Reverse Psychology
Even though it’s easy to relate to Mike Judge’s characters, they are not actually designed to be viewed as heroes. Satire is a little bit like reverse psychology, in that it should make a viewer want to do the opposite of what the characters do. This is tricky, because it doesn’t always work.
American cartoons have long used reverse psychology in conjunction with gags, most notably in Looney Tunes. The most popular example is when Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are arguing whether or not it’s “rabbit season” or “duck season.” Bugs’ trick is to switch his argument from “rabbit season” to “duck season” in the heat of the moment. Daffy is so caught up with arguing the opposite of what Bugs says that he is tricked into arguing that it is “duck season.” Eventually, Bugs concedes to Daffy’s argument, and Daffy is promptly shot by Elmer Fudd.
Judge, as a fan of all sorts of animation, maintains this method in his own works, but uses reverse psychology much more satirically. In his cartoons, it’s not as easy or obvious as Looney Tunes because instead of making one of his characters use reverse psychology against a subject in the show, Judge’s subject is actually his audience. We are responsible for seeing his characters as doing the opposite of what’s correct. His hope is that viewers are able to discern between vice and virtue well enough to avoid pursuing a career in propane or sitting around eating nachos all day.
But unlike Looney Tunes, Mike Judge’s productions are not suitable for children. And this is not simply because of swearing or crude language. Children cannot understand reverse psychology. That is, they are unaware of when it is being used. So if a junior-higher sees Beavis and Butthead watching TV instead of reading a book, they could miss the sarcasm and interpret the characters as doing no wrong whatsoever.
Bugs Bunny was on the viewers’ side. He would break the fourth wall and raise his eyebrows knowingly towards us when he was about to trick Daffy. We were all in on the joke together. But no character in Beavis and Butthead or KOTH are in on the joke. Every one of Judge’s characters are the butt of the joke, and we laugh at them. Never with them. The danger is that if we don’t see them as satirical characters, then we can also become the butt of Judge’s jokes.
Judge intentionally uses reverse psychology on us in a positive sense though. It can be confusing since a satirical protagonist is often rewarded for his folly, but that abstract moral can only be understood by a mature adult. If we can laugh at the characters (and never with them), we can learn from this master satirist.
