Satire

Satire is a literary work in which the follies of its subject are attacked through irony, derision, or wit, usually to fulfill a corrective purpose. Those who satirize are called satirists. Satire is an art, and while making a point, it should do it in such a way that the reader doesn’t feel assaulted, or moralized. No one likes a moralizer. Satire’s more eye opening than judgmental, and is conveyed through distortion, exaggeration (as well as understatement), paronomasia, ambiguity and innuendo, comparison and zeugma, similes and metaphors, oxymorons, and parables and allegories.

Satire has existed since the beginning of human stupidity, or fault. Among the earliest records discovered from the B.C., there have been forms of social commentary. Greek playwrights would incorporate parodies into their plays, bards from the middle ages would sing of society’s defects, by the 17th century, satirical books were published and sold. Nowadays, satires exists in various forms, such as The Simpsons, Spike Lee films, and The Onion.

There are three main genres of satire: Horatian, Juvenal, and Menippean. Horation satire is usually good natured, Juveanlian satire is a bit more hard core, and Menippean humor is chaotic and disorganized, with no form of prose.

There’s an idea that’s been progressively formulated, and that’s that satire needs to be humorous. This isn’t true, however, that is how it’s displayed today. The humor of satire isn’t upfront—it’s subtle and deadpan. Insane things will be said and done and the joker will be utterly earnest throughout it. Buster Keaton was a straight comic, barely smiling during his films, Ali G has the most outrageous interviews with celebrities and politicians and, somehow, doesn’t crack up.