Being cruel at the National Lampoon

Being Cruel at the National Lampoon

The Lampoon could be cruel and vicious at times, particularly when taking satirical aim at celebrities. Thus, the July, 1976 issue features a scathing portrayal of Elvis on the cover.

 

Inside the magazine, we have the Letters page, where the Lampoon staff would publish fictitious letters purporting to be from celebrities and those close to them. 

 

The July issue first takes cruel aim at Karen Ann Quinlan. In April, 1975, a 21 year-old Quinlan collapsed into a coma after taking Valium in conjunction with alcohol. Her condition became the subject of a complex legal battle by her parents to have her disconnected from her ventilator, which happened in May, 1976. Despite her vegetative state, Quinlan remained alive without the ventilator, and lingered until June 1985, when she died from respiratory failure.

The July '76 Lampoon presents a letter from Quinlan:

 

 

Then there is Caroline Kennedy, who, in April 1975, was admitted to the New England Baptist Hospital for what the gossip column in the New York Times referred to as a 'routine checkup.'

 

 

Leave it to the Lampoon to fabricate a letter that is perfectly snide and vicious:

 

Lots of transgressive stuff in that July, 1976, issue ! That's how they did it, back in the seventies......