Bound for the Floor?

It was a disgrace to modern intellectualism when Alanis Morrisette was born. Her music goes back to that eighties get-rich-quick mentality that had singers singing someone else's songs with fake emotion and dishonest lyrics. Moreover, her puppet-like media appearance is a step in the wrong direction for female musicians. I want to choke on my own loathing everytime I hear someone on TV say that Alanis is one "angry girl."; Her songs are not angry, they're pure stupidity. The first time I heard "Ironic," I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my bed. "This will surely be the downfall of stupid Alanis,"; I thought to myself. "Nothing in that song is ironic. She will be the laughing stock of the entire world!"

Much to my surprise, no one really seemed to care. I was overjoyed when one of the radio DJs here in my hometown said after playing that sorry excuse for a song, "I think there are actually three things in that entire song that are actually ironic."; Someone else was with me on this!! It downright scares me to know that there's a song out there that is grossing millions of dollars for record-label execs that is an intellectual embarassment. Irony is a complex idea, that I am aware of. But it is not so complex that no one can understand it. It is found everywhere and in everything, if you know how to look at it right. For example, much of Shakespeare's works are laced with irony. Once you can see that, the stories make more sense and are much more entertaining. "A Modest Proposal"; by Johnathan Swift is one of the most ironic pieces of literature ever written.

Upon reading it, I was giggling profusely at the sillyness and irony of it all. When I tried to share the humnor, many people I know read it and could not see the humor, and thought me a heathen for finding such a thing to be funny.

What kind of education are we getting when no one can understand irony? What kind of America have we to look forward to when good humor is regarded to be found in Beavis and Butthead Do America, and Jane Austen is thought of as drab? I'm not saying that just old stuff is what's good. The Simpsons is an excellent example of good satire. Animaniacs is as well. Some good sketch shows have their moments of glory, but more and more of them are reverting to crude sexual humor. Not that sexual humor is bad. Just crude sexual humor. This kind of laziness in humor is creating a general ignorance for the good stuff. Most people I talk to outside of school do not understand a word I am saying, because I like to play with sarcasm and satire. I do not like to have to explain myself at every interval. It just flat out annoys the hell out of me that no one seems to understand irony anymore. So for those of you who are reading this and agree with me, here's the definition of irony from Webster's so that you can give it to the unlearned. If you are one of the many who do not understand irony, then by all means, read the definition and enlighten yourself. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

IRONY: a method of humorous or subtly sarcastic expression in which the intended meaning of the words is the direct opposite of their usual sense.

There are many types of irony, such as literary irony and dramatic irony, which have slightly more specific definitions. But it all boils down to the above.

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