Satire is a powerful way of providing commentary while entertaining a diverse audience. Through comedy, we can share our opinions on global, social, or even (semi) political aspects. Satire can engage people who would otherwise be uninterested in "x" topics. It can provoke critical thinking about something serious like grave injustice while keeping things lighthearted. What makes satire such a powerful tool is that it gets people to listen. There are multiple circumstances in Trevor Noah's Born a Crime where he utilizes this technique and creates an overall funny story that touches on some more serious notes about the experiences of himself and his community. But before we dive deeper into that, what is it exactly that makes satire so effective?
On a broad scale, satire acts as a mirror into some of the more controversial aspects of the world. For example, outlets like The Daily Show, hosted by Jon Stewart (and briefly hosted by Trevor Noah) take a slew of political issues and break them down using satire. What this does is create something that general audiences can more easily digest. By blending entertainment and commentary, the show can change how we view more traditional news outlets by pointing out the flaws and biases that surround them. As opposed to aforementioned “traditional news outlets” programs like The Daily Show have shown that satire not only entertains, but creates a means for engaging audiences with important topics:
The above figure shows us how well informed viewers of satirical news shows are compared to viewers of traditional programs. Taking the numbers into consideration, can we say for certain that satire’s an effective way of making a point or an argument? How does Trevor Noah use such techniques to address his own experiences? How far can satire truly take us?
Throughout his memoir, Trevor Noah makes frequent use of satire to capture his reader’s attention. He draws us in with something funny, then uses it to stress the importance and weight of a more dire subject. An instance in Born a Crime where this is made evident is in chapter 15, when it’s brought up that:
People love to say, ‘Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ What they don’t say is ‘And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.’ That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing. Working with Andrew was the first time in my life I realized you need someone from the privileged world to come to you and say, ‘Okay, here’s what you need and here’s how it works’” (Noah, 190).
In this quote, Noah discusses in a funny manner how hard it was for someone from a poor black family like his to make something of themselves. They had the means, but not the resources. It took someone from a privileged background to come in and guide Noah for him to be successful. That idea is really elevated through his humorous contrast with the “give a man a fish…” adage. But even though it gets us laughing, it still gets us thinking- thinking about how, it’s easy to teach someone how to be successful, but giving them the right resources and opportunities is a whole different mess. Kids of color in South Africa can go to school and get an adequate education, but in a world where material wealth trumps all, is it really easy for them to get far? Some photos I feel really capture the contrast Noah was going for are pictured below:
https://unequalscenes.com/south-africa
https://unequalscenes.com/south-africa
In these pictures taken from places like Johannessburg and Cape Town, we see a thriving white community on the left, and a struggling black community on the right. In a post-apartheid world, we’d expect to see two equally bustling communities, but we don’t. Poverty still runs wild in South Africa. The chart below maps the intensity of poverty in the various provinces of South Africa circa. 2016.
https://southafrica-info.com/people/mapping-poverty-in-south-africa/
At a 40% and greater poverty intensity, many communities like Trevor Noah’s. Instead of focusing their talents on growth, they instead have to focus on scraping up what scraps they have left, and eating whatever they can get their hands on. Trevor Noah wasn’t really able to get out there and thrive until his friend Andrew came in and used his privileged background to help him succeed in the world of CD piracy. Noah’s satirical perspective on this whole situation really helps this idea stick out and also helps us understand that on a wider scale, there are still people out there stuck scraping at the bottom of the barrel. We need to take from our world, where we have everything, and give it to a world that doesn’t have anything. We can only get so far by telling someone to succeed. We have to give them their metaphorical fishing rod and ensure that they know how to fish. But what happens if we don’t do anything?
Trevor Noah’s memoir touches briefly on crime in South Africa. When you come from a place where crime is some far-off thing that only the “worst” people are capable of doing, it’s easy to judge areas where crime runs wild. But why is it that crime is more prevalent in certain areas compared to others? Born a Crime actually acknowledges this, when it’s brought up that:
It’s easy to be judgemental about crime when you live in a world wealthy enough to be removed from it. But the hood taught me that everyone has different notions of right and wrong, different definitions of what constitutes crime, and what level of crime they’re willing to participate in. If a crackhead comes through and he’s got a crate of Corn Flakes boxes he’s stolen out of the back of a supermarket, the poor mom isn’t thinking, I’m aiding and abetting a criminal by buying these Corn Flakes. No. She’s thinking, My family needs food and this guy has Corn Flakes, and she buys the Corn Flakes. (Noah, 212)
Through the setup of a pretty outrageous, objectively silly scenario, Noah highlights a much deeper issue within his community. When struck with poverty, your world and view become very narrow. It becomes less about morals, and more about living. When you find an opportunity, it becomes only about what you can do for yourself. Sure, you may be hurting others, but why question ethics when you yourself are barely surviving? Take this and apply it to a much larger scale. Something as silly as simple cornflakes can become anything from drugs to weapons, and suddenly things like this “crime check” from South Africa circa. 2017 make more sense:
https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/factsheets/factsheet-south-africas-crime-statistics-201617
Because of poverty and inequality, South Africa has become a very crime-heavy area. As items and ideas become more unobtainable, many turn to a life of crime in hopes of acquiring said things. It’s easy to turn to crime because “crime cares” (Noah, 209). Crime offers all sorts of opportunities to all sorts of people. When you’re stuck in a life of poverty with seemingly no way out, a life of crime might feel like the most appealing thing in the world. Not many people understand that though, but through satire, Trevor Noah helps that point come across. All it took was a mother, a crackhead, and a silly box of Corn Flakes.
Through satire, we’re given the grounds for an effective teaching method. Programs like The Daily Show works like Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime take humor and blend it with insightful commentary, breaking it down into something less complicated for general audiences, but still leaving in enough room for interpretation. What seems like a one-off joke on the surface may hold a great life lesson, or thought-provoking question. Trevor Noah’s utilization of satire in his memoir, or during his time hosting The Daily Show serves as a prime example of how humor can be taken and used to critique the problems in our society. His ability to turn personal and historical hardships into something meaningful and even worthy of being laughed at not only entertains, but also educates. Humor is not only a force of laughter, it’s a force for expression and a force for change.
