has to a large extent run its course

David Foster Wallace is known for being

one of the most influential writers in

recent history before taking his own

life in 2008 he decried the negative

effects post-modernism had on his

generation post-modernism is a very

wide-ranging term used to analyze our

world that emerged in the nineteen

fifties and sixties it rejected the

grand narratives that exists in

modernism things like there's one true

God history is progress and peace on

earth in postmodern thought there is no

scientific philosophical or religious

truth which will explain everything for

everybody

it lacks that optimism instead

everything is understood on a micro

level knowledge and truth are contextual

and constructed reality only comes into

existence through our interpretations of

what the world needs to us individually

thus post-modernism is characterized by

self-referential ality such as a

character who knows their character in a

novel or film by moral relativism and by

cynicism and irony with that in mind

here's Wallace again that the problem

though is now is that a lot of the

sticks of post-modernism irony cynicism

irreverence are now part of whatever it

is that's enervating in the culture

itself right

Wallace's biggest concern was with the

dominant cultural force of television

which he believed had become too

saturated with these postmodern

characteristics TVs response to dumb and

overly sentimental sitcoms was ironing

TV shows began criticizing themselves

for being dumb TV shows can't be

happening we have to see this movie dude

is great about the isn't that good

anyway and then what are you talking

about love carrots in film and animation

up crabby

it's hard to criticize a show that

criticizes itself first shows became

more self-referential and

self-deprecating

in short they took nothing seriously and

there's a problem with this in Wallace's

mind irony has no redemptive qualities

in and of itself it can point out

problems and deconstruct things but it

offers no solution

it's like a rebel to throwing a tyrant

only to become a better tyrant

take for example seinfeld ironic

critique of the sitcom every character

is very human problems are laid bare but

they're presented as unsolvable whereas

earlier more sugary sitcoms might offer

a solution through family friends or

hobbies seinfeld gives you nothing

that's not a redeeming formula it's a

cynical one family guys use of irony is

slightly different but no more redeeming

it makes ironic connections to history

celebrity stereotypes you name it he

cares more about the number of

connections that can make rather than

providing any lessons or challenging any

principles with them

it simply uses irony to reassure us of

our knowledge of cultural discourse

you've got saturday night lives

deconstruction of cynicism arrested

development superficial relationships

it's always sunny is irredeemable

characters and in Wallace's time all of

these shows the ironic mode shows up in

advertising all the time here 20 ads

making fun of themselves for being ads

hello I'm an actor I've been paid eight

thousand dollars to tell you how great

nor net is compared to other banks to

Wallace TVs unabashed self-deprecation

and deconstruction of our culture the

idea that everything is fabricated was

corrosive to the soul hip cynical

transcendence of sentiment is really

some kind of fear of being really human

he thought we'd find a solution in

shifting televisions overall tone away

from one of cynical irony to one of

sincerity and no doubt this terminal

shift is occurring in some spheres of

pop culture and has been for the last

decade it's due in part to david foster

wallace himself and likely to a general

cultural shift away from cynicism in

general it's interesting to see how this

total shift has affected TV comedies

some of comedies greatest tools are

characteristically post

so how these combined with sincerity to

change American humor

it all starts in $MONTH 2006 with the

office then in $MONTH 2009 the tonal

shift towards sincerity continued with

community modern family and Parks and

Recreation they all have similarities to

the postmodern predecessors but instead

of the blank parody of family guide the

superficiality of arrested development

or the cynicism of seinfeld they have a

heart

they have redeeming characters who have

a sincere yearning for meaning and human

connection

the office is full of redemptive people

looking for human affirmation any

ironing the show is balanced with Ernest

sentimentality

take for example Jim and Pam's romantic

chemistry their connection relies on a

hyper awareness and mutual ironic

detachment from the office

it's not just irony for irony sake it

has that addition of a sincere human

relationship attached to it

indeed rarely does the show use irony at

the expense of a character ever in one

episode a recently dumped and he tries

to talk jimmy out of being with Pam and

Jim response to him

ironically so scared all right things

are going on and you're coming out with

almost no knowledge of course adjuster

opinion on this

Andy Reid's Jim's ironic comment as

sincere and for the rest of the day

believes he's genuinely taking on all of

jim's emotional troubles even though

Jim's perfectly happy with his

relationship at the end of the episode

one of andy's co-workers reveals the

joke i think Jim is messing with you but

instead of judging or belittling Andy

for the postmodern crime of being naive

in the face of irony

Jim uses the occasion to teach Andy a

sincere lesson that's not that Apple you

and angela is a bummer and I know that

you don't think you're going to find

someone else but you will I promise you

you will

Jim's ironic stance ends with in

delivering a sentiment upholding

American romantic ideals much like the

office community balances it's pop

culture references and ironic moments

with characters who sincerely desire

human connection the title of the show

tells us this out right

it's about how and why we come together

and form communities with other people

and even when it parodies and

deconstructs tvtropes like the jock it

so in an uplifting way turning the

all-star quarterback into one of the

most caring people on the show and

despite its frequent cynicism community

tells us that no matter how isolated and

alone you may think you are we need

other people around us in order to

function

it doesn't matter if it's a bunch of

outcasts they can still come together

through their shared similarities in the

ways they conflict with each other as

well the show at its core believes in

common human dignity and communal

integrity

it's a sincere anti nihilistic message

you won't get from these shows then

there's parks and recreation which

contains very few postmodern

characteristics you won't find the show

making fun of itself there's no meta

humor

it avoids a cynical tone entirely

ultimately it's a show about good people

trying to do good things

Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson have an

entirely different idea of civic duty

you have the hope and naiveté of

government and body then Leslie and the

pessimism and deconstruction of

government embodied in wrong

this relationship is right for a sort of

seinfeld and resentment and cynicism but

rotten Leslie have a mutual respect for

each other and they have a good

friendship

both are awesome both are flawed and the

show constantly goes back and forth

between them without taking the side

Andy and April are very similar both are

great but one is ultra sincere and the

other cynical we see every characters

ideology but never fully embrace or

discredit their stance sure the show is

about bureaucratic conflict but it's

also about how disparate people in a

town connect the show's overall tone

that cynical thinking isn't the smartest

or coolest makes a dramatic shift away

from post-modernism this wave of

earnestness and TV comedy shows no sign

of slowing down part of the reason jon

stewart was successful for so long was

that he had an unwavering sincerity

behind the irony in the daily shell two

of his major successors understand that

balance the best shows of our age aren't

finding the humor in the gaps that have

developed between people they find the

humor in the absurd and awkward attempts

by people trying to bridge those gaps

they want to show us that humans can

have real connections and sincerity for

each other it's not impossible it's just

really fucking hard postmodern thought

with its deconstruction of every

thing in its emphasis on individual

interpretation leads us down a road of

narcissism cynicism and detachment to

fix it we need not appeal to something

as abstract or dangerous as the grand

narratives of modernism to feel less

lonely it's perhaps this non-ideological

pursuit of getting along of striving to

have strong communal integrity valuing

others for their human dignity

unabashedly enjoying the things we find

to be awesome and as David Foster

Wallace would say making it ok to be

unavoidably sentimental and naive and

grown and generally pathetic that might

help us find a greater sense of meaning

and optimism in our lives

these shows tell us that strict

adherence to cynicism isn't all that

smart or cool and that perhaps we learn

more about what it means to be human

by embracing life and the different

people around us everyone thank you so

much for watching I had an absolute

blast making that video I don't always

make videos like that i like to make

comedy content as well but i try to keep

the quality as high as possible on my

channel and if that is something you

would like to support i have a patreon

page where you can go and pledged three

dollars or one dollar really any amount

helps me create more content i would

really like to make videos full-time so

any support

I'm very appreciative for and yeah come