Jon Stewart is a wonderful satirist. His blend of humor and outrage seems, at times, to be the perfect cocktail for a world overcome with dishonest politicians, crazy celebrities and media sensationalists obsessed with the spotlight. Given that America, hit all these notes rather well, I expected a similarly potent cocktail from this latest effort, Earth. I was sorely disappointed.
Earth is an open letter to future aliens who visit Earth, only to find the planet deserted. Humanity, it seems, has exterminated itself in one of a myriad of ways, leaving the aliens to pick over the bones of our forgotten civilization. The letter tries to explain to the aliens who we were by first laying down some basic facts about humanity, before layering on details about our politics, our societies, our customs and our religions. In this, Mr. Stewart pokes fun at many of our ridiculous notions while offering a what can I say, this was who we were' apologetic shrug to the curious aliens.
Though Earth does have its humorous moments, these come far too infrequently for good satire. America worked because, even in the midst of its absurdity, it had a point to make, primarily that, for a country claiming to be great, the people of the United States, on balance, know far less than they ought to about both their politicians and their political system. In this, it taught even as it gently scolded. Earth offers no such lesson wrapped in absurdity. It is merely an all-too-familiar recitation of the litany of mistakes we've made as a race. There is no teachable moments here, no central objective. Earth is a weak attempt to laugh at how pathetic we are. Perhaps if the aliens had brought some more biting criticism to the table, there might've been some punch here. As is, Earth commits the cardinal sin of all comedy. It just isn't that funny. If there are no teachable moments and the humor is hit and miss at best, then what's left? Precious little... (2/5 Stars)
Jon Stewart is a wonderful satirist. His blend of humor and outrage seems, at times, to be the perfect cocktail for a world overcome with dishonest politicians, crazy celebrities and media sensationalists obsessed with the spotlight. Given that America, hit all these notes rather well, I expected a similarly potent cocktail from this latest effort, Earth. I was sorely disappointed.
Earth is an open letter to future aliens who visit Earth, only to find the planet deserted. Humanity, it seems, has exterminated itself in one of a myriad of ways, leaving the aliens to pick over the bones of our forgotten civilization. The letter tries to explain to the aliens who we were by first laying down some basic facts about humanity, before layering on details about our politics, our societies, our customs and our religions. In this, Mr. Stewart pokes fun at many of our ridiculous notions while offering a what can I say, this was who we were' apologetic shrug to the curious aliens.
Though Earth does have its humorous moments, these come far too infrequently for good satire. America worked because, even in the midst of its absurdity, it had a point to make, primarily that, for a country claiming to be great, the people of the United States, on balance, know far less than they ought to about both their politicians and their political system. In this, it taught even as it gently scolded. Earth offers no such lesson wrapped in absurdity. It is merely an all-too-familiar recitation of the litany of mistakes we've made as a race. There is no teachable moments here, no central objective. Earth is a weak attempt to laugh at how pathetic we are. Perhaps if the aliens had brought some more biting criticism to the table, there might've been some punch here. As is, Earth commits the cardinal sin of all comedy. It just isn't that funny. If there are no teachable moments and the humor is hit and miss at best, then what's left? Precious little... (2/5 Stars)
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