The reason political humourists have been so successful over the past six years is because they have been the tonic that has stopped people from wincing at how bitter the gin tasted. Marina Hyde has been the Fever Tree of these tonics. She is the Guardian writer who has used her columns to spectacularly satirise the sordid state of our parodic politics. These columns have been amalgamated in her new book: What Just Happened?! Dispatches from Turbulent Times (2022).
I was sat at the back of the Octagon, which I refuse to believe has ever been so densely populated. There was, perhaps, one empty seat at an event with a capacity of at least 300 people, many of whom were looking for some relief in these tempestuous political times. This is what fascinated me about the event. In her columns, Hyde is able to harness her humour and provide happiness to many in times in which they should feel rather hollow. This evening was no different. Despite the topic of discussion often being the political pandemonium of the past six years, Hyde’s audience was constantly reduced to hysterics, which is exactly why she is the quintessential comedic writer of her day.
The other thing which enhances the potency of Hyde’s commentary is her intelligence, evident by her identification of the role that celebrity culture and reality TV have played in turning our politics into a frenetic farce. She mentioned Simon Cowell’s botched plan to hold referendums on a TV programme and how he became one of the most important figures in Britain, courted by both Gordon Brown and David Cameron. Reality TV and celebrity culture are wholly reliant on the personalities of their subjects, and the popularity of both to the masses has undoubtedly morphed our politics into much of the same. A complete state of vacuity in which characters, such as the Brexit hardman Steve Baker, the unedifying eccentric Jacob Rees-Mogg, and Boris the clown, are far more palatable to the public than subtle but serious statesmen such as Starmer. For our country, the consequence of this has been a deviation toward populism.
Hyde also suggests that social media is somewhat of a mirage. She argues that whilst campaigns such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter had their roots in social media, it cannot replace real-life activism. The fire set alight by social media will not keep us warm for long enough to make change. The algorithms are designed to keep you on these sites – if social media was so transformative, why would the algorithms do such a thing? Hyde suggests they cleverly pacify us and make collective action more difficult to achieve. These comments in particular I thought were of serious value.
Hyde spoke of her longing to make political writing less exclusionary. She writes from the perspective of a common civilian as opposed to a member of the college green clique. She is also entirely unafraid to be herself, feeling more of a need to lace her columns with references to MCU as opposed to references of what the liberals were doing in 1983. This allows her writing to resonate with many middle-aged men and women who live regular lives, and that itself is of value.
Hyde does not need me to extoll her, as everyone who is anyone has already done so. Perhaps, if more in her profession possessed the same authenticity as she does, maybe I would loathe journalists, who as Hyde said ‘know they’re scum’, slightly less.