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 "Photo: LANE S GOODMAN | STUDENT LIFE")
Student Life News Reporter Dan Woznica spent some time with political satirist Mo Rocca before his Assembly Series talk on Wednesday. Here are Mo’s thoughts on Wash. U.’s construction, the election and, of course, Sarah Palin.
Student Life: I dug up some of your information for this interview from your Wikipedia article. What’s it like having a Wikipedia page?
Mo Rocca: At first it was flattering, and it kind of remains flattering. I like Wikipedia, though through my own personal involvement with it I’ve come to like it less. I’ve been to it a couple of times and—for example—I was never in a video with Snoop Dogg. I’d love to have been in a video with Snoop Dogg, but I’ve never been in a video with Snoop Dogg. Apparently Wikipedia thinks I have a lot of involvement in the hip-hop community. And I wish I did—my name is sort of hip-hop-y, I suppose—but I don’t. Anyway, that’s all well and good. I just don’t want to be accused of having tried to kill Gerald Ford.
SL: So what do you think of Wash. U.? Do you feel like it’s changed at all since you last came in 2004?
MR: There’s been a lot of construction. I love the Wash. U. makeover. I just don’t want Wash. U. to get too much Botox. I love Wash. U.’s lines and its natural wrinkles, and I think if there’s too much reconstructive surgery done, it might become a little plastic-y.
SL: 2004, the last time you came here, was the year we had President Bush and John Kerry debate on campus. Now you’re here again in the year of Biden and Palin. What do you think of the VP nominees?
MR: I think that Sarah Palin, until proven otherwise, is a stunt.
SL: What are you hoping to see out of Biden and Palin at the debate?
MR: Whether or not Palin is a stunt, she is the first woman GOP VP candidate, and the second woman on a major party ticket. However this election turns out, just looking at this debate alone, it will be a very real advance if this debate is executed by the participants and covered by the press in a gender-neutral way. And hopefully that will happen. Because this is nonsense what’s going on right now. The sideshow has taken center stage. I made a vow to myself that when talking about politics I’d always at least make an effort to be funny, but this thing is so wacky and upside-down right now that it’s hard to not be serious—even distressed.
SL: Your Assembly Series speech is called “Making It Up As I Go Along: Satire In An Absurd World.” What’s the role of your satire in today’s political atmosphere?
MR: Hopefully to bring people to their senses a little bit. I think the title of my show is in fact fitting for this. Because we’re all still trying to make sense of what the Palin thing means. It appears right now that John McCain has deployed a brilliant stunt, and it may pay off for him. But whatever it is, it’s an absurd situation. And absurd situations, like this one, on some level are funny. So it’s my job—knock on wood—to find out what’s funny about them to at least awaken people to what is absurd. Because then the flip side of that absurdity is something that’s wrong. Governments shouldn’t be absurd.
SL: Do you view what you do as a kind of service?
MR: It’s entertainment. But entertainment is diversion, which means I’m drawing attention to something, something that may not be all that obvious. And here it’s something that’s in fact kind of serious.
SL: Any advice for Wash. U. students regarding this election year?
Mo Rocca: Keep your eye on the bigger issues and don’t get sidetracked. Palin’s become a tabloid superstar. And it’s funny on one level. It’s really funny. And if this were happening six months ago, I’d be laughing about it. But there are 55 days to go.
SL: Are you going to cover the VP debate?
MR: I want to come back here for it. If somebody has an extra bed, I just need a place to crash.
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