Saturday Night Live: Differences Between Parody And Satire

There are over 7 Billion people in the world each with their own individual thoughts, ideas, and innovations. Based upon this fact, it is evident that there will be disagreements and conflicts amongst peers. In order to present these problems and arguments within the world in an entertaining, but informative way, satires are used. Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupiditiy or vices particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. Through the use of exaggeration, humor, irony, and a variety of other similar techniques, controversial topics involving things such as politics can easily be presented.

In America, Jon Stewart popularized satirical news shows for Generation Y and Millenials, helping bridge the gap between more traditional news outlets like print newspaper and primetime news programming, with a more youthful Comedy Central-produced program that could be accessed on all mediums, including digital and mobile platforms. While in Europe, I was shocked by the amount of young Europeans that new of Jon Stewart and regularly watched his television program online in their home countries. Much of what they knew about America’s politics and pop culture came from Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show, and some countries like the Netherlands even tried to create their own version of the program. Stewart presented complicated American politics

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

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

One show in particular, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, frequently uses comedic satire in its’ episodes. The program follows four unethical, lazy friends that own an unsuccessful bar outside Philadelphia. Due to the gang’s frequent premature judgments and twisted views, they often find themselves in troubling situations that only get worse before they begin to get better. Through the particular style of television this show uses, the viewer is able to laugh at how senseless its’ character’s actions are in order to highlight certain social issues. ‘The Gang Gets Racist’ episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia uses satire to criticize modern day racism as well as homophobia through the dysfunctional humor of its characters.

It is common for T.V. shows to use satire to comment on modern society through the use of critical humour. “The Simpsons”, a popular animated American sitcom, focuses on a dysfunctional working-class family and their day-to-day lives in the small town of Springfield. In one particular episode, Bart befriends Bashir, a newly moved-in Muslim boy, and the Simpsons invite him and his family over for dinner however homer’s paranoia gets the better of him and he jumps to the conclusion they’re terrorists. This episode, which is targeted at a broad contemporary audience, very effectively satirises the American culture and the typical ignorant American in order to heighten awareness on racial intolerance. These flaws in modern society are cleverly

Successful satirist achieve a balance between amusement and criticism. discuss At its core the purpose of satire it to use amusement to expose humanity’s various vices and shortcomings, and in doing so critique the prevailing social norms and attitudes. Political satire, in particular, humorously engages with the responder to represent a comment on the vices and foibles of the political systems, through an insight in to the ethical ambiguity within the internal machinations of politics. Rob Sitch’s 2008 mockumentary The Hollowmen humorously highlights the clandestine nature of politics , where politicians devalue public merit in order to meet self-serving agendas .

SNL considers the advantage of being able to ridicule people in politics with the use of satire to ultimately persuade audiences

Parody has been around from the times of the ancient Greek playwrights to Weird Al Yankovic today. Parody has been a very well-known form of comedy that has been used for centuries and hopefully centuries to come. Parody has been a great form of comedy even though it has been considered simple. Many individuals perform parody referring to music, film, television, and periodicals. One huge part of parody is the Simpsons.

Satire was a comedic method to ridicule the issues of society. It makes fun of current issues of the time of the people. It sometimes helps push the political agenda a certain way. Recently, satire is used by late night hosts poking fun of ridiculous behaviors of politicians. This tends to exaggerate a certain quality in a character like in South Park. Additionally, satire involves irony. Usually tends to upset some of the audience like the supporters, but has the opposition to the subject laughing uncontrollable.

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.

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