"Some critics of my work took the view that a satirist should defer to the finer feelings of his readers and respect widely held beliefs"
About this Quote
Low’s line is a tidy little grenade: it repeats the moral lecture he’s been given, then lets the absurdity of it hang in the air. The phrasing “took the view” is diplomatic, but the content is merciless. Critics want satire house-trained, padded with deference, trained to sniff around “finer feelings” and step politely around “widely held beliefs.” Low is pointing at the real demand behind the etiquette: don’t make us uncomfortable; don’t make us look.
As a political cartoonist working through the age of mass newspapers and the rise of European fascism, Low understood that “widely held beliefs” are not a synonym for truth. They’re often a synonym for power, for habits that have stopped being questioned, for the public moods that propaganda feeds on. His best-known work skewered dictators and appeasers alike; it’s hard to imagine that kind of visual argument surviving if it had to ask permission from its targets’ admirers. The quote is a defense of satire as a civic irritant: its job is to puncture sentimentality, not flatter it.
The subtext is also about audience complicity. “Finer feelings” reads like virtue, but it can function as a shield against accountability. Low’s refusal to “respect” certain beliefs isn’t adolescent contrarianism; it’s a claim that respect must be earned by reality-testing. Satire, in his view, is less a comedy of manners than a tool for moral triage: when the world is lying loudly, politeness becomes collaboration.
As a political cartoonist working through the age of mass newspapers and the rise of European fascism, Low understood that “widely held beliefs” are not a synonym for truth. They’re often a synonym for power, for habits that have stopped being questioned, for the public moods that propaganda feeds on. His best-known work skewered dictators and appeasers alike; it’s hard to imagine that kind of visual argument surviving if it had to ask permission from its targets’ admirers. The quote is a defense of satire as a civic irritant: its job is to puncture sentimentality, not flatter it.
The subtext is also about audience complicity. “Finer feelings” reads like virtue, but it can function as a shield against accountability. Low’s refusal to “respect” certain beliefs isn’t adolescent contrarianism; it’s a claim that respect must be earned by reality-testing. Satire, in his view, is less a comedy of manners than a tool for moral triage: when the world is lying loudly, politeness becomes collaboration.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
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