7 ms·

Funny concept. Shame that The Onion's writing these days so mid.

by dogleash 2y ago

aaomidi 2y ago
I think it’s more that the world is now the onion.
- tuyiown 2y ago
  One option for the onion is to end being an entertaining opinion journal with very nuanced and layered (intended) points of view. They already are almost there, what place do they have where so many in the media are parodies of themselves ?
- Cthulhu_ 2y ago
  It's like the conundrum that the writers of South Park had, reality became worse than the worst they could think of. To the point where they really struggled when Trump actually won in 2016.
- newmanpo 2y ago
  You think the world has gotten dumber? By the numbers it’s smarter even if it’s unevenly distributed and less smart than people’s vain sense of cultural identity leads them to believe. For example; ~15% in the US have earned more than a bachelor’s. While public polls show people believe close to 50% have a PhD. Close to 50% have a bachelors. So the majority misunderstand ground truth but understand how to abstractly find the answer. Seems better to have people know how to count their way out of a bag and miss some inane specific than everyone being actually uneducated.
- philipov 2y ago
  If life could stop imitating art now, I'd appreciate it very much.
dionian 2y ago
Kids these days will never know how funny the onion used to be They used to distribute hard copies in big cities because people actually read it
- afavour 2y ago
  They started distributing hard copies again to folks who sign up. The lack of copies on street corners has a lot more to do with the collapse in print advertising revenues than it does the jokes printed inside.
  - skiman10 2y ago
    I actually have a copy that I stumbled across recently at a book store near me. I'm sure it won't be like the old days, but it was really cool to pick a hard copy up while out and about in town.
- anigbrowl 2y ago
  You can buy hard copies again if you subscribe. They used to give it away free in the 1990s because the world wasn't as hyper-capitalistic and it was practical to publish a free paper and put metal boxes on the street to distribute it while making a modest profit with advertising.
ascendantlogic 2y ago
I think the Onion is as good as it ever was. The issue now is that the real news is so wild and unhinged the Onion doesn't have that segment cornered anymore.
- dogleash 2y ago
  Oh come on now. The world wasn't just sent to live with it's auntie and uncle in Bel-Air. The distressed sullen worldview might be new to you, but people certainly had it back when I found the Onion regularly quite enjoyable too.
  - jayd16 2y ago
    How is the Onion supposed to top the actual cabinet appointments, for example?
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    In 2004, George W Bush was re-elected. At that time, a plausible Onion story might have been that George W Bush was going to appoint a vaccine denier HHS and someone who was investigated by the DOJ as AG, and that would have been, like, mildly funny (which was always the Onion's thing, really; it was almost never _great_), because haha, the president popularly considered to be a bit incompetent is appointing obviously unsuitable people, how amusing, but also, well, a bit of fun, not real. (Actually, if anything I think this might have strayed a bit too far into absurdity for the Onion's liking, particularly Gaetz.) Fast-forward to 2024, and, well... It just doesn't work as well anymore. Like, imagine an Onion story about Trump's appointments. What could it possibly say that would be stranger than the reality?
    - BizarroLand 2y ago
      Maybe appointing Paula Deen as the secretary of health. Show a "food pyramid" that is just multiple pies stacked on top of each other with a side of melted butter to wash it down with, and her vice secretary is a disgraced police officer with over 800 sanctions kitted out in full milspec riot gear whose job it is to beat every child who fails to eat 15 pies a day into submission?
jnwatson 2y ago
Did you read the link? Top notch comedy writing.
hersko 2y ago
I think the Babylon Bee has been a good replacement.
- metamet 2y ago
  Babylon Bee notoriously punches down and is the epitome of the "one joke" trope. They're an uninspired impersonation of The Onion, with a clear political purpose.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- skulk 2y ago
  I opened Babylon Bee and all I saw was mockery of already marginalized people. I guess that's funny if you hate them.
  - savingsPossible 2y ago
    I did see two objectionable articles. One about a 'car for woman that crashes' and one about the TGBL+ members of the Biden administration. This out of 10 or 20
- mrguyorama 2y ago
  The Babylon Bee occasionally takes a good swipe at liberals and democrats. The Onion will go down in history as one of the most influential satire projects of all time, and is filled with genuinely talented writers and comedians. Even their early Youtube work was prescient and brilliant. They aren't even playing the same game.
- bediger4000 2y ago
  Honest question: how so? The Onion has always billed itself as a "news" source, and parodied both form and content of traditional newspapers and TV news. The Babylon Bee seems to just put out jokes, without much of a unifying thematic framework.
- dvngnt_ 2y ago
  i disagree, they try to be a more right-wing version of the onion but they lack the surrealism of the onion. comparing both instagram pages, BB posts mostly political content and they're all critical of democrats/liberals. the onion's page has much more variety https://youtu.be/8wHMaJ6AtNs?feature=shared&t=8 https://youtu.be/8wHMaJ6AtNs?feature=shared&t=8
micromacrofoot 2y ago
I've been reading it for 20 years and it's as good as it's ever been https://theonion.com/biden-trump-die-2-minutes-apart-holding-hands-1850282375/ https://theonion.com/biden-trump-die-2-minutes-apart-holding...
rideontime 2y ago
It's been on the upswing ever since it was purchased this year. It's time to come back.
antonyt 2y ago
I don't think it's changed that much. There's so much more comedy and parody content out there these days that our collective standards have changed. The onion's heyday was when the internet was a lot smaller.

Funny concept. Shame that The Onion's writing these days so mid.

aaomidi 2y ago

I think it’s more that the world is now the onion.

tuyiown 2y ago
One option for the onion is to end being an entertaining opinion journal with very nuanced and layered (intended) points of view. They already are almost there, what place do they have where so many in the media are parodies of themselves ?
Cthulhu_ 2y ago
It's like the conundrum that the writers of South Park had, reality became worse than the worst they could think of. To the point where they really struggled when Trump actually won in 2016.
newmanpo 2y ago
You think the world has gotten dumber? By the numbers it’s smarter even if it’s unevenly distributed and less smart than people’s vain sense of cultural identity leads them to believe. For example; ~15% in the US have earned more than a bachelor’s. While public polls show people believe close to 50% have a PhD. Close to 50% have a bachelors. So the majority misunderstand ground truth but understand how to abstractly find the answer. Seems better to have people know how to count their way out of a bag and miss some inane specific than everyone being actually uneducated.
philipov 2y ago
If life could stop imitating art now, I'd appreciate it very much.

dionian 2y ago

Kids these days will never know how funny the onion used to be They used to distribute hard copies in big cities because people actually read it

afavour 2y ago
They started distributing hard copies again to folks who sign up. The lack of copies on street corners has a lot more to do with the collapse in print advertising revenues than it does the jokes printed inside.
- skiman10 2y ago
  I actually have a copy that I stumbled across recently at a book store near me. I'm sure it won't be like the old days, but it was really cool to pick a hard copy up while out and about in town.
anigbrowl 2y ago
You can buy hard copies again if you subscribe. They used to give it away free in the 1990s because the world wasn't as hyper-capitalistic and it was practical to publish a free paper and put metal boxes on the street to distribute it while making a modest profit with advertising.

ascendantlogic 2y ago

I think the Onion is as good as it ever was. The issue now is that the real news is so wild and unhinged the Onion doesn't have that segment cornered anymore.

dogleash 2y ago
Oh come on now. The world wasn't just sent to live with it's auntie and uncle in Bel-Air. The distressed sullen worldview might be new to you, but people certainly had it back when I found the Onion regularly quite enjoyable too.
- jayd16 2y ago
  How is the Onion supposed to top the actual cabinet appointments, for example?
- rsynnott 2y ago
  In 2004, George W Bush was re-elected. At that time, a plausible Onion story might have been that George W Bush was going to appoint a vaccine denier HHS and someone who was investigated by the DOJ as AG, and that would have been, like, mildly funny (which was always the Onion's thing, really; it was almost never _great_), because haha, the president popularly considered to be a bit incompetent is appointing obviously unsuitable people, how amusing, but also, well, a bit of fun, not real. (Actually, if anything I think this might have strayed a bit too far into absurdity for the Onion's liking, particularly Gaetz.) Fast-forward to 2024, and, well... It just doesn't work as well anymore. Like, imagine an Onion story about Trump's appointments. What could it possibly say that would be stranger than the reality?
  - BizarroLand 2y ago
    Maybe appointing Paula Deen as the secretary of health. Show a "food pyramid" that is just multiple pies stacked on top of each other with a side of melted butter to wash it down with, and her vice secretary is a disgraced police officer with over 800 sanctions kitted out in full milspec riot gear whose job it is to beat every child who fails to eat 15 pies a day into submission?

jnwatson 2y ago

Did you read the link? Top notch comedy writing.

hersko 2y ago

I think the Babylon Bee has been a good replacement.

metamet 2y ago
Babylon Bee notoriously punches down and is the epitome of the "one joke" trope. They're an uninspired impersonation of The Onion, with a clear political purpose.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
skulk 2y ago
I opened Babylon Bee and all I saw was mockery of already marginalized people. I guess that's funny if you hate them.
- savingsPossible 2y ago
  I did see two objectionable articles. One about a 'car for woman that crashes' and one about the TGBL+ members of the Biden administration. This out of 10 or 20
mrguyorama 2y ago
The Babylon Bee occasionally takes a good swipe at liberals and democrats. The Onion will go down in history as one of the most influential satire projects of all time, and is filled with genuinely talented writers and comedians. Even their early Youtube work was prescient and brilliant. They aren't even playing the same game.
bediger4000 2y ago
Honest question: how so? The Onion has always billed itself as a "news" source, and parodied both form and content of traditional newspapers and TV news. The Babylon Bee seems to just put out jokes, without much of a unifying thematic framework.
dvngnt_ 2y ago
i disagree, they try to be a more right-wing version of the onion but they lack the surrealism of the onion. comparing both instagram pages, BB posts mostly political content and they're all critical of democrats/liberals. the onion's page has much more variety https://youtu.be/8wHMaJ6AtNs?feature=shared&t=8 https://youtu.be/8wHMaJ6AtNs?feature=shared&t=8

micromacrofoot 2y ago

I've been reading it for 20 years and it's as good as it's ever been https://theonion.com/biden-trump-die-2-minutes-apart-holding-hands-1850282375/ https://theonion.com/biden-trump-die-2-minutes-apart-holding...

rideontime 2y ago

It's been on the upswing ever since it was purchased this year. It's time to come back.

antonyt 2y ago

I don't think it's changed that much. There's so much more comedy and parody content out there these days that our collective standards have changed. The onion's heyday was when the internet was a lot smaller.