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Jan 03, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Uncle Freddie saw the flashing traffic lights late one night and conveniently concluded that they were not working, when in fact they were programmed to flash because of the reduced traffic at nights.
I decided to take him to task. I could have simply corrected him but that would not have had the desired effect and would have made for a boring column. I therefore resorted to mild deprecating satire, something that is common fare in Guyana, by suggesting that Uncle Freddie had consumed too much fruit cake and had become drunk.
I had to still point out the obvious since satire is not often a well-appreciated art form in this country and some persons may have believed that Uncle Freddie did in fact have too much black cake.
One of the reasons why satire is not better appreciated in Guyana is because it is in so much short public supply. This is quite unlike in the United States where satire is an everyday affair in the media.
Every night on the major cable networks there is political and social satire. The late night shows with Jay Leno and David Letterman are packed with parody. Americans just love these caricatures which not only make light of some of the major events of the day but also contain a subtle form of commentary.
I have found in Guyana, particularly under the PPP, that there is great intolerance towards satire than lampoons the government. And this in unfortunate because satire in many respects has helped to dissipate political anger and allow for people to come to grips with the many hardships they face. Satire therefore has a therapeutic effect on the society, helping people to see the lighter side of things, and taking the stress out of their difficulties.
At Christmas we have some television productions which provide rollicking entertainment and social commentary in the form of the “Stretched Out Magazine” and the “This is We” show. There is also just after Christmas, the popular Link Show. But we do not have many other satirical production and this has a great deal to do with the timidity of the business sector which may be fearful of the consequences of sponsoring a regular diet of satire on local television, or it may simply have to do with the absence of sufficient satirical writers to sustain such productions in local theater.
Guyanese therefore look forward at Christmas to the usual treat of satire. They look forward to the fun that will be poked at their leaders and other public figures.
Unfortunately the quality of the satire this year was not impressive The production This is We put on by NCN was extremely cautious when it came to taking pot shots at the government, and while Ron’ Robinson’s Stretched Out Magazine did provide greater diversity in ridiculing some of the things that irk us in this country, it seemed to have followed the same old format which has in a creative sense become quite exhausted.
A certain freshness was needed to political and social satire. And it came from an unexpected source. It came from Kaieteur News. The New Year’s edition was quite refreshing and enjoyable. I loved it. Whoever came up with that concept is to be congratulated. It was great!
How refreshing it was to wake up on New Year’s morning and enjoy great satire in words and pictures while at the same time gaining a recap of some of the top news items of 2008. It was for me the best New Year’s edition of a newspaper that I have read for a very long time. It was fantastic!
I am hoping that perhaps this same exercise can be repeated again as a special supplement but this time covering more persons. I was surprised for example that nothing was said of the man who loves to pull files. And of course Kaieteur News forgot a few opposition personalities.
I know that many of our leaders would not see it the way I did. Too many are thin-skinned (and swell-headed) and would not be pleased. But they should see the larger picture and appreciate the message behind the lampooning, or the thought behind the joke.
I know some of them believe that they are supermen and superwomen. Satire allows them to reassess their own merits since the reality if often far different from what their super egos and delusions of greatness may have led them to believe. Satire brings them back to reality.

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