Chic Ironic Bitterness

Introduction: You Are Being Sarcastic, Dude

introduction You Are Being Sarcastic, Dude p Indication of alienation. The clearest sign that two people hold alienated views is that each says ironic things to the other, but neither of the two feels the other’s irony. —Friedrich Nietzsche, aphorism 331, Human, All Too Human (1878) “Here comes that cannonball guy—he’s cool.” “Are you being sarcastic, dude?” “I don’t even know anymore.” —Two teenagers at Hullabalooza, The Simpsons (1996) I remember verbatim the above three lines from an episode of The Simpsons, that always calibrated cultural barometer.* Originally aired in 1996, this Simpsonian haiku remains just as telling today. And one can imaginatively supply a last line: “Whatever.” Further re›ection is just not worth the time or effort. In the scene, the two teenagers are in a crowd watching the Cannonball Guy—Homer Simpson himself—about to be blasted in the stomach with a cannonball. Homer’s grinning, goggled enthusiasm runs strictly contrary to the sentiment of the rock-and-freak show he *The Simpsons, episode 724, “Homerpalooza,” season 7; airdate June 19, 1996. Unfortunately, since the arrival of South Park three years after this episode, the Simpson family, trailblazing pioneers all, have sort of lost their calibration. is in, Hullabalooza, which is all about being cool (nonchalant, rebellious , subtly angry).* After the ‹rst adolescent kid tells the other that Homer is cool, he does not, upon re›ection, recognize his own relationship to what he said; he is alienated from what he means. Was he being sarcastic? Did he “mean” what he said? If he did, why didn’t he know it? If he didn’t, why did he say it? His friend clearly doesn’t understand him either. Alas, Homer Simpson is not cool. But it’s the last statement, “I don’t even know anymore,” that suggests the abundance of sarcasm the concert -going dude normally uses has put him in state where he no longer recognizes the meaning of his own words. This is why it is funny. But something else, too: Here, in the midst of a cartoon parody of a real-life outdoor concert created with the express intention of bonding its individualist visitors together in a frenzy of rebelliousness, Nietzsche’s aphorism lurches to life: alienation reigns.† Sarcasm like the kind used by the slacker caricature above is, of course, a member of the big, happy irony family. And what a family it is. A few of its more memorable faces (and by name completely forgettable ) are: Chic Ironic Bitterness 2 *Headliner bands at the actual Lollapalooza in 1996 included the both angry and not-so-angry sounds of Rage Against the Machine (not just angry, ragingly so), Metallica (napstangry), Cocteau Twins (high), Soundgarden (goateed angry), Waylon Jennings (uh . . .), Cheap Trick (de‹nitely), Violent Femmes (equals out), The Tea Party (huh?), Wu Tang Clan (urban anger vs.), Steve Earle (country displeasure), Devo (whip it, anger), The Ramones (anger, be sedated), Rancid (tattooed anger), Shaolin Monks (anger cleansing ), Screaming Trees (see: Soundgarden), and Psychotica (anger at eyeliner, mostly). Ice-T (then, de‹nitely angry) debuted his band Body Count and the song “Cop Killer” (about killing cops) at the ‹rst Lollapalooza in 1991. Lollapalooza is now sponsored by AT&T. Ice-T now plays a cop on Law & Order: SVU. †Perry Farrell said that when he was looking for bands “to play Lollapalooza, honestly, aside from the music . . . I look at the players and decide, oddly enough, if I’d like to sit down and eat with them.” http://www.cnn.com/ 2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/29/mroom.farrell/index.html. Antiphrasis: irony of one word, often derisively performed through patent contradiction. Referring to a tall person, one says, What’s up, shortie? Paralipsis: drawing attention to something in the very act of pretending to ignore it. It would be inappropriate for me at this time to reveal the senator’s Oxycontin addiction. Epitrope: turning the interpretation of a statement over to one’s hearers in a way that suggests evidence of something without having to state it. The Irishy hoodlum band House of Pain blurting, Come and get some of this (i.e. you really don’t want any of “this”). Sarcasm: use of mockery or bitter verbal taunts. In reference to a bad grade, Great job, genius! Or: Here comes that Cannonball Guy—he’s cool. Mycterismus: mock given with an accompanying gesture, scornful countenance, or enthusiastic banter...