Charles Entertainment Cheese

While reading this collection I was struck by how different it was from the other two works we have read this semester. Both Sedaris and Irby focused their humor on their own personal experiences. Their humor leaned more self-deprecating, and they at least in part made themselves the butt of the joke. Especially in the case of Irby’s work, using this type of humor made the criticisms more approachable and relatable to readers who don’t share her identity. Tiffany Midge’s pointed satire does not hold anyone’s hand or soften the blow as she points out all the ways that the white dominant culture is cruel to Native people. Which, to clarify, I don’t think she should have to do—but I do think that it shows a difference in the writer’s intent when these books were written (if that makes sense). 

While I was researching the first half of this book for my own presentation, I was interested (and a little confused) to find how many people (both professional reviewers and just casual readers) were promoting this book as a tool to educate or gift to your Trump supporting relatives. I personally found this a little perplexing because I think that a Trump supporter would throw this book across the room as soon as one of her political articles came up. I also think that this view kind of ignores the fact that a lot of these essays were written with a Native audience in mind. I don’t think that Midge should have to write her essays in a way that is approachable to a non-Native audience or with the goal of educating racist people to be published or read. It doesn’t make her writing any less valuable or worthy of reading. 

Overall, trying to place this in the context of some of our other readings—I’m not entirely convinced that this style of humor is going to change someone’s mind about things. It seems more designed to make people who already agree with her laugh and I’m not sure people who disagree would be willing to listen. People don’t like to be scolded and humor that is very dry and pointed like this still has a lot of sharp edges. But I am fully willing ready for our discussion to convince me otherwise.