Mock the Mockery: The Irony of Ironic Websites

Want to waste people's time and possibly get a book deal out of it? Just create an online forum where you mock the shit out of something.

The sheer number of websites dedicated to dissecting a concept through massive mockery seem infinite. There are websites that poke fun at everything from poor parenting, like Why the Fuck Do You Have a Kid?, to the patrons of big box stores, like People of Wal-Mart. While these mocking blogs are often a great source of free, funny entertainment have we gone too far with making fun of other people or is everything in life fair game for ridicule? Are these ironic blogs getting ironic? It seems we have a burning desire to constantly provide commentary on everything — hence, what I'm doing right now, and since anyone can publish their thoughts online, there are gazillion people using the art of "making fun" for profit. 

For example, take Look At That Fucking Hipster, which makes fun of — you guessed it — hipsters. In general, hipsters think of themselves as ironic, and then here comes a site proving the irony of trying to be ironic. The site itself is pretty cool, or rather pretty hip, as in hip like cool. Which then if we're going to argue in English here I could call the creators of the site hipsters, cause they made such a "hip" site, right? I wouldn't be surprised if a good portion of the website's fans were in fact hipsters themselves, since hipsters tend to like kitschy sites like these mockery blogs. Oh, the irony.

Another site I thoroughly enjoy is Hot Chicks With Douchebags, because it's a funny look at those guys that we all love to hate and also because I love the word douchebag, hence why I had my own mockery site, Dear Douchebag, for a while, but I no longer keep it up because I got sick of making fun of people. As I peruse pics of dudes with overly gelled hair sporting sequined tank tops, I can't help but feel slightly sorry for these guys. (Please note: I used the word slightly.) Sure, I agree they look silly but it anyone's right to put their photos on blast for our own enjoyment? Is it that we have a need to point out how much fatter/dumber/more pathetic other people are in order to make ourselves feel better?

Then again, much of comedy is mockery. Maybe these sites are just in good fun. Perhaps the answer is to stray away from making fun of actual people and stick to making fun of things that can't tell us how much they're offended, like animals — the way Fuck You, Penguin has so successfully done. The concept is pretty simple (and non threatening): comment on the insane cuteness of animals with an underlying commentary on our obsession with cute animals.

I think what's most amazing is that a simple idea can turn into such a pop culture phenomenon. Three of the websites I mentioned above have successfully turned their websites into books. (Check out fellow Shoestring contributor and comedian Heather Clisby's interview with Fuck You, Penguin creator Matthew Gasteier about his blog-to-book experience.) It's pretty amazing how people can go from unknown website creator to published author these days. But, now that people have seen the potential success of creating one of these ironic/commentary/mocking sites, a plethora of new sites are flooding the Internet all the time in hopes of getting their own 15 minutes of cyber fame.

So far, I don't think there have been many reported complaints from people who have been made fun of on these sites. There haven't, to my knowledge, been any lawsuits or suicides caused by someone getting a picture of themselves in a terrible wedding gown posted online, as Ugly Dress does, so I guess there's really no harm in a little finger pointing (or mouse clicking).

My only complaint with the sheer number of these sites is that I don't have the time to read them all. Seriously, these damn things are a massive source of distraction and procrastination. How can anyone get any work done when you could be looking at unflattering pics of other people's families on Awkward Family Photos?

What are your favorite ironic/mockery/humor websites? I'm always game for a laugh.

Story & Image: Copyright 2009, Shoestring LLC.