How satire sheds light on free expression: an Indonesian perspective.
Watching Saturday Night Live (SNL) during the US election season reminds me of how effective satire can be in revealing political truths. SNL uses humor to poke fun at everyone — from top candidates to present leaders — making American democracy appear approachable and, at times, self-reflective.
Beyond SNL, American political humor regularly finds its way into cultural memes like Kamala Harris’s playful “coconut tree” remark. Her quip, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” quickly became a meme, combining humor with cultural knowledge in a way that appealed to a wide range of viewers. These kinds of events show how humor can simplify difficult concepts and reach people on several levels.
This openness is startling, especially for someone like me from Indonesia, where political humor has stricter restrictions. It raises an essential question: how much does a society’s ability to laugh at itself tell us about its democratic maturity?