Further Outrage at the Mainstream Media
I love the New Yorker. I have a subscription. They employ Seymour Hersh. What more could you ask for?
But like so much of the Mainstream Media these days, they are slipping into irrelevance.
Each week the magazine has a Caption Contest. They publish a captionless cartoon and invite readers to submit captions for it. I've done this twice and haven't even won once!
Okay, so this is America. Free speech and all that. But there comes a time when you have to speak truth to the media power elite. Here is the most recent cartoon for which I submitted a caption, along with my caption:
OK, so they have genius IQs, but they don't know much about how
the world works.
Comedy gold. This is funny with a capital "F". Oh, wait, so I guess that would be "Funny" then.
But in the latest outrageous example of the MSM not getting it(!!!), the New Yorker editors did not select my caption to be one of the three finalists. Instead, they picked(.pdf):
and
"Unfortunately, at this age they don't carry much pocket change."
and
"I told you those humane traps never really work."
Comedy basalt.
Probably they didn't pick me because I have a blog. They are afraid of me. I threaten them. I am the brave new world of online Comedy Gold.
No wonder the Republic is in peril.
I think your entry was spot on, and very Gahan Wilson like.
Posted by: Stefan Jones | April 17, 2006 at 03:56 PM
...and very Gahan Wilson like.
That's what I thought, too!
You are a person of wit and discernment.
Posted by: Corpsy | April 17, 2006 at 04:10 PM
"I told you those humane traps never really work."
That is sooooo lame. You so should have been in the final three.
Posted by: Maureen McHugh | April 17, 2006 at 11:42 PM
Maureen, the clarity of your vision is unrivalled. :)
I'd never really considered the Art & Science of Writing Captions until I came across this New Yorker thing, but I find it a very intriguing form. What I like about it is the challenge of trying to get about three or four things going on in the space between the image and the words.
Now if only I could draw. (Boo-hoo.)
Posted by: Corpsy | April 18, 2006 at 07:46 AM
I like yours better, also. My contribution:
"We encourage a non-traditional approach to our students' interaction with their environment here at the Escher School."
Posted by: Bob Dively | April 18, 2006 at 01:09 PM
"We encourage a non-traditional approach to our students' interaction with their environment here at the Escher School."
Yeah, that's good. Or you could flip it around:
"We encourage a traditional approach to our students' interaction with their environment here at the Escher School."
Posted by: Corpsy | April 18, 2006 at 01:14 PM
Ah, perfect! You're my new editor.
Posted by: Bob Dively | April 18, 2006 at 01:24 PM
This contest was rendered irrelevant a whiles back. The correct answer, and all apologies to Gahan Wilson, but the correct answers is always already "Christ, what an asshole."
Posted by: Kip Manley | April 18, 2006 at 09:51 PM
...the correct answers is always already "Christ, what an asshole."
Heh. I love the occasional subtle variations on the dialogue. I sift through them for meaning.
Posted by: Corpsy | April 18, 2006 at 09:58 PM