For Block Day, Sept. 9-10
Read and annotate the following Wikipedia page on Satire to begin to have a basic understanding of Satire, but you only need to read from the start of the page through the end of Social and Psychological Functions, sections and then at the end, the Contemporary Satire Section:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire
Know Satire's basic use and functions, along with a brief overview of the history. Focus on the elements that make up irony and the critical use of language.
For Thursday Sept. 11
Review your notes from class and the Wikipedia readings and find at least one example from Office Space for each of the types of irony listed.
For Friday, Sept. 12 - Due Monday
Read, annotate and write a 1 page response to the following article. Focus on what made the movie a success or not, and identify what is the satire of the movie. Your response should include at least one Direct Quotation as part of your support:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/aug/29/johnpatterson
If you did not read the contemporary Satire Section from Wikipedia, read it here and annotate as well:
20th century satire[edit]
Karl Kraus is considered the first major European satirist since Jonathan Swift.[19] In 20th century literature, satire was used by authors such as Aldous Huxley (1930s) and George Orwell (1940s), which under the inspiration of Zamyatin's Russian 1921 novel We, made serious and even frightening commentaries on the dangers of the sweeping social changes taking place throughout Europe and United States. Many social critics of the time, such as Dorothy Parker and H. L. Mencken, used satire as their main weapon, and Mencken in particular is noted for having said that "one horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms" in the persuasion of the public to accept a criticism. Novelist Sinclair Lewis was known for his satirical stories such as Babbitt (1922), Main Street (1920), and It Can't Happen Here (1935). His books often explored and satirized contemporary American values. The film The Great Dictator (1940) by Charlie Chaplin is a parody of Adolf Hitler; Chaplin later declared that he would have not made the film if he had known about the concentration camps.[80]
In the United States 1950s, satire was introduced into American stand-up comedy most prominently by Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl.[21] As they challenged the taboos and conventional wisdom of the time, were ostracized by the mass media establishment as sick comedians. In the same period, Paul Krassner's magazine The Realist began publication, to become immensely popular during the 1960s and early 1970s among people in the counterculture; it had articles and cartoons that were savage, biting satires of politicians such as Lyndon Johnson andRichard Nixon, the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the War on Drugs. Prominent satiric stand-up comedian George Carlin acknowledged the influence The Realist had in his 1970s conversion to a satiric comedian.[81][82]
A more humorous brand of satire enjoyed a renaissance in the UK in the early 1960s with the satire boom, led by such luminaries as Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, whose stage show Beyond the Fringe was a hit not only in Britain, but also in the United States. Other significant influences in 1960s British satire include David Frost, Eleanor Bron and the television program That Was The Week That Was.[citation needed]
Joseph Heller's most famous work, Catch-22 (1961), satirizes bureaucracy and the military, and is frequently cited as one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century.[83] The film Dr. Strangelove from 1964 was a popular satire on the Cold War.
Contemporary satire[edit]
Contemporary popular usage of the term "satire" is often very imprecise. While satire often uses caricature and parody, by no means are all uses of these or other humorous devices, satiric. Refer to the careful definition of satire that heads this article.
Satire is used on many UK television programmes, particularly popular panel shows and quiz shows such as Mock the Week (2005) andHave I Got News for You (1990-ongoing). Similarly it is found on radio quiz shows such as The News Quiz (1977-ongoing) and The Now Show (1998-ongoing).
The television program South Park (1997) relies almost exclusively on satire to address issues in American culture, with episodes addressinganti-Semitism, militant atheism, homophobia, environmentalism, corporate culture, political correctness and anti-Catholicism, among many other issues.
Australian Chris Lilley produces comedy art in the style of mockumentaries (We Can Be Heroes, Summer Heights High, Angry Boys) and his work is often described as complex social satire.
American culture is extremely welcoming of satire, with many citizens supporting popular television programs and social outlets.
Stephen Colbert’s television program, The Colbert Report (2005), is instructive in the methods of contemporary American satire. Colbert's character is an opinionated and self-righteous commentator who, in his TV interviews, interrupts people, points and wags his finger at them, and "unwittingly" uses a number of logical fallacies. In doing so, he demonstrates the principle of modern American political satire: the ridicule of the actions of politicians and other public figures by taking all their statements and purported beliefs to their furthest (supposedly) logical conclusion, thus revealing their perceived hypocrisy or absurdity. Other political satire includes various political causes in the past, including the relatively successful Polish Beer-Lovers' Party and the joke political candidates Molly the Dog[84] and Brian Miner.[85]
In the United Kingdom, a popular modern satirist is Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the internationally best-selling Discworld book series. One of the most well-known and controversial British satirists is Sir Chris Morris, co-writer and director of Four Lions.
In Canada, satire has become an important part of the comedy scene. Stephen Leacock was one of the best known early Canadian satirists, and in the early 20th century, he achieved fame by targeting the attitudes of small town life. In more recent years, Canada has had several prominent satirical television series and radio shows. Some, including CODCO, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, This Is That, and This Hour Has 22 Minutes deal directly with current news stories and political figures, while others, like History Bites present contemporary social satire in the context of events and figures in history. The Canadian organization Canada News Network provides commentary on contemporary news events that are primarily Canadian in nature. Canadian songwriter Nancy White uses music as the vehicle for her satire, and her comic folk songs are regularly played on CBC Radio.
Cartoonists often use satire as well as straight humour. Al Capp's satirical comic strip Li'l Abner was censored in September 1947. The controversy, as reported in Time, centred around Capp's portrayal of the US Senate. Said Edward Leech of Scripps-Howard, "We don't think it is good editing or sound citizenship to picture the Senate as an assemblage of freaks and crooks... boobs and undesirables." [86] Walt Kelly's Pogo was likewise censored in 1952 over his overt satire of Senator Joe McCarthy, caricatured in his comic strip as "Simple J. Malarky". Garry Trudeau, whose comic strip Doonesbury focuses on satire of the political system, and provides a trademark cynical view on national events. Trudeau exemplifies humour mixed with criticism. Recently, one of his gay characters lamented that because he was not legally married to his partner, he was deprived of the "exquisite agony" of experiencing a nasty and painful divorce like heterosexuals. This, of course, satirized the claim that gay unions would denigrate the sanctity of heterosexual marriage.
Like some literary predecessors, many recent television satires contain strong elements of parody and caricature; for instance, the popular animated series The Simpsons and South Park both parody modern family and social life by taking their assumptions to the extreme; both have led to the creation of similar series. As well as the purely humorous effect of this sort of thing, they often strongly criticise various phenomena in politics, economic life, religion and many other aspects of society, and thus qualify as satirical. Due to their animated nature, these shows can easily use images of public figures and generally have greater freedom to do so than conventional shows using live actors.
Fake News is also a very popular form of contemporary satire, appearing in as wide an array of formats as the news media itself: print (e.g. The Onion, Canada News Network,Private Eye), radio (e.g. On the Hour), television (e.g. The Day Today, The Daily Show, Brass Eye) and the web (e.g. Mindry.in, Scunt News,[87] Faking News, El Koshary Today, The Giant Napkin,[88] Unconfirmed Sources[89] and The Onion's website). Other satires are on the list of satirists and satires. Another internet-driven form of satire is to lampoon bad internet performers. An example of this is the Internet meme character Miranda Sings.[90][91]
In an interview with Wikinews, Sean Mills, President of The Onion, said angry letters about their news parody always carried the same message. "It’s whatever affects that person", said Mills. "So it’s like, 'I love it when you make a joke about murder or rape, but if you talk about cancer, well my brother has cancer and that’s not funny to me.' Or someone else can say, 'Cancer’s hilarious, but don’t talk about rape because my cousin got raped.' Those are rather extreme examples, but if it affects somebody personally, they tend to be more sensitive about it."[92]
Zhou Libo, a comedian from Shanghai, is the most popular satirist in China. His humour has interests middle-class people and has sold out shows ever since his rise to fame. Primarily a theater performer, Zhou said his work is never scripted, allowing him to improvise jokes about recent events. He often mocks political figures he supports.[citation needed]
Techniques[edit]
Literary satire is usually written out of earlier satiric works, reprising previous conventions, commonplaces, stance, situations and tones of voice.[93] Exaggeration is one of the most common satirical techniques.[3]
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