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August 23, 2003
Fox News Lawsuit Generates At Least One Interesting Tidbit
I think most folks would agree that Fox News made a boo-boo when they tried to halt production of Al Franken's newest screed, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them." However, I found this quote to be quite interesting:
- "Parody is a form of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment and the keystone of parody is imitation," the judge said. "It is ironic that a media company, which should be seeking to protect the First Amendment, is seeking to undermine it by claiming a monopoly on the phrase, 'Fair and Balanced.'"
Now according to Dictionary.com:
par·o·dy n.
1. A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule. See Synonym: caricature.
2. Something so bad as to be equivalent to intentional mockery; a travesty: The trial was a parody of justice.
And also:
car·i·ca·ture n.
1. A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect.
2. A grotesque imitation or misrepresentation: The trial was a caricature of justice.
Now if Franken has to defend the title of his book based on a 1st Ammendedment 'parody' defense, that rather strongly implies, at least to me, that the title of his book has no merit as a representation of reality, does it? He might as well rename it "Truth and the Truth-Tellers Who Speak Truth: an Unfair, Unbalanced and Meritless Examination of the Right by All Fraken," mightn't he?
Heh.
Posted by crandal at August 23, 2003 03:08 PM