Hufford 1 Allison Hufford Deanne Harper Writing 5 20 November 2017 Political Satire and Happiness “SAN DIEGO—Following the events of last week, in which a crazed western lowland gorilla ruthlessly murdered 21 people in a local shopping plaza after escaping from the San Diego Zoo, sources across the country confirmed Thursday that national gorilla sales have since skyrocketed” (The Onion). To those unfamiliar with The Onion—and thus unaware of its satirical nature—such a headline might be extremely confusing, even disturbing. To those more aware, it might elicit a chuckle or so much as a laugh. But to those politically informed, it might go so far as to make them reconsider their viewpoints completely. Satire is humor with a purpose—not just to entertain but to enlighten, which is why it so often deals with issues of a political nature. In considering this, readers can see that The Onion article about the “gorilla attack” is not-so-subtly referring to the increase in mass shootings that have occurred over the years in the United States. The “skyrocketing gorilla sales” therefore represent the viewpoint of many conservatives that the only way to limit these tragedies is to make sure there are enough “good guys” with guns to defend against the “bad guys” with guns, thus keeping gun restrictions to a minimum. Though The Onion isn’t necessarily taking a political stance, it is mocking one of the key arguments conservatives use in their defense of the Second Amendment, pointing out its fallacies in hope of encouraging more logical, constructive Hufford 2 argument over the issue in the future. And yet, to those unaware of the political climate, it is simply a comically fantastical story about the dangers of gorillas. Why, then, did The Onion even bother to write such a story? If it had an opinion to share, why not state it plainly, instead of burying it under the guise of ridiculousness? If The Onion was looking for an analogy, surely there were more appropriate ones—why choose something so humorous for such a solemn topic? The Onion is far from the only source of media making such choices: Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show, and even South Park all simultaneously address seriously controversial political issues while invoking laughter from their largely American audiences. The fact that this form of media is so popular seems to suggest that it is also advantageous, for both those producing the shows and those watching them. This is because humor as expressed in satirical media not only helps people deal with and comprehend stressful political times—retaining their individual happiness despite national chaos—but keeps citizens aware of the hypocrisies in their own government, assuring they never become complicit in an unjust and unequal society. Satirical media may be at a high point in America right now, but our mental health is at a low. This all began more than a year ago, when a national poll of 1,000 adults before the 2016 election found that 43% felt emotional distress over Trump and his campaign, along with 28% over Hillary. Of those distressed, 90% claimed this election was worse than any other before it (Sheehy). Elections are—by nature—stressful national times, as individuals are forced to consider the future of their nation and choose between two extremely differing versions of it, often causing tension between family and friends who choose differently. However, rather than our nation returning to its normal state following this election’s completion, things only seemed to get worse. After Trump’s election, 76% of Democrats and 26% of Republics reported stress Hufford 3 over the outcome, with two thirds—more minorities than whites—reporting stress when they thought about the future of the United States (Fox). This can be said to be the result of a number of issues—the widening gap between the two major parties, the rise in economic and racial tensions, the influx of “fake news” over social media—but has been largely attributed to the unconventionality of the candidates, especially Trump. Both were already swamped in scandal— Hillary over her deleted emails and the tragedy in Benghazi, Trump over his unreleased tax- returns and accusations of sexual assault—and when Trump won after almost every national poll indicated an easy win for Hillary, the shock was enough to drive many into terror. After all, there’s nothing more terrifying than the unexpected. Even a year later, the shift from President Obama’s professional charm to President Trump’s “un-presidential” way of expression remains difficult for many to adjust to. Without a doubt the United States has fallen onto troubling times, and this has had an effect on our national morale. It’s not the first situation of its kind either. In its short 240 years of existence, the United States has faced countless national crises— from the Vietnam War to the Great Depression to the attack on the World Trade Center—and each time the stress has taken its toll on the public. Following the events of September 11th, 2001, pregnant women in the NYC community were more likely to give birth to underweight or even pre-term babies, who have a greater susceptibility to chronic medical conditions and learning problems as adults (Fox). This is significant, as it demonstrates that a current national situation can have effects on future generations not just culturally but biologically, and pregnant women—many of whom may now be at risk of losing their insurance, and thus their prenatal care, due to a Republican Congress that has spent the past year attempting to repeal Obamacare—have a greater reason to fear than ever. Even just “a general feeling of anxiety and fear for the future” (Shapiro) can lead to a deregulation of stress hormones like cortisol, which Hufford 4 can have extremely negative consequences on health and wellness by weakening the immune system. For instance, there was a spike in infant mortality in poor areas of twenty states following Reagan’s Medicaid cuts in 1981, as well as an increase in blood pressure of those who lost Medicaid in California, both of which many researchers have tied largely to stress (Fox). Naturally, this has introduced a variety of concerns of its own. The fact that political situations can directly impact a person’s health and even threaten their life is very concerning when considering the data of the 2016 election. On the night of Trump’s election, crisis hotlines such as the Trevor Project’s Suicide Hotline for gay youth received a significant uptick in calls—likely due to fear of Vice President Mike Pence’s notoriously anti-LGBT agenda—with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline receiving 2.5 times its average (Schapiro). President Trump’s attack on Obamacare may even limit people’s access to mental healthcare by dropping it as an insurance requirement, meaning that as more people need emotional help less people will be able to afford it. Even our national behavior is being affected, with studies demonstrating a spike in schoolyard bullying in recent months, as well as a noticeable rise in hate crimes (Fox). Likely, this has to do with Trump’s insulting and oftentimes aggressive rhetoric, which has made what many people consider racist and sexist speech more culturally acceptable. As a natural byproduct of this, fears among women, minorities, immigrants, and LGBT individuals are running higher than ever. It’s clear, then, that political atmosphere has a significant and unignorable effect on the emotionally wellbeing of its citizens, which in turn may very well weaken the nation as a whole. As a person’s life becomes increasingly more stressful, finding a way to ease this stress becomes increasingly more important, and just because the idiom “laughter is the best medicine” is a cliché doesn’t make it any less true. In fact, a number of studies have pointed towards Hufford 5 laughter’s positive effects on the human body, both physiological and emotional. For instance, following a period of laughter the muscles relax for up to 45 minutes, with a corresponding decrease in heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure, all of which correlate with a lowering of anxiety (Bennett 38). This is why, when comforting a friend during a stressful time in their life, humor is often so much more effective than pity in cheering them up and relieving their worry. While promising, however, these physical effects are only temporary, and the link between humor and health is still not fully understood. More encouraging is laughter’s link to a person’s emotional state, as demonstrated by one study where individuals being shown disturbing images—such as car accidents and corpses—were asked to reinterpret the photos by improvising jokes. Those who did reported both increases in positive emotions and decreases in negative emotions (Mcclure), showcasing humor’s ability to act as a sort of shield against unpleasant outer stimuli. This explains why humor works when comforting the friend, as through it their tough situation becomes something to laugh about rather than cry over, bringing a shift in perspective that allows for better handling of their stress in the future. In this way, it can stand to reason that those who are better capable of seeing the humor of situations will be better able to cope with negative events, and research support this. Using the Coping Humor Scale, one study found that higher sense of humor scores in an individual correlated with lower scores of depression, stress, and loneliness, as well as higher scores on quality of life and self-esteem (Bennett 188).