Humor, as defined in the Oxford dictionary, is “the quality of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech.” Nowadays, humor has taken a dimension that is beyond entertainment; it became a tool to convey political messages –in the form of political satire- providing a product that is smoother to understand, and getting people to think more critically in the public political sphere. In a world where global problems are still prevailing, few might suggest that humor or political satire is the solution to overcome these problems. However, Political satire is believed to have originated in Ancient Greece in the 4th century BCE, where the blending of serious political and religious topics with humor served as an effective …show more content…
James Conroy argues that laughter in serious topics has been regarded through the ages as dangerous, deviant, and subversive; yet equally as refreshing, challenging, and constructive. Political humor is extensively used in almost all countries, but political satire is perceived differently from one country to another. The research question is as follows: what factors make political satire an effective tool that affects politics and policy? I argue that humor is more influential when blended with serious topics, such as international relations or politics. Laughter is a great means to put serious topics under the lenses of critical thinking. The use of humor, and political satire specifically can bring about serious political change. Humor can play all sorts of roles in the political process through being informative, educational and influential while keeping its captive entertaining …show more content…
This genre of satire has often been used with subversive purpose where political speech is forbidden by a regime. Megan Hill explains that political satire does not carry a political agenda or seeks to influence the political process, but its unplanned use and its often destructive feature can lead to protest or dissent against the political process. Besides that, Dustin Griffin argues that satire attempts to make a balance between the fictional and the real so as to amuse and educate in more or less equal measure. He
Humor is more than just amusing entertainment to pass the time. Though jokes and witty banter can be shallow, humor can go deeper than surface level to convey messages to audiences who would otherwise be close-minded about certain ideas. Humor is a great tool to get audiences to change the way they think, feel, and act. In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” Alexander Weinstein uses humor to criticize some of society’s faults such as the way it has become heavily reliant on technology, racially insensitive, and judgmental.
Satire is a technique used in literature to criticize the faults of society. An excellent examle of contemporary satire is Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The author tells the life of Eliot Rosewater, a young and affluent man troubled by the plights of the poor. Eliot is the President of the Rosewater Foundation, a sum of money worth approximately $87 million. Using this position, he does everything he can to help the poor. This charity giving is socially unacceptable to the wealthy, particularly Eliot's father Senator Lister Ames Rosewater. Vonnegut uses caricature, irony, and tone to satirize the lack of care the rich have for those socially "beneath them."
In Alain de Botton’s book, Status Anxiety, he argues that the aim of humorists is not solely entertainment, but also to convey a message that isn’t always okay to state directly. There are many places where his argument can apply. Even with humor, some topics are still too controversial to joke about; However, in most cases, humor can lighten things up and make it easier to discuss topics that otherwise would not be as easy to talk about without heavy arguments. There are many cases that would make his argument true. There are many examples that support his argument, and that help to show the importance of humor in arguing, including cartoons, comics, works of literature, and also when thinking of hosts of television programs.
Satire is a great tool used by many writers and actors since ancient times. The earliest example that we know about is a script from 2nd millennium BC in Ancient Egypt (Definition: Satire) and since then has evolved into a great part of our society. Satire is used to point out the faults of human vice in order for change and reform in either of two ways. There is a very bitter Juvenalian or a mild and light Horatian. In order to fully understand these forms of satire, method, purpose, and applications will be addressed.
John Oldham once said “I wear my Pen as others do their Sword. To each affronting sot I meet, the word is Satisfaction: straight to thrusts I go, and pointed satire runs him through and through.” Satire works as a weapon to challenge ideas in society. Satire is the use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to uncover and criticize absurd ideas in society that people might not otherwise question. Confronting an issue with satire makes the audience more aware and open to new ideas, making them more likely to agree with the author. Satirizing an issue helps to reduce the tension that it may otherwise cause. People use satire to touch upon many controversial issues in society. One aspect that it touches upon is abortion. For decades, there has been
Satire is customarily discussed as humor critiquing current political or social issues. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary defines satire as they type of derisive humor or irony; mocking wit; sarcasm especially employed against something perceived as foolish or immoral. While the Oxford English Dictionary’s emphasis humor calls attention to the mockery of these issues, it does not present the consequences of certain actions. In the Onion article titled “Underfunded Schools Forced to Cut Past Tense From Language Programs”, The Simpsons episode “Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish, and The Colbert Report, satire also addresses the effects certain decisions placed on society. Attending to consequences of the actions or decisions that are being satirized allows us to see how satire can help us come to reasonable solutions that will impact society in a positive way,
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
John Marwood Cleese, an English actor, comedian, writer and film producer said, “If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can persuade you to laugh at the particular point I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge its truth”. The point he brings up is the ideology of satire. Satire, by definition, is a technique utilized by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society. This can be done by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule ("Satire - Definition and Examples", para.1). Often times, the humor used opens the audiences’ minds to the underlying problem that the writer is trying to reveal. By examining the purpose and methods of satire, dissecting literary works, and displaying examples in the media, satire is shown to be a valuable tool.
Satirical humor entertains the audience so that the people appeal some jokes and comic ideas more enjoyable to visualizes. Satire demonstrates something very safe and also not very cynical to the society. Sometimes, satire can misunderstand people that some people find it's an insult to the politics.Satirical humor can also be a tool to communicate people, so people can learn and get involved more about issues in politics. There are some people like comedians that expresses satirical humor in politics. Also, some comedy shows that expresses political satire. For example, some of the famous comedians that I found funny in satirical humor will be James Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jon Stewart; they also host their satirical shows: The Colbert
While the tone may range from playful to angry, satire generally criticizes in order to make a change. Exaggeration, parody, reversal, and incongruity are satirical devices. Author’s use satirical devices to strengthen their central idea.
Psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists study humor because it is a fundamental culture value, but they still can’t determine why certain things make some people laugh and others not. There are “humor quotient” tests that are designed to measure an individual’s sense of humor, but these tests are questionable. These tests aren’t accurate because almost all humor depends on cultural background knowledge and language skills. Not every person in the whole world, or even in one country share the same background knowledge and skills, therefore they cannot have the same type of humor. “The fact remains that individuals vary in their appreciation of humor” (Rappoport 9). Since humor varies from individual to individual, humor lies in the individual. How successful or funny a joke is depends on how the person receives the joke, humor cannot be measured by a statistical
According to Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz, “Humor has always played an important role in argument…” (38). Humor itself is something that activates amusement or laughter. Moreover, in popular culture satire is a tool that is used to point out things in our society. Satire opens the minds of people to philosophies they might completely deny, using humor. There are many elements of satire that identify flaws within our society. A couple of satire elements that will be discussed are irony and exaggeration. In addition, a parody is used in popular culture as a way to mock or mimic situation or person.
In America today, you will see some type of satire everywhere in America media because it is depicted in our everyday life. For example, satire appears in comics, broadcasts, TV shows, songs, etc. What makes satire more popular is the satirists who make it all possible to impact American media. Satirists have the unique ability to captivate anyone who may be listening to them speak through their words and delivery. Some famous satirists include Aaron McGruder, Milo Yiannopoulos, and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
This approach was used throughout Sarah Palin’s political run. Thus, making political satire change the meaning of political journalism. Ian Reilly presents this argument in Satirical Fake News and/as American Political Discourse, saying: “Over the past decade, satirical ‘fake’ news has emerged as ubiquitous of popular political discourse that questions, above all else the logical and integrity of contemporary journalistic practices (Reilly, 2012.)” Consequently, reinforcing our argument that political satire not only shouldn’t be ignored. It also presents the dynamic change of how political journalism is
Satirical texts critique the fundamental nature of tyrants in a communist society, and their foundation lies at their satirical techniques. A satire is a text which uses humour, irony or exaggeration in order to highlight the vices, flaws and pretensions of individuals, societies and ideals. The cartoonist’s impression of North Korean society, followed by Orwell’s novella Animal Farm uses satire to its pinnacle in emphasising a totalitarian state overriding an apparently communist society. As a result, communism is a valid form of societal order yet it is the nature of tyrannical leadership that eventually corrupts it, and satire is an effective way to express this.