Satire Blog 1
Satire is so popular because it helps people feel better about the worst of our society. Many people and groups are interested in using satire to criticize social problems because social problems can be criticized without too much controversy. Works like Borat and “A Modest Proposal” are considered satires but Scary Movie is not considered a satire. Scary Movie belongs in the genre of parody which is different from satire because parody makes fun of specific works but satire makes fun of social situations. I enjoy satire because I am into politics and I tend to know the background information behind the satire and what they are making fun of. I feel to enjoy satire one needs to understand the situation the satirist is making fun of. This separates good satire from bad satire because good satire makes it clear what is being made fun of. Some examples of my favorite satires are the Colbert Report the Daily Show.
December 9th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
I like how you say that satire “helps people feel better about the worst of our society.” It really does, and it adds that comedic tone to sever social issues. However some of the things that you mention are very controversial. I believe that people are suing the Borat movie, and many other works can truly offend certain groups of people while trying to effectively use satire.
December 10th, 2006 at 10:05 pm
I agree with the statement, “I feel to enjoy satire one needs to understand the situation the satirist is making fun of,” because I think that in order to find a movie such as Borat funny, it is critical to understand that most of the issues in “his country of Kazakhstan” are just underlying the issues in America.
December 12th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
I really like how you picked apart the idea of satire. I liked how you said “I feel to enjoy satire one needs to understand the situation the satirist is making fun of,” it’s so true. In order to understand and get the impact of the satire being used, you need to understand what’s going on in the first place.