What can we learn from RFK Jr’s ‘erotic poetry’? That Americans need to get better at enjoying a scandal | Marina Hyde
In a recent article, Marina Hyde from The Guardian offers a humorous take on the current U.S. health secretary’s reported “digital affair” with journalist Olivia Nuzzi, highlighting the stark differences between American and British journalism. Hyde argues that American media often takes itself far too seriously, to the point where it fails to recognize the absurdity of its own narratives. She contrasts this with the British press, which, according to her, is more self-aware and comfortable embracing its own flaws. The piece suggests that instead of delving into somber analyses of the situation, sometimes laughter is the most appropriate response to the outrageous antics of public figures and the media that covers them.
Hyde points out the outrageousness of the U.S. health secretary’s actions, such as writing what she refers to as “felching poetry” to Nuzzi, while the British press has its own share of scandalous moments, including a former health secretary’s public indiscretion during the pandemic. She emphasizes that while American journalism may be steeped in a sense of gravitas, the events surrounding the health secretary’s personal life are, in reality, more akin to farce than tragedy. By framing these incidents as comedic rather than serious, Hyde encourages readers to find humor in the chaos of political life, suggesting that sometimes the best response to absurdity is to simply laugh at it.
This perspective not only critiques the American media’s tendency to dramatize such stories but also invites readers to reconsider how they engage with political scandals. By acknowledging the ridiculousness of the situation, Hyde highlights the importance of maintaining a sense of humor in the face of what can often feel like an overwhelming and serious political landscape. In doing so, she champions the idea that laughter can be a powerful tool for coping with the absurdities of public life, making her commentary both entertaining and thought-provoking.
The US health secretary’s ‘digital affair’ with Olivia Nuzzi doesn’t need sombre analysis. Take it from this Brit: sometimes laughter is the only option
Literally nothing on this earth takes itself as seriously as American journalism. There are rogue-state dictators it’s more permissible to laugh at than the endlessly hilarious pretensions of newsmen and newswomen in the United States. The crucial difference between the British press and US press is that at least we in the British press
know
we’re in the gutter. The Americans have always imagined – and so loudly – that they are involved in some kind of higher calling. Guys, I love you and stuff, but get over it, because you’re missing one of the great jokes of the century. Yourselves.
I don’t deny that everything’s bigger in America. Our former health secretary had a knee-trembler up against his office door
in the pandemic
; their current one
apparently
wrote felching … poetry, is it … felching poetry? … to a superstar journalist who was worrying about his brainworm, yet the story is being written up like it’s Dante, instead of X-rated Italian brainrot.
Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist
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A year in Westminster: John Crace, Marina Hyde and Pippa Crerar
On Tuesday 2 December, join Crace, Hyde and Crerar as they look back at another extraordinary year, with special guests, live at the Barbican in London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets
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