Watching TV the other night, my husband and I came across a gem of a film on TCM: Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, in which (in addition to writing, directing, scoring and producing) he plays both roles in the classic oaf-mistaken-for-a-king narrative, bumbling his way through 1940 as the unlikely doppelganger for a power-hungry dictator with a Hitleresque moustache and all its attendant pretentions.

While it wasn’t the first take on pre-war political satire – the Three Stooges had their own Hitler parody earlier that year, according to Wiki – it was a bright spot in very dark times. While controversial and initially banned in several countries, it was a cultural and popular success at home in the US and the UK, even as England entered the war with Germany.

The power of comedy to converse with important social issues is as age old as the art form itself, yet is something we’re seeing as increasingly relevant in TV and culture today. Especially for Millennials and Gen X, for whom comedy is as crucial to their identities as music was for the Boomers.

Eight years after the economic collapse, today’s national mindset echoes a time where institutions are seen as so problematic, and issues so entrenched, that we increasingly look to artists to imagine creative solutions. And once again, comedians are emerging as social commentators, provocateurs and thought leaders.

Of course, Jon Stewart and his Daily Show progeny (Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Larry Wilmore and soon Trevor Noah) have long articulated outrage and discontent with political inanities, thanks to the rise of Fox News.


But the new social comedy is more subversive than explicit. As my team has noted, Amy Schumer is using her eponymous Comedy Central show platform as a virtual laboratory of comedic experimentation (at its height with the buzzy “12 Angry Men” episode – which she wrote, directed and acted in). But it’s her subject matter – a pop culture-fueled VitaMix of feminist, neo-feminist and post-feminist critiques that make the show culturally noteworthy – that’s hilarious.

12 angry and famous actors wonder whether Amy Schumer is hot enough for television.
12 angry and famous actors wonder whether Amy Schumer is hot enough for television.

Schumer’s Comedy Central sibling show Key and Peele takes on social issues from a decidedly diverse POV – resonating well beyond the genre of sketch comedy. Case in point: Keegan-Michael Key’s “Luther the Anger Translator” was tapped to provide the “black” counternarrative to President Obama’s speech at White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April.

THE PRESIDENT: But we do need to stay focused on some big challenges, like climate change.

LUTHER: Hey, listen, ya’ll, if you haven’t noticed, California is bone dry. (Laughter.) It looks like a trailer for the new “Mad Max” movie up in there. (Laughter.) Ya’ll think that Bradley Cooper came here because he wants to talk to Chuck Todd? (Laughter.) He needed a glass of water. Come on! (Laughter and applause.)

Source: White House Transcripts

Recent seasons of Louie on FX grappled with darker, often dramatic issues like fat shaming, homophobia and hapless men in an alpha-female world (date-rape comedy, anyone?). It seems we like addressing unfunny social issues that make us squirm in creative, boundary-pushing ways.

Perhaps in a recurring theme, Louis C.K. is listed as his namesake show’s Executive Producer, Writer, Director and Editor (he’s also got credits for Soundtrack and Music Department on imdb.com) for Louie. Like Chaplin and others before, he and Schumer may have understood that in order to lead the conversation, you have to take the reins.

Growing up in the 70s, I consumed a steady diet of politically and socially-inspired TV comedy – from Norman Lear’s All in the Family to Sanford & Son – that caused me to question the world and the way I viewed it. It seemed to calm the chaos and presage an era of more kindness, empathy and questioning that we desperately need again right now. Maybe that’s why I’m so hopeful the next wave of comedy does the same for society today.

TruthCo. is a cultural branding and insights company, headed by CEO Linda Ong, that analyzes the current cultural landscape to deliver actionable recommendations that keep entertainment brands and their offerings relevant.

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