For Christ's Sake, It's Fucking Satire

Complaints about Silverman's video insipid

Many Catholics around the world are very upset with comedian Sarah Silverman this week, and it (sadly) isn't all that hard to see why.

In a video published on YouTube this week, Silverman offers her "genius" solution to world hunger: sell the Vatican, and use the proceeds of the "$500 billion" the city must be worth to feed the hungry.

To the feverish legions of the "tax the churches" crowd, who almost certainly must overlook the fact that Catholic charities provide hundreds of millions of dollars in support for impoverished people around the world, this may seem like a fantastic idea on its own merit.

Other people will recognize Silverman's video for precisely what it is: fucking satire. But sadly, not everyone.

Predictably, Silverman's video drew complaints from organizations like the Catholic League.

"Silverman's assault on Catholicism is just another example of HBO's corporate irresponsibility. Time and again, if it's not Bill Maher thrashing the Catholic church, it's one of his guests," complained Donahue. "There is obviously something pathological going on there: Silverman's filthy diatribe would never be allowed if the chosen target were the chief rabbi of Jerusalem and the state of Israel. Here's a reality check for Silverman: the Catholic church operates more hospitals and feeds more of the poor than any private institution in the world."

But perhaps Bill Donahue is reading much too much into Silverman's video.

After all, it's fhcking satire. In the video Silverman performs her best impression of a shallow valley girl pretending to be concerned about a social isisue. She proposes a solution that would require no effort or sacrifice from herself. She brags about her big-screen TV.

Her concern about the issue is born not out of genuine concern for the people involved, or out of knowledge about the issue, but merely out of the sheer annoyance of having to sit through a World Vision commercial.

It's actually preferable by a wide margin to the "concern" of celebrity activists just looking to sell some more CDs, or boost ticket sales for their latest film. One quickly remembers the absurdity of rapper Belly telling audiences that if climate change isn't curbed it would quickly run out of control, as if he were himself a world-leading scientist.

(He was repeating the conclusions of a scientist. Unfortunately, that scientist was George Monbiot, a zoologist, not a climatologist.)

Likewise, Silverman tells us that Arby's employees in Ethiopia are paid nothing an hour because they don't exist.

What Silverman says is true even in its absurdity. Whereas what Belly once told the world about climate change in between telling the world that he's "the fuckin' man" (he's a very profound songwriter. -ed) may or may not be true, but it's becoming increasingly apparent that it very well may not.

Bill Donahue's knee-jerk reaction to anything that so much breathes the name of the Catholic Church without what he believes is its due reverence has led him into the folly of denouncing a parody.

He needs to get a grip. It's fucking satire. And it's obvious.