Some Poor Uses of Irony

• Irony as a way of distancing yourself from things that are implicating to you when you identify with them
• Irony as a way of criticizing or ridiculing something / someone from a safe distance, ensuring that your own positive beliefs remain invisible and therefore impervious to attack
• Irony as a way of remaining inscrutable and aloof, even around those whom you love
• Irony as a way of selfishly appropriating what is interesting to you from other cultures / movements / communities while draining them of any significant power to symbolize or signify in a way particular to the original culture / movement / community (in example: donning a keffiyeh without knowing/caring about Middle-Eastern politics one way or the other, or without being aware that a keffiyeh has historically been used by Westerners removed from the situation in Israel to show their solidarity with Palestinians)
• Irony as a way of remaining safe, in life and theater (because it is not ultimately safe, and you will more likely remain alone)