Roger Ebert wrote a column yesterday that managed to be both a survey course on the history of snarkiness and a critique of how this year’s Oscars were covered — with a dash of a mea culpa sprinkled on top: Hunt not the Snark but the Snarker
I enjoyed it and I think that it starts a discussion well worth having.
It can be difficult to find the right tone when talking about popular culture or politics. But the Academy Awards and Joaquin Phoenix’s mental health notwithstanding, there are some events and personalities that enter our collective consciousness that have real import and an effect on our shared well-being. Some things clearly deserve derision and, occasionally, even our scorn.
It seems to me that snarkiness is criticism from the emotionally disconnected. From the uninvested. Ebert also pegs it as a tool to try to enforce conformity:
It has operated almost as a reflex to smack down behavior that upsets our expectations. It essentially says: Get back in line, Phoenix! Think now of Howard Dean’s scream, Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, Sarah Palin’s inability to name her reading material. Did we really think, even at the height of political passion, that the governor didn’t read any newspapers? That would be George Bush, who said he didn’t.
He’s right, of course. But what I think he misses is that snarkiness is, in it’s own way, an attempt to escape conformity while navigating through an increasingly empty culture. Although perhaps falling short of an ideal state of affairs, it isn’t necessarily incumbent upon a culture’s critics to “be the change” they’re looking for. Sometimes it’s okay just to reject what is on offer.
As a proprietor of a website with a “Shame-O-Meter”, you doubtless aren’t surprised when I tell you that I’m a believer in the power of satire to shame people into trying to be better human beings. But if your aim is “to shame” instead of “to snark”, I think it means that you have to recognize the humanity in those you disagree with. Deploying le mot juste feels better when you’re at least trying to use it in the service of justice, does it not? In the run up to this year’s Presidential Election, I felt the balance tipping over towards something…unproductive and unfunny…and so I hit the pause button on this site for a little while. Satire, like sex, requires frequent breaks, “map-checking”, and occasionally deep-breathing exercises to maintain it’s potency and perspective over time.
Reading Ebert’s column and seeing him grapple with *what snark actually is* illustrates how dim the lines dividing satire and just-plain-old-hatred can be. Is it the vitriol that makes something snarky? The anonymity of the internet? I think he gets closest when he examines Nikki Finke’s “Live-Snarking the Oscars.”:
Please note that she began with that title, before having seen one second of the show or writing one word. She had come to snark. There was no possibility she would enjoy the TV program. In her very first words, she made her agenda clear: “Starts at 5:30 PM PT… Come for the cynicism. Stay for the subversion. Add your comment. Refresh for updates. Warning: Not for the easily offended or shocked.”
Ultimately what distinguishes the snarky from the satirical — and the casually bitchy from the honestly nihilistic — is degrees, timing, and taste. It’s subjective, but self-regulating. If you’re the type of person that says that everything is lame then, eventually, people are going to perform a mental calculus every time you open your mouth to adjust for your…um…emotional issues. Smart, funny people like John Hodgman will make fun of you. People who have been both creators and critics, the “Roger Eberts of the World”, will raise an eyebrow in your direction. You will no longer be taken seriously.
“Calling bullshit” on the things that suck in this world is truly important work but, if your criticism lacks an emotional investment that could put your feelings and opinions at risk, you’ve probably crossed the line into Snarkitude. “Don’t talk about it if you don’t really care either way” might be a good rule of thumb here….
And if you’ve decided to denigrate something before giving it a fair chance, then turn around and take a look.
The line is behind you.
