Discomfort

Sometimes, satire can be uncomfortable. If you have to sharply inhale or even wince while reading or watching something satirical, you're not alone. While going through some of The Onion article titles, I looked a little something like this:

Like it was funny, but... yikes.

Oftentimes, satire does go a little too far. Occasionally, satire can cross the line. When it does, however, there's that classic retort of the first amendment protecting freedom of speech. This results in a sort of sunken place area (if you get that reference, we're friends) where people really really don't like what others are saying, but can't censor or stop it due to the first amendment. 

Anyways, as is common on social media, the production of memes are increasing. And with the increasing polarization of the right versus the left, memes are becoming more and more extreme. For example, take Pepe the Frog. I remember the good ol' days when this meme was sent on group chats and posted on social media in a wholesome, good natured way. However, people started using Pepe for alt-right memes, going wayyy too far. This resulted in Pepe the Frog being deemed a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League. Interestingly, a campaign has been started partly by the creator of Pepe to reclaim him from the depths of white supremacist memes. 

Now the question comes: how far is too far? It's interesting that although the image that symbolized alt-right was banned, its presence is still running rampant on all forms of social media. Although the first amendment guarantees protection, just because you can say something, does that mean you should?