Irony and Sarcasm?

Ok... this is not a joke... just a question...

Is understanding Sarcasm or Irony something that i take for granted?

for me Sarcasm and Ironic comedy is something i was brought up on... from 70's and 80's British TV shows like Monty Python, Faulty Towers, Black Adder, The Young Ones etc...

All of these shows were heavy in Sarcasm and Irony...

I ask this because i have noticed a distinct lack of understand, with regards to this, among some members of ATS.

Look at this thread...

Don't believe the government. The end is near, I have hard PROOF.

This is BLATANT Sarcasm and Irony... the writer stating exaggerated points to prove the opposite... Trying to make us see, what the writer sees, as ridiculous by stating it as factual...

Yet many people reply as if it IS factual with things like

"Urgh, more fear mongering... "

and...

"yes. the end is VERY near. but what does that mean? that something MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better is about to begin"

Clearly the comedy in the OP has gone over many people’s heads... Another example is one of my own threads...

Obama is the Anti-Christ - Fact

Now, of course, i don’t not believe that Obama is the Anti Christ... This was a thread that was totally Ironic and sarcastic... I got so tired of hearing completely ridiculous unfounded allegations and speculation against Obama i decided to write this thread as a protest against what i see as Ignorance...

Now don’t get me wrong... this did not have a political motivation... I just wanted to prove a point that this anti Obama rhetoric can sometimes go a bit far (same as that anti bush rhetoric about him being the anti christ)

However, this thread was moved to the rant section of BTS...

I don’t get it... It’s NOT a RANT!!

It is Irony...

It was designed to show that the ongoing threads against Obama where no longer just debating politics or opinions on Obamas policies... but had turned into a some kind of hate fuelled propaganda machine that often didn’t worry about facts and data as long as the message was clearly against Obama... Often these threads would be filled with chest thumping "right on" "you said it brother" type replies.

These threads will use snippets from media outlets that have the same ideology and are clearly biased. In essence, it has become a conspiracy against Obama!

I argued my case but had to respect the decision of the mods who i believe, in fairness to them, had no ill intentions and simply believed that they were looking out for the quality of ATS... I believe, they just didn’t get my sense of humour or the message within it!


Now some may argue that if i had a point to make why not just come out and say it? Why not just tell you opinion like it is...

Well, i could do that, but i believe that different writing styles and techniques is what makes ATS great... i don’t want to see ATS full of page after page of tabloidesque threads... dumbed down and simple to understand with very little facts but packed with emotion and opinion... surely we need things to make us think... to pause... to contemplate... and even, to laugh... writing should provide food for the brain should it not?

Maybe it is me... maybe Irony and Sarcasm is simply the lowest form of wit... and not understood by many... maybe its cultural... something that if you are not brought up on you simply will not understand it!!

I don’t know... maybe your just all too stupid... JOKE

I just wonder... why is it that some people get it and others don’t? I know for a fact that it has NOTHING to do with intelligence... I’ve known some very clever people who simple look at me with a blank expression when i make one of my off-the-cuff sarcastic comments... and others who will roll around on the floor laughing... So what is it??