I'm Better Than YouA
Random Thoughts and Thoroughbred Selections reader emailed me, hoping I could revisit my thoughts on what it might take to ascend from generic schoolyard insult techniques into something on a higher level. Followers of this blog have long understood my stylistic gibes are oft-imitated and rarely duplicated so far as quality and content are concerned. It is in my most beneficient spirit that I choose to deign upon my readers the tips and techniques contained herein. Perhaps it is best to open up the following supposition for discussion before proceeding. Please do feel free to leave a comment below to address the apriorism with your gentle response.
Posited:
While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it is also the mechanism through which satire may take her most caustic of tones.Addressing the above postulate from a practical perspective, one must first thoroughly understand the bias from which his or her mark may be basing their style. Let us identify as our quarry in this endeavor: one who uses a passive-aggressive approach to belittle their victims. It is apparent, my friends, that the depth and breadth of supposed subtlety behind passive-aggressive derision provides us with ammunition which is not at all slim in quantity.
Let us further suppose that this passive-aggressive style is couched in an imaginary intellectualism, a pseudo-punditry if you will. Much like the ink smeared text of the dog-eared and thumb-worn thesaurus from which this loose literati formulates his facade, there remains a residue of his threadbare ministrations. It is incumbent upon the satirist's wit to derive both the overt and subversive connotations from these embers, and fan the flame of duality back at the pseudo-pundit mark - firing the reply wrapped in the same style from which his opponent began.
The mark, when faced with a satirical return volley, is doubly distressed. On one hand, the teetering effect felt of a bitch-slapped ego is discombobulating at best. The other? When the duality of his poorly-disguised denigration is uncovered and exposed, the passive-aggressive approach is often discarded for the ham-handed simplicity of the direct and personal insult. The victor, in this case, is invariably the banterer whose
bon mot does not end up classified in the "I know you are, but what am I" realm.
You might be wondering why it is I, and not you, who is the Boy Genius.
I, the Boy Genius, do not come to suffer the the insufferable willingly. The Boy Genius plays for satire, and plays for the crowds.