Essay On Alain De Botton's Status Anxiety

Satire is a literary technique to reveal the issues of an individual or the current society. One of the prime philosophies of today came about from the novel Anthem, by Ayn Rand, in which Rand incorporates satire to expose real life problems. Her rendition of romantic realism, based upon her objectivist theory, shaped the incongruities of a “hero’s” nature. In Ayn Rand’s satirical novel, Anthem, Rand uses humor, irony, and satire to demonstrate her ideas of romantic realism between her main character, Equality 7-2521, and the society. Her use of humor recognizes Equality’s odd situation and nature, and identifies his view on self-worth and love.

Humorists are often seen as insignificant contributors of society. People consider humorists no more than just “entertainers”, willing to make fun of anything in order to make a crowd laugh, however, has the audience ever contemplated why humorists are the some of the only people who are allowed to critique anything that crosses their mind without consequences? Alain de Botton, claims the vital role of humorist is, “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” I agree with Alain de Botton’s claims, that humorists do hold an important role in society, which is far more than to entertain. They break the ice on delicate topics, communicating the messages to society. Political cartoons and the Colbert

     This essay by Jeff Jacoby illustrates an authors use of ironic sarcasm otherwise known as satire to defend and illustrate his platform on his position. Jacoby uses in this essay verbal irony (persuasion in the form of ridicule). In the irony of this sort there is a contrast between what is said and what is meant.

Modern society allows humorists to touch upon offensive topics without receiving much criticism. As Alain de Botton claimed in his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, humorists’ role is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” De Botton’s argument proves legitimate. Many humorists, such as cartoonists and television hosts, decide to use their humor as a tool to prove an idea or express a belief that cannot be voiced candidly in public.

Many comedians have been talking a great deal about politics and the government as a way to spread a variety of messages to the community expressing how they feel about how things are going for America. Therefore many comedians have become more popular in this past election season and with Trump 's new presidency. Stephen Colbert an American comedian, television host, and author uses his spotlight in media as a way to attack President Trump and his administration within his comedy. Colbert uses Juvenalian satire and satirical techniques while discussing politics to reveal his opinions as a way to spread messages to society about the Trump Administration and uses his comedic platform to do so.

In Status Anxiety, author de Botton correctly claims that humorists are expected to not only entertain their audience, but to make statements about controversial events that may be too sensitive to say directly and causally present them in a way that is easy for the public to understand. This is demonstrated through various forms of media such as television shows and political cartoons.

America is a culture that enjoys having some time away from the reality of political issues within society. Comedic entertainment has found ways to also inform its audience about important political statements that is used to “refer to any act or nonverbal form of communication that is intended to influence a decision to be made for or by a political party”( Wikipedia), or ideas through a comedic point of view. Comical news is what brings our attention with ease because listening to straight political debates can lead a person to not want to sit and become informed on latest political topics. The culture that society has developed into became accustomed to finding it better to have a laugh about serious news because through humor an audience

Humor has become manifested into nearly all aspects of the secular world. Whether it be in comics, writings, or television, some form of comedy is sure to be seen on a regular basis. It seems the world today depends on a good laugh every now and then, and Alain de Botton argued the purpose of this in his book Status Anxiety. He concluded that humorists are more than just a form of entertainment; They "convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly". These men and women are granted some degree of leeway to speak freely and candidly on ultimately any subject for the preservation of societal stability. Their representation of public sentiment results in the people feeling as if what they long to say is finally being heard on a larger platform. Humorists serve the vital role of being a true reflection of public opinion; however, they are not immune to

Saturday Night Live, shortened as SNL, is a sketch-comedy show that has aired since 1975 on NBC. The variety show created by Lorne Michaels have boosted the careers of Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Amy Poelher and Jimmy Fallon to name a few. Saturday Night Live is what most comedians aspire to be on and what celebrities want to host. What keeps the show alive is the variety of characters brought on by the cast members and the weekly update segment. As new cast members enter so do new characters and as old cast members leave so do their characters. What keeps the show alive is how it constantly evolves with the times, keeping up with current affairs, making jokes relevant to what is going on in society. An example of keeping

Satire is constantly evolving in order to maintain with the times. As technology, culture and humanity change and grow, satire is forced to grow with it. Satire of our modern time is more likely to be found on our phones than on print, more likely on a television than a telegram. By merging with pop culture, in forms of Family Guy and Comedy Central news shows, these forms of satire are able to stay relevant. But, despite the change in medium, the purpose of satire and effect of satire holds true. Modern satire, just as that of past satire, sheds light on the problems of our society through ridicule and mockery, without reinforcing and further cementing the stereotypes and prejudices they are trying to expose.

A case of exquisite irony that I should be condemned by a society that presumes itself to be more moral than I. A society endlessly titillating itself with dirty books, newspapers, advertising and the work of cynical and indifferent minds.”

In The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton happiness is described as it relates to architecture. Most people like to think that the architecture of their house reflects certain values that they think are important. However, architecture is often not able to do this in full. For this reason it seems that houses are not capable of creating happiness. If the owner of a house paints the walls warm colors and has an open floor plan that lets in a lot of light the owner might still find themselves incapable of being happy despite the atmosphere they tried to create through architecture and design.

Today, comedy news shows are becoming progressively more popular, and in so, becoming a new source of information – which may, or may not, be a positive consequence. Most comedians twist the truth in order to connect to people and make them laugh. The article “A Serious Business: What Can Comedy Do?” suggests some comedians “use logic to make painful things make sense” (O’Hara 108). Satirical comedy acts as a relief mechanism in that it comforts people that may be wary about a certain subject, especially in the realm of politics. Similarly, Peter McGraw and Joel Warner discuss how comedy can act as a coping mechanism. The authors conclude that “activists all over the world have been using comedy as a form of political protest” (McGraw & Warner 147). Iain Ellis writes about how political satirists do more than just deliver jokes, they use satire “to expose, ridicule, and–implicitly–call for action and change” (Ellis 152). Ellis contends that comedy can make a difference by its constant presence in our daily lives. Socrates, Plato, and even shows like South Park believe that humor is a way to persuade others. One of the most effective expressions of humor to affect social change has been the inclusion of satire. Although humor often provides people a welcome escape from the burdens of their daily lives, the satirical comedy deconstructs social issues in various ways as a means to persuade the

Impersonations of politicians are now as de rigueur in politics as talking-head pundits and Gallup polling. Comic Tina Fey won an Emmy for her portrayal of then vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live." And Palin, for her part, actually appeared alongside Fey in one episode, and presidential candidate John McCain appeared alongside his impersonator.)

It is made evident that the ultimate approach used by non-fiction writers is to revolve their text around a thesis or salient idea which over rules each individual choice in their writing. To produce a successful non-fiction text, the work requires unity, being the salient idea, like the way ribs are structured from a sternum. Alain de Botton reveals the sense of unity in both of the extracts picked from his work: “The Pleasures And Sorrows Of Work”. The first extract’s salient idea wraps around the idea of society feeding false toward the work force. When referring to de Botton’s second extract, his theme revolves around the central theory that work is considered as punishment rather than pleasurable which de Botton sees as out of line. His