-right. There's only so much mileage I can get from saying a joke isn't funny, but accidentally reciting Breitbartesque arguments whilst taking money from propaganda spinner RT suggests to me that we're seeing a much uglier political product.
WebVideo A Bastion for People Who Very Loudly Don't Care
So Jonathan Pie started out as a comedy sketch in which a journalist loses his temper and starts ranting and swearing about the realities of politics on camera. It was a good joke, and like all good jokes on the internet, it loses its appeal on being constantly repeated. There are now dozens of these videos, with Pie ranting at everything from Trump's election to identity politics. The joke got lost by the wayside a long time ago, and now its just a weekly political screed telegraphed by a comedic persona.
If you have friends like mine - the kind who get disproportionately annoyed at concepts like trigger warnings or safe spaces - the chances are you will have seen one of Pie's videos in your facebook feed already. Pie, or rather, the show's writers, have pegged themselves in the political position of the self-hating left winger, presupposing the viewer hates Brexit or Trump whilst using most of run time to slag off "crazy lefties" and the things they are meant to be getting worked up about. And that's kind of what I find the most objectionable about these videos; Pie goes to the trouble of shining a glaring spotlight on some issue, only so that he can yell about how irrelevant it is. This week, Pie had a particular ire for the news that google adjusted an emoji picture of a salad, removing the egg for the sake of vegans. "WHAT VEGAN ARE YOU HELPING WITH THIS? WHO CARES ABOUT EGGS?!" he shouts. Yes, I agree Pie, it is totally trivial of google to make this minor adjustment. That's why I'm not shouting about it, and in fact, hadn't even heard of this none-news til you yelled about it. That's the irony of Pie and his politics; he's a gag who is outraged about outrage politics, making videos for viewers who too need fodder to be outraged about.
I've saved the most obnoxious video for last though, in which Pie for once changes up the format and positions himself interviewing a feminist author about the gender wage gap. At first I was pleased to see Pie had tried something a little different, and freshen up the joke. But that's not the real reason behind why he did it on this occasion. You see, Pie's writers wanted to claim the wage gap is fictional and women should stop being victims, but knew that they'd be "called out for mansplaining" if they did that, so instead they try to legitimise the arguments by putting them in the mouth of a fictional feminist character. It's the craven, Vivian James approach of inventing a fictional woman who agrees with your visibly sexist opinions. It speaks to me of a contempt for its audience and critics.
Now Pie might hide behind the "it's all a joke" routine, but the show has a political argument to make; one that often finds itself being praised by the alt-right. There's only so much mileage I can get from saying a joke isn't funny, but accidentally reciting Breitbartesque arguments whilst taking money from propaganda spinner RT suggests to me that we're seeing a much uglier political product.