The intention of satire is to highlight the oft-taken-for-granted absurdities of the real world through cartoonish or ironic depictions that are even more heightened (and often comedic because of it). With that in mind, where is satire’s sharpened point when the exaggeration is moot because, well, the real world absurdity decided they wanted to be in on the bit, no matter how much they’re debasing themselves?
Such is the quandary presented on this week’s Jimmy Kimmel Live when frequent monologue target Mike Lindell, the troubled CEO of My Pillow, not only agreed to appear yet again on Jimmy Kimmel Live, but agreed to do so in a claw machine, at Jimmy’s request, only to be hysterically discovered, also again, by Kimmel’s go to Lindell impersonator, the brilliant James Adomian. Throughout most of the interview, which was still very funny despite how unbelievable this all felt, there was a lower third, which doubled as a My Pillow sales reminder and a place to comedically tighten the screws on Lindell with “promo codes” that read “CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS NUT AGREED TO DO THIS?” and “WE’RE GOING TO LEAVE HIM IN THERE”.
Lindell guffawed the entire time in addition to repeating his own bit of trying to give kids the toy prizes that he was submerged in while uttering “It’s a rigged game!” It’s hard to imagine something more ridiculous than the real Mike Lindell being interviewed while seated in a game devised for impatient children and then having to face a caricature of himself pretending to be in crisis (and that includes losing out on a campaign to be a RNC Chair by a massive landslide after boasting he was leading in polls over and over).
One has to wonder is this even satire at this point or adding to insult to injury since the injured asked to be hilariously insulted? There are points at which satire is so heightened that it ceases to be comedic and, perhaps, this is the reverse? Is it better to describe this as “gonzo comedy” because of Lindell’s involvement in his own ridicule (and note that Kimmel doesn’t really hold back in that regard)?
Donald Trump proved to be a similar challenge as it was difficult to be more outrageous, for comedic purposes, than what Trump really said and did during his time as POTUS. However, Trump would never take part in a bit where he was the punchline or the butt of the joke. Arguably, being a punchline at the Seth Meyers-hosted White House Correspondents Dinner is what bolstered him to run for office in the first place. Lindell, on the other hand, seems glad at the opportunity to laugh at his own expense, but in a far different, much more performative way than at a comedy roast. It feels as though he’s laughing the whole time to appear as though Kimmel’s jabs at him are ineffective, but, as you can see in the clip above, it’s absolutely baffling that he wants to come off as though he is having a good time when he is being made out to be the most ridiculous thing in a pile of toys.
It could be very easy to see this particular appearance as an outlier when it comes to what political comedy and satire are trending towards today. However, there is a parallel, unsettling feeling here to Elon Musk’s episode of SNL and how awkward the whole affair ending up being (as well as it being foreshadowing of how farcical he would be when taking over Twitter). We can’t imagine where Mike Lindell will head to or what he will do next, but coming back into a position of being taken seriously is likely not one such possibility. There’s an uncanny valley feeling to these incidents and, as far as we can gather, a reflection of objective truth being more disjointed than ever in 2023, even when it’s supposed to be a joke.