As we talked about on Friday during our extensive note-taking session, saucy Chaucey is keen on satirizing certain folks in "The General Prologue" of his Canterbury Tales. Satire, as I hope you remember, is a literary form/device that is used to ridicule individuals and/or society in an attempt to shame said individuals/society into improvement.
An important distinction needs to be made here between satire and parody. Parody is also known as spoof or lampoon, and it is intended as mockery of another text/song/show, but not necessarily with the intent to shame anyone into ameliorating his/her ways. It's usually just for chuckles.
The following video is one of my favorite more recent examples of parody:
So why is this parody and not satire? Mainly because the writers/actors of SNL are probably just making fun of Californians (and the terrible TV dramas that are produced that supposedly depict life here) rather than making a deliberate attempt at helping us correct our ways. It's trying to make us laugh--not think.
Can you think of a movie/song/TV show that is of the satire or parody form? Describe it to us in a comment and explain why it's satire/parody and just what about it makes it so funny. BE SPECIFIC! Just naming Saturday Night Live isn't enough...name a specific sketch and describe what you love about it! Don't be afraid to take a stand and tell your classmates why they should love what you love! :)
Being the intellect that I am, I decided to highlight a scene Family Guy :) A popular archetype in the series, Stewie and Brian take a journey throughout the multiverses. While most of the dimensions are pretty unique, the third dimension has a take on one of the most popular film studios in the 20th and 21st century. Having entered the Disney universe, Stewie Brian and the rest of the cast of Family Guy are transformed into characters like those in Disney movies. Once there, the parodical take begins. The scene starts off with a super positive tone and quickly shifts into a musical. Just like a musical scene in a Disney movie, all of the characters engage in song. And just like any Disney movie, the villain (Herbert in this instance) is quickly "vanquished". The final take on Disney is one that connects to Disney's controversial history with the Jews. Since it is somewhat inappropriate, I won't describe that part of the scene but inappropriate parts like this are what make up Family Guy.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I like this scene so much is because it pokes fun at how stereotypical Disney movie plays out. From the continuous nonchalant and positive tone to the numerous amount of musicals, the scene manages to mimic Disney movies with a classic Family Guy twist. As an avid fan of the series, the key elements of the series I love still remain intact within the parody. Another key part of the parody is that while the scene is still animated, a different animation style is used to mimic a Disney movie. Overall, while Disney and Family Guy contrast immensely, the show produces a Disney scene with a Family Guy twist.
Today people make almost everything a parody. Whether it be a movie, song, TV show, or even a play, they are created and loved by many. When I read this blog post, tons of parodies and satires popped into my mind. Ranging from the crazy 1980s movie “Airplane,” to the more political satire Animal Farm, my mind was flooded with all the different parodies and satires I have seen so far. Although these examples and the many others I thought of were enjoyable and funny to me, I wanted to choose one that was more than that. I wanted to choose a parody or satire that made me think about our society. This parody is Mitt Romney Style.
ReplyDeleteMitt Romney Style is a parody of the Gangnam Style, made in 2012 that has achieved over 3 billion views. First of all Gangnam Style, created by the South Korean artist PSY, satirizes the Gangnam District in Seoul, South Korea. This district is known for its wealth, fashion, and a sense of “superior class.” Gangnam is known for being over the top and exclusive, leading PSY to make fun of, and mock such a society. In this music video, PSY flaunts this over-the-top luxury, and sense of being “superior” to those around him. Gangnam Style definitely shames such a society, and even though it isn’t in English, is relatable as well. By watching this video, one can clearly tell that the artist is mocking this society, while making it come across as funny.
I am sure that after seeing the success of PSY, many Americans wanted their turn to create such a successful, and widely-seen music video. So three months later Mitt Romney Style was created. This music video created by CollegeHumor, currently has over 63 million views. This is because of its relevance to the extremely popular Gangnam Style, but also to the political situation occurring in the United States at the time. Mitt Romney Style was created roughly a month before Obama won the 2012 election. As we all know, during an election both Democrats and Republicans try to poke fun at each other and put each other down as much as possible. Therefore Mitt Romney Style was created. Now I remember when I first watched Gangnam Style, as it was a huge hit when I was in third grade. When I watched Gangnam Style, it was hilarious to me with all the weird dancing and fun music. I also remember watching Mitt Romney Style a little later, and seeing my mom laughing her head off, while I saw it as somewhat funny. At that age I knew who Mitt Romney was, and that he was running against Barack Obama in the presidential election. I also realized that this music video was a parody of the hilarious Gangnam Style. What I didn’t quite realize was that Mitt Romney Style satirized the actual Mitt Romney.
Mitt Romney Style includes many references about Mitt Romney, mainly flaunting his wealth just as Gangnam Style had. I honestly think this music video became so popular because of how well it reflected many people’s opinions of Romney, and how relevant it was to recent music culture. Now, as I go back and watch both videos, I realize how funny and satirical they both are. I finally understand the funny references made in Mitt Romney Style, and how much funnier they must have been back when the 2012 election took place. This music video really got me thinking about politics and trying to understand them at such a young age, and therefore I am so glad I watched it.
The Office is a perfect example of a satire, with small episodes that parody another thing. The entire show is not to make you laugh from jokes and punchlines, but the intelligent humor from the show stems from the use of symbolic characters and offensive jokes to represent actual, uncomfortable aspects in the average human being’s life. Michael Scott satirizes the typical boss, over-bearing and a lack of understanding his co-workers. In Season 2 Episode 9, a character named Jim Halpert is hosting a party, that of which Michael, the boss, is not invited to. However through the power of email surveillance, which is satirized greatly in this episode, Michael ends up finding this email, and attending the party without an invite. The entire episode greatly satirizes the idea of email surviellance, a new development in technology in 2006. The episode mocks the idea of email surveillance, that many can attest to the fact that it is a violation of personal privacy, which The Office was able to poke fun at. In the very second episode, “Diversity Day”, The Office produces an extremely offensive episode, yet satirical in the idea of people’s modern perception of race. Michael Scott makes extremely racist comments towards all races, having constant misconceptions of why racial diversity exists. The purpose of this satirical episode is to show how absurd racism is. The reason most people tell me they do not continue watching The Office is because of how offensive the second episode is. I always say, that’s the point, it serves the purpose to show watchers how idiotic racism looks to people not affected by it directly. Not only do most of the episodes satirize a topic debated at the time, but like previously stated the characters in the show all represent and mock common personalities and actions of people anyone could experience in their lives. Michael Scott represents the person with no sense of personal boundaries. Dwight represents the “try-hard”, trying to one-up or put down anyone worse than him. Stanley Hudson represents the grumpy presence, constantly ruining jokes and always inattentive and phlegmatic. Phyllis Vance represents the neutral presence, however at times can be extremely condescending. Meredith Palmer, the alcoholic, and the most crazy, unpredictable person ever. Angela Martin, the stuck up character who can never take a joke, always criticizing others for not doing things the same way as her. Jim Halpert and Pam Beasley both represent the people who never do anything necessarily wrong, however others seem to criticize them constantly. Ryan Howard and Kelly Kapor both represent the people in everyone’s lives that need attention, but can never seem to focus on their own tasks or issues. Each character in The Office is extremely unique in numerous ways. They all have unique traits. The thing most people brush past when watching The Office is that each character strictly represents at least one person someone has encountered in their lives. A character like Dwight and Angela are extremely common in everyone’s lives, and everyone seems to heavily relate to Jim and Pam. The way the characters were designed were to amplify common traits of everyday people, exemplifying the humor and satirical episodes.
ReplyDeleteThe Netflix hit TV show American Vandal is a great example of satire in the media. In the form of a crime documentary shot by two high school students, American Vandal is a show containing both immense depth and cheap humor. The show follows two students, Peter and Sam, as they document the recent vandalism of 27 cars with spray-painted male genitalia in the staff parking lot of their high school. The main suspect of the vandalism, a wrongly-accused senior named Dylan, is the main focus of Peter and Sam’s documentary as they attempt to investigate and catch the real criminal. The show is shot completely in the form of Peter and Sam’s documentary with no indication or reference to the reality that it is a show with fake characters produced by professionals. Every little detail, from the credits to the title sequence, is presented in the frame of Peter and Sam’s world. In this way, the show eliminates the barrier between fiction and reality, and creates an immersive connection between the audience and the characters. In a way, this show does not necessarily “break the fourth wall”, but simply completely removes it. There are many reasons why this benefits the show and its delivery, the main one being the satirical nature of the show. Much like the show The Office and other “mock-umentaries”, AV follows this general idea: If it is easier for the audience to believe the show is set in our reality, the content and delivery of jokes will be easier to digest. This much can mostly be proven true, given the success of the shows that follow this idea. Eliminating the barrier between the show and the audience also eliminates much of the criticism that comedy shows face. If a poorly written joke is delivered in a show without the “fourth-wall-breaking" frame of AV, the audience’s first thought is likely disapproval of the writers of the joke. It eliminates a sense of connection between the audience and the characters, and instead brings the audience’s focus back to the reality that they are watching a TV show with actors and writers. Meanwhile, it is easy to forget such a reality while watching a show like AV. This creates a stronger connection to characters, which is beneficial in a show like AV, where the characters could easily be students found in any high school.
ReplyDeleteThe use of the reality-immersive framework adds to the satire of the show because it also increases the show’s severity. The overall color schemes, music, and direction of the show indicates a serious crime documentary found on the likes of National Geographic. Instead, AV mimics this style exactly but forms a satirical take as the content of the show itself is crude and generally explicit. It is difficult to take the show seriously when the slang for reproductive organs is used generously in an investigative environment, especially added with dramatic music and close ups of drawings of such organs. The reason American Vandal is a satire is because it doesn’t take itself seriously but pretends to. At its core, the show is a comedy and the audience is meant to get a laugh out of the stark contrast between the severity of the production and the vulgarity of the content. Still, the audience is also supposed to question a lot of things about the justice system and the biases we all have against others. The depth of the show is what truly makes it a satire. It provides thoughtful commentary on the judgments people make about others based on things like intelligence or social status/popularity as well as the psychology of how we present ourselves based on the expectations of society and those around us. AV does a superb job of gradually getting deeper and more thoughtful with each episode, drawing in the audience until they realize, after the last one, the true depth and message behind the show beyond its comedic content. Thus, American Vandal is a prime example of satire because it comically addresses issues within our society in an engaging and entertaining way.
The Interview is a movie that is satire. The movie targets North Korea and their dictator Kim Jung Un, in a joking manner. Kim Jung Un is portrayed as a misunderstood leader, and that is what makes the movie fun and interesting. We know that he really isn't like that, but it's funny to see him portrayed as someone you could pity. Kim is humanized in the movie, shown playing basketball and partying. This creates a huge contrast of what many people perceive his normal life, which is creating nuclear weapons and plotting world domination. By the end of the movie, North Korea changes to a democracy. I think that part is what makes the movie satire, it's trying to change North Korea into a more peaceful nation.
ReplyDeleteThroughout our culture many parodies and satire have risen and given us joy and happiness, Choosing one of these masterpieces was difficult but the first one to come to mind was A Scary Movie. This movie is a parody from the notorious movie Scream. The movie is funny and was created to get their viewers laughing but not necessarily thinking. When watching the movie, many scenes are hilarious are definitely serve their purpose. However, the one scene that always popped out to me was when the villain corners one of the girls from the group. Instead playing out the usual reaction, she kind has a breakdown and starts harming herself by playing out what usually happens in a movie while the villain was just watching and nodding while she was doing it. At the end, she soon dies after the scene and whole time the villain was watching and only did the last deed which was committing the murder. The whole time, I was laughing because it was not what I suspected was going to happen and kind of shocking. Overall, there's many different songs, movies and literatures that are funny and kind of weird and brings a sense of joy.
ReplyDeleteAs of recently, our society has begun to poke fun at some of the main issues that we are facing as a population. Some are to facilitate change, while others are just to draw humor from the audience. Saturday Night Live is a prime example of what good satire and parodies look like. A variety of their skits include political or pop culture events. Some skits are written to draw attention and make change, while others are just for the fun of it. On occasion, the viewer has to take a closer look at whether or not the reenactments have an underlying meaning, or if it is just pure comedy.
ReplyDeleteOne of my personal favorite skits from SNL is when the cast plays a “Super Bowl” version of Family Feud. In this episode, Justin Bieber, Samuel L. Jackson, Paula Deen, and Roger Goodell play against Gisele Bundchen, Bill Belichick, Casey Affleck, and Lady Gaga. The parodies of the guest characters are not the only hilarious parts. “Steve Harvey” also adds another comedic dimension to this parody. Steve will introduce the celebrity guests and occasionally add in jokes that are relevant to the celebrities personal life. In response, the celebrities play off of Harvey’s jokes, and are histrionic in the way they move, act, and talk.
Personally, Kate McKinnon (who plays Justin Bieber in all of the skits) is the most entertaining character to watch. Her precise imitations paired with her uncanny resemblance to Bieber makes her the perfect character to play such an engaging and comedic role. McKinnon portrays the “bad boy” teenager who is trying to constantly gain attention from everyone and anyone. It surely adds comedic pleasure that she plays a cross gender role. She is the perfect candidate to play such an intricate and engaging role.
This whole skit can classify as a parody because the cast is simply reenacting the celebrities in real life. They take common knowledge of the character and overemphasize certain traits that the celebrities may possess in real life. In this way, the cast focuses on implementing comedic parts for the viewers satisfaction. They are not focusing on a particular issue or attempting to shed light on a global problem. The actors are there to simply satisfy the viewers using celebrities at the center of their parodies. In the end, that is what makes a successful parody, a parody.
Miya Kaiser, Period 5
ReplyDeleteAn honorable mention in clever television mockery, is the comedic show well known for its satire; Family Guy. This show is my favorite for sentimental, nostalgic reasons but on top of that is a very amusing show to watch. A particular favorite scene of mine is the episode where Brian, the family dog, falls in love with a show dog. After going on a date, he says “Man she is something else, this must be what Ronald Reagan felt about Nancy.” and then cut to a scene where Regan is proposing, saying “Nancy, will you make me the happiest man in the world by turning a blind eye to the AIDS crisis, and ineffectually trying to warn young people about drugs?”. This scene ends with a jingle accompanied by harmonious voices singing “If you’re too young, those are both things she did!”. Here Family Guy mocks the actions, or lack thereof, of Nancy Reagan. It turns it humorous because Family Guy takes what we are on the fence about, in this case certain political figures/views and makes it lighthearted. Each and every every other episode of Family Guy provides humorous and surprisingly satire scripts similar to this one, which keeps it interesting and innovative, is one of the main reasons it's a comedic favorite amongst many. It is this impeccable script writing and various other factors that combine to make Family Guy a comedic favorite amongst many.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytxPJ7zR5Dc
One example of a satirical TV show is The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In this show, Colbert often satirizes Trump and his administration for their actions in recent events (or lack thereof). Colbert mocks Trump, in an almost identical voice mimic, about his Twitter posts and his criticisms of anyone who disagrees with his beliefs whether that be the press, John McCain, or even the FBI. I love how Colbert is able to mimic Trump’s voice and be able to recite his Twitter posts in a way that makes the stupidity in any statement obvious. It is this ability to mimic and mock Trump that makes Colbert such an interesting comedian to watch (although you do have to be up to date with current events). Colbert covers many controversial topics such as school shootings and recent hurricanes all the while criticising Trump for his actions and word (or tweets).
ReplyDeleteHere are three recent ones that I recommend watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFj4vOc4GIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke0zQhW2F7c&t=8s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Umj580ls0
Another example of satire is "Weird Al" Yankovic’s “White and Nerdy”. In this parody of Chamillionaire's “Ridin”, Yankovic both satirizes and recognizes nerd culture with many stereotypical references to nerdy activities such as playing Dungeons and Dragons, collecting comic books, riding segways, wearing fanny packs, and being involved in the “AV club, and glee club, and even the chess team”. The reason why this is so funny is because of the stereotypes being assumed in the making of this video and how they all fit into this one character who wishes to “roll with the gangstas” but is considered “just too white and nerdy.”
Chamillionaire’s “Ridin”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtwJvgPJ9xw
Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw
Robin Hood: Men in Tights has been a family favorite for years and is one of the routine movies to watch as Christmas time approaches. The entire movie is a parody of the original storyline of the brave and admirable Robin Hood. In this alternate world Robin is a lethargic and clumsy character that can’t overcome any of his missions without struggle. The plot of the original story is essentially turned inside out with the opposite personalities of the two Robins. Along with Robin come his equally as dim sidekicks, whom all participate in the wearing of particularly tight tights. The unfortunate pant situation is only one of the major ways the Robin Hood story is mocked or made humorous, but the purposefully poor acting is the most notable.
ReplyDeleteIn particular, the “men in tights” hilariously execute a fully choreographed song about their outfits and it is effective to name the movie as a ruthless parody. These buff and noticeably intimidating men harmonize with their low voices to express that their uniform doesn’t degrade their manliness. As it is a parody, the original Robin Hood is simply being roasted. In my opinion, this scene is movie gold and should be appreciated widely, so here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G59JnM4JKNQ
Satire is often rather difficult to distinguish from parody, but some art so blatantly bashes society that it can be easily classified. One such example is the film "American Beauty", which relentlessly satirizes the culture of those who have found the "American Dream". All of the characters are appalling: specifically Annette Bening's Carolyn Burnham, an opportunistic, high-strung real-estate agent who is cheating on her husband, and Colonel Cooper, a closeted gay man who is bellicose and incredibly bigoted to hide his sexuality. Meanwhile, Lester Burnham, a man incredibly unsatisfied with his mundane life, decides to spend his life in a way he finds fulfilling. He quits his job and and begins to work in a drive thru (not as a manager). His midlife crisis and unhappiness is so trite, but the way he responds to it is unexpected, and alarmingly funny. He begins to blackmail his corrupt boss, then uses the money to get a sports car. He is a disturbing character, but audiences laugh because they can relate to wanting to give up on something in life. Carolyn Burnham is an especially interesting character, obsessive and desperate for recognition. She drives herself to the brink of insanity for her constant need to strive for greatness. However, it is absolutely ridiculous when she has a nervous breakdown over not selling one house, and how her lack of satisfaction continues to a point where she goes to a shooting range. Overall, "American Beauty" bites at the life of suburban Americans, as well as other citizens, for taking so much for granted rather than appreciating what they have, but twisting it into a real yet ridiculous painting of a corrupt family in a corrupt society.
ReplyDeleteParody vs. Satire
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite movie parodies is a parody of The Hunger Games that’s called The Starving Games. It’s absolutely ridiculous and a bit inappropriate but honestly that’s what makes it so funny. I’ve read The Hunger Games books, I’ve seen all the movies and it’s definitely not supposed to be taken lightly because it’s about survival in a corrupted society in which they use fear to control people. However, what makes this parody so funny is that absolutely nothing about it is serious. Yes the main goal of “The Starving Games” is to be the last one alive but the detector of this movie has managed to make even this humorous. The names are switched around to sound even odder such as instead of Katniss it’s “Kantmiss” (which is somewhat ironic because she’s supposed to be a talented archer). Instead of Effie it’s “Effoff”, and instead of President Snow it’s “President Snowballs”. But these minor name changes are only the start of it.
There are several things in this movie that are parody worthy but I’m only going to name a few. The main one is that there are several references that correlate to other movies/trend s outside of movie’s plot that the characters themselves are unaware of but the viewers understand. These include references to “Avatar”, “The Avengers”, Gangnam Style, and of course the childhood app Angry Birds,(all of which were popular around the time that the movie was released). Kantmiss doesn’t understand what what any of these are but the pure fact that these references are included along with everything else makes the movie even more enjoyable. Other factors that make “The Starving Games” a successful parody include Kantmiss and Peter’s (originally Peeta) relationship, Kantmiss and Petunia’s (Primrose) relationship, and the fact that Kantmiss didn’t willingly volunteer in her sisters place to save her life. Personally, one of my favorite parts of this parody is the Game Keeper’s ever-changing beard because I’ve always thought that even though it is so small compared to the rest of the movie it is a good way to poke fun at the Capital peoples’ style. From what I can remember, his beard changed from the Apple logo to the McDonald’s classic “M” which is again not a big contribution but definitely noticeable one.
“The Starving Games” is a parody because unlike a satire it doesn’t display what’s wrong in a society and how to fix it but only makes fun of it, or in this case makes fun of a movie. What makes it funny is that it’s shear stupidity of making fun of a highly favored movie and able to make it into something such as this. I thought it was hilarious when it first was released. Honestly, now I can’t stand it but I do believe that it is a very good example of what a parody should be.

A musical number written by Saturday Night Live writers, "Welcome to Hell", is a satire. Although most SNL skits, songs, and such are mostly parodies and not satire, this musical number can be considered a satire. However, it can be debated that it qualifies as a parody, as well.
ReplyDelete"Welcome to Hell" is a song written about the sexual harassment women receive. It is actually very funny because the entire tone of this song is very sarcastic, and although each singer is singing an important fact, the whole mood and visual effects contradict the topic, giving a very ironic sense to the whole situation. It's mocking the unfair treatment some women receive from others and the stupidity of how much women have to do just for them to feel safer. It's very funny because the visual setup is very cute and bright, the opposite of what they are singing about. Furthermore, they address some facts that seem as though it is meant to throw shade and a wake-up call to the ignorant and misunderstanding people with some cold reality. Additionally, the lyrics itself can be very humorous because, for example, the list of things women cannot do anymore is a list of a lot of very common, basic things.
This song mocks the hypocrisy of the society, of what they claim and what they do, and the reality of the unjust experience women go through for the sake of feeling safer. Although this skit is very funny and bound to make the viewers laugh, the topic is too heavy and relevant to take lightly. Because of this reality, the song does indirectly inform and spread the reality of the situation the society has created. That sexual harassment is very relevant and the impact it has on women can be very dramatic and devastating. It calls for a change to happen for they are demonstrating their opinions that it is not okay. It is meant for the average citizen to watch and realize the seriousness of the situation and seek for change.
Two literary devices that are constantly mistaken for each other are satire and parody. Parody is simply mocking or poking fun at a subject. Satire has a deeper meaning behind it. It’s all funny, but it really should not be. Behind the humor, satire has a serious tone that points out flaws with the intention of making them apparent and correcting them. There are many examples of both forms of literary devices in today’s society.
ReplyDelete“The Californians” by Saturday Night Live is a parody and not a satire due to the fact that there is no serious tone behind the humor. This skit pokes fun at Californians by depicting us as all posh surfer people who know their highways well. All the characters except for the maid have blonde hair and are talking with the stereotypical surfer accent. In short, this video was made just for giggles.
One of my favorite parodies is “Black Panther’s T’Challa Fights Tiffany Haddish for the Crown at the MTV Movie and TV Awards”. This skit is a parody of the movie, Black Panther. This skit focuses on the scene of challenge day. Instead of fighting to be ruler of Wakanda , competitors (the Black Panther and Tiffany Haddish) compete to be the host of the 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards. T’Challa defeats Tiffany in battle. However, T’Challa denigrates. With Wakanda without a leader and the need for a host, Tiffany Haddish drinks the purple herb that gives the strength of the Black Panther and becomes the Black Unicorn.
A parody is a humorous, mocking treatment of a subject intending to be funny. When I think of parody, the episode "Blue Harvest" from Family Guy comes to mind. The name "Blue Harvest" is a nod to the working title of Return of the Jedi. "Blue Harvest" was made for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars. As a kid, I was obsessed with Star Wars. But when "Blue Harvest" came out in 2007, my parents wouldn't let me watch it because it contained profanity and sexual comments. A few years ago I watched this episode and thought it lived up to the parody hype.
ReplyDeleteThe plot of the show is basically a retelling of the original Star Wars movie, A New Hope. There is a power outage, so the dad, Peter Griffin decides to tell his family the Star Wars story. Characters from Family Guy play the Star Wars characters. Peter plays Han Solo, Lois is Leia, Bryan is Chewbacca, Cleveland is R2D2, Quagmire is C-3PO, Chris is Luke, Stewie is Vader, Herbert is Obi-Wan, and Meg is the Dionaga creature. I really enjoyed the detail and how the writers and animators captured the Sci-Fi feel of Star Wars. One of my favorite scenes is in the Cantina when a smirking Peter/Han shoots Greedo with no provocation or hesitation. A running joke in the show was Peter/Han takes a sofa from the garbage compacter. So, the Death star escape scene shows Peter/Han and Bryan/Chewbacca lugging a sofa onto the Millennium Falcon. Another really funny scene is when Lois/Leia tries to work Cleveland/R2-D2's interface to send Herbert/Obi-Wan a message. She struggled with the technology like many adults do. Finally, the battle between Herbert/Obi-Wan and Stewie/Vader is both brilliant and humorously offensive.
I found "Blue Harvest" to have many funny moments. It was both a loving tribute to Star Wars and a parody at the same time.
My chosen movie of parody/satire is none other than the infamous Animal Farm (1954). While this movie was first written as a book, its more modern form depicts the same satirical storyline and holds the same values and intentions as the novel. The reason why this movie is satire is due to its mocking nature towards the Soviet Union in hopes of changing their ways. In addition, the movie also serves the purpose of warning future countries going down the path of communism. The movie provides a slight twist on the novel by giving it a hopeful ending. By paralleling the events of the Russian Revolution, the movie intends to draw attention in a satirical way to prevent or condemn such behaviors. The comedic aspect of this movie was limited and not that prevalent yet still contained a few funny scenes. My personal favorite would be the scene unfolding right before the end. The scene displays the pigs standing on their hind legs, drinking alcohol, and slowly turning into humans. While the absurdity of the event is hysterical, it also represents how the events of the Russian Revolution unfolded. The bourgeoise takes advantage of the proletariats, similar to how the pigs abuse their power and knowledge. This scene stood out to me because of the sudden change of the pigs. Throughout the movie, the pigs slowly started to act like dictators. However, with a drastic change, such as pigs walking and drinking beer, the scene popped out as something completely wild and incongruous. Overall, the movie, Animal Farm (1954), reiterates the satire shown in the novel to deliver an influential message.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking for contemporary examples of parody or satire the show that immediately came to mind was one of my all time favorite shows “The Office”. “The Office” has many episodes which mirror real life issues in a satirical sense but the one episode that stood out was “Boys and Girls” which I had watched extremely recently due to my Netflix binging sessions. The premise of this episode is just another day in the office. It begins with Jan Levinson Gould, the Vice President of Northeast Sales at Dunder Mifflin, talking to the girls at the Scranton branch of the company. They are having a Women of the Workplace seminar which intends to empower the women at work. Meanwhile Michael Scott the head of the Scranton branch at Dunder Mifflin continues to interrupt this exclusively women seminar in effort to feel included. After being kicked out of the conference room several times Michael makes the decision to hold a Men in the Workplace seminar in the warehouse. While the women share their feelings about how they’re treated differently in the workplace and unequal pay the men try to take part in “manly” activities in the warehouse leaving it in disarray.
ReplyDeleteThis episode is a clear and effective example of satire because it uses humour and exaggeration to mock people who think men and women have always had equal treatment in workplaces. Jan and the girls discuss the unequal pay gap between genders and this is still present in almost every field. This episode depicts Michael, someone who is insensitive about this subject and believes the men should hold a seminar in the workplace defeating the whole purpose of making the women feel more empowered regarding the current climate of gender inequality. It also approaches many stereotypes, one of the main ones being Michael insists on having the seminar for men in the warehouse because he believes the warehouse is the place for “real men”. Historically strength has been considered one of the main factors of masculinity but in reality strength is something that shouldn’t be associated with any gender and men should not be ridiculed for not containing or displaying it. Meanwhile all these concepts are shown through incredible exaggeration and a frivolous nature. What makes it so particularly funny as we know the actions the charters partake in are so extremely inappropriate that we see the obvious stupidity making it so humorous.
-Ananya C
An example of satire is from the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. This novel compares the leaders of the communist party in the Soviet Union to barn animals. For example one of the characters Old Major correlates directly to Karl Marx because Karl Marx is the father of communism and Old Major is the father of communism in the book which is known as “animalism”. He also calls the party leaders pigs because the characters that correlate to them from the novel are literal pigs. This makes the novel funny because there are continuous jokes being made about how certain animals are able to comprehend information and their overall intelligence. The humor present is clearly intentional because the purpose of this novel is to point out the flaws in the communist government, and the flaws with the communist mindset. Orwell wants to promote change in the government by showing everyone what is wrong with it.
ReplyDeleteSaturday Night Live's Sean Spicer Press Conference Cold Open Skit is a example of parody. The skit is making fun of Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary, who's been replaced with a different person now. Melissa McCarthy plays the role of Sean Spicer, which is great because she's had many other roles that have given me many chuckles in the past. The skit itself is one of her works at best. Everything in the skit is on point, and it makes Sean Spicer, a complete utter fool. The best part of the skit in my mind is how McCarthy's Sean Spicer gets close to belligerent with the media reporters who are getting news from the White House through her. She almost puts one of the reporters in time out, which is sitting in a giant cage at the corner of the room. In real life, Sean does get irritated with the media, but never puts up his fists in the air. In the skit, also I like how Sean Spicer tells the media he's a new person and won't get all spicy. He however loses it cool, and goes off his rocker. It's so funny how they make a joke of the current state of the media. I suggest some people watch it because it's so enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of satire or parody the first thing that comes to mind is the movie Tropic Thunder. The movie is about a bunch of fallen out Hollywood actors trying to make an action movie about the Vietnam war. I think that this movie is an example of parody because of the way it makes fun of Hollywood and the way action movies are made. The reason why it's so funny is because of how outrages it is. To give an example, in one of the first scenes, and debatably the funniest, it shows one of the characters trying to run back to a helicopter in slow motion while explosions in the background. This is something that the movie does a lot, in that many things are way over exaggerated for comedic effect. Another thing that it does which is why it gets its R rating is that some of the characters have issues that are played off for comedic effect. For example, the character that Jack Black plays has a bad drug but the way that the character acts and the way the movie is filled makes it funny. I believe that that specifically is parodies the stereotype that since actors are so rich that they have access to a bunch of illegal things. Furthermore, there are many more examples that make the movie funny and a parody, but I feel as though those examples get to graphic. In conclusion parody is supposed to be something that makes you laugh with no real deep thought to it and I believe thats what Tropic Thunder represents.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of parodies my mind instantly recognizes so many of them that our in our media today. Often platforms mimic the problems of people in our world. One that stands out to me in particular, is the parody that became famous on YouTube a few years ago. It’s a Disney parody called, “After Ever After” and is a series of songs that describe what this person believes would’ve actually occurred if the Disney Princesses were put into our real society. It mocks the way Disney always perceives aspects of life to be this sanguine, sing-songy reality, when such a reality doesn’t exist. The video is in some ways, a piece of satire as well, expressing a message that is meant to change society to some extent of significance. For example, one of the lines addresses “The Little Mermaid” and how Ariel and all of her fish friends may have been stuck dealing with oil spills, all thanks to BP, (the gas station).
ReplyDeletePersonally, I remember being shown this and being impressed with the man’s singing ability. However, once I listened to the lyrics, I became aware of the bizarre yet humorously bleak message, that exemplified in some areas of the song, issues with society. I felt as though this parody was sort of aggressively stating this person’s perspective on the not-so- Disney- friendly truth of our world, and although I did not particularly agree or 100% enjoy the subject matter, I see how such a parody became big with its controversial topics. While the subject matter intensifies your perception on the flaws with Disney, (something that may not be necessary,) this man illustrates an engaging and entertaining way of getting his opinion across and is able to tell his truth, which I thoroughly think is a unique and amazing thing. Most of the grade has most likely seen this video already, because it grew to be very popular back in the day.
One of my favorite forms of parody is in the song, You’ll Be Back, from the musical Hamilton. In this song, King George is singing his reaction to hearing that the American colonies wanted to be freed. My favorite lyric from the song is, “I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love!” In my opinion, the funniest part of the song is entirely in how the actor sings it. The actor’s snotty, stuck up, posh way of singing makes me want to laugh every time. The song is an example of parody because the lyrics poke fun of the situation of the American colonies wanting to be freed. The actor also uses his voice as a way to poke fun at King George’s personality and how he chose to respond to this situation.
ReplyDeleteA satire usually uses irony and is exaggerated in order to ridicule something. Whereas, a parody is similar but uses comedy. An example of a parody would be Shrek the movie. Shrek is a movie made in 2001 by Dreamworks. It is based off of a 1990 fairytale picture book and is about an ogre who makes a deal with the king to go on a quest and capture the princess in return for quietness at his swamp, while also criticizing Disney at the same time. This movie makes fun of the Disney franchise and its princess movies.First, the movie parodies the idea that a handsome prince goes and rescues the princess with a true love’s kiss. Fiona, the princess, is unpleasantly surprised when a smelly ogre rescues her instead of a prince. This is making fun of a majority of the Disney princess movies where a prince goes and saves the princess. To add to the comedic effect, Shrek’s companion Donkey falls in love with the dragon who is protecting the castle and they end up getting married and having kids. Also just like the Disney princesses have animal sidekicks, Shrek has Donkey, a sweet and dumb donkey who follows in fear of the be captured. Another thing is when they enter the King’s castle, a theme songs repetitively plays like ‘It’s a small world’ song. There are also many more references to Disney movies. What I like about the movie is its ability to entertain viewers of all age. The movie takes a normal princess tale and flips it upside-down. What's best about it are the Disney references and the ridicule of them.
ReplyDeleteThe skit titled “Guns” on season 41 of Saturday Night Live satirizes the value that Americans place on guns in our lives. In the skit, several everyday situations, such as morning runs, and milestones, for example the birth of a child are shown alongside uplifting background music. As the music continues, guns start to make appearances. Some guns are presented as anniversary gifts while others are pulled out in plain sight in utterly inappropriate situations such as beside a newborn baby. The contrast between the mood of the music and the fear that surrounds the appearance of a gun create a bizarre scene that often earns a laugh from the audience. The skit goes on to explain that guns are ever present in American lives. Through all the major life moments guns make an appearance even though they are completely unnecessary and rather dangerous.
ReplyDeleteThis skit is valuable because it makes the audience question the role that Americans allow guns to play in our lives. I love how this skit effectively gets across the message that guns have no place in our society and human lives in general. Gun control has been an increasingly controversial topic in the past few years. One side argues that people have a right to defend themselves using these deadly weapons while the opposing side feels that guns just cause more harm to society. This skit supports tighter gun control by showing how out of place guns are in human lives. The sudden shock of seeing a gun pulled out in random situations makes this skit comical and rather memorable. Through this skit, it is shown that guns are out of place and over all unnecessary in our lives.
The only purpose a gun has is to harm humans. This skit shows how even though guns are not always physically present, the idea of them constantly hangs over our heads, making themselves ever present. The government currently allows Americans the right to bear arms. Since guns can be obtained without too much difficulty, anyone could have one. People who use these guns to tragically hurt innocent people cannot always be stopped before it is too late. This is made evident by the countless school shooting that appear in the news, and casts a dark cloud of worry over our whole society. Therefore, this skit prompts its audience to question whether it is truly right to allow humans to own a weapon that will only ever hurt other human beings when used.
“The Office” in its self can be seen as a parody of the popular TV genre, sitcoms, by showing the cast in interviews in episodes and filming sly camera glances, the show breaks down the wall between what most know as a typical sitcom through a fresh take. The show as a whole can be characterized as a parody because it isn’t aimed towards depicting an underlying meaning towards the dangers of an office job, but is simply aired to strike a laugh and to twist the common and relatable office job into something funny and personable.
ReplyDeleteWhile the show as a whole can be seen as a parody, individual characters and episodes are parodies of people and situations that many of us know all too well. The actions depicted in the show often exaggerate the truth in order to cause the audience to find episodes funny. One episode in particular that I find to be an exceptional example of a parody is season five episode seventeen. In this episode, Angela, the resident cat lady of the office, announces her new addition to her feline family. Later in the episode, Angela’s computer is left on and exposes her licking the fur of her new cat. From the previous seasons of the show one can gather that the writers weren’t trying to show serious fault to a large scale, but this scene can be seen as a parody to the extent that “cat ladies” will take their love for the animal to. And while licking a cat is more often than not unnecessary, the strangeness and reactions of the rest of the cast add comedic effect, partnered with knowledge of the stigmas behind so-called “cat ladies”.
When in hope of a piece of satire form, I would suggest the movie Zootopia. I have found that films and works of literature such as this always cater to a very broad range of audience members. At first glance, one would think it was nothing more than a fun-loving movie to watch with the family, but with a deeper analysis, he/she could understand that there is more to this film than different animals living together.
ReplyDeleteZootopia starts out with an obvious segregation between the small and weak animals and the larger animals portrayed as the predators. Many of the predators have been found attacking smaller animals in a rabid manner. Viewers expect for the film’s resolution of the conflict to be that the predators are found and punished for their bad behavior. This does happen at first; All big and potentially dangerous animals are fired from their jobs to ensure that they cannot hurt their city just as other animals of their type have done. The protagonist is a small rabbit, innocent and ready to serve her world as a police officer. Her entire life, she has been put down and talk of her goals have been brushed aside because there is seemingly no way for someone of her size and strength to be on a force which is meant to protect Zootopia. Because of this, viewers immediately see the big animals, or the predators, as bullies and insolent creatures unlike the others they’ve encountered: a lamb and a rabbit. As the movie goes on, viewers, alongside the protagonist, realize that the small and cuddly animals are more dangerous than what they seem. She sees that the mayor’s (a lion) assistant (a lamb) has been conspiring to get all predators out of the city because of their mistreatment towards her and all smaller animals in order for her to become mayor of Zootopia and let the prey run the city.
Though that was a very brief and vague description of the film, Zootopia’s message for viewers is that there is always a good and bad to everyone. In the film, the different animals acted in the way they believed to be best for themselves. The prey and the predators can represent any groups in modern society in conflict, whether it be as specific as the Rohingyas in Myanmar or prejudice such as racism witnessed in nations all around the world. The film tells us not to simply look at who is being hurt the most because arguments are mostly never one-sided. Usually, both parties are being affected by whatever war or cause for protest is occurring. Zootopia is a fun cartoon to watch with the family, but it also forces viewers to take a hard look at themselves and their society and wonder how they can fix their world to allow all to live in harmony.
The use of humor at the expense others is what is known as satire and an enjoyable T.V. show that I watch is the Daily Show. Most of the content that Trevor Noah talks about is satire because of how he pokes fun at other people's views or stupidity. However, from a news broadcaster point of view then, I could consider it a parody because of how they are pretending to be journalists when they are comedians. Overall, they mostly make fun of politics, world news, event, politicians, and more. The reason I enjoy the Daily Show is because they make the news more enjoyable and not as dull as it is on other news networks. It’s funny because of the amount of irony it uses against our own politicians to make them seem more relatable to everyday individuals. The show also makes it easier to understand and keep up to date on political events for someone like me who doesn’t understand politics. I think that the content the Daily Show televises is both satire and parody because they sometimes can make people laugh without hurting other people's feelings. However, most of their comedic routine is satire which I find enjoyable. One sketch that I found enjoyable was Covfefe: Based on a True Typo. The reason they did this sketch is because Trump tweeted #covfefe one time and the media was trying to figure what it meant. So, the Daily Show then proceeded to make fun of Trumps messes up tweets. The sketch begins with Trevor Noah playing the boy named covfefe who doesn’t know the meaning of his name and swims from Africa to New York then supposedly swims to D.C. .Then the ‘’little boy’’ finds the president and asks him what the meaning of his name is.. I find it funny because there finding a funny way of saying that Trump messed up a tweet and now started this whole mess. The Daily Show has a funny way of telling the population news about important people but make sure it doesn’t bore its viewers. Satire can be used in this way, but I feel that it’s not appropriate in other circumstances with the in tention to make another feel intentionally hurt. Trevor Noah knows how to communicate to others so that he has their attention and can tell those about daily life problems we need to know which is helpful and I feel many others should watch also.
ReplyDeleteOne example of parody is the British comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The film tells a story through the eyes of King Arthur who, with his newly recruited Knights of the Round Table along with a posey of squires and troubadours, are commissioned to find the Holy Grail. King Arthur was a supposed British king that ruled throughout the 5th and 6th centuries whose existence is still not confirmed today. An important figure in medieval literature, almost all of his history is acquired through legends. Monty Python and the Holy Grail uses the plots of Arthurian literature as a platform (as well as mocking the legends themselves) for the parody of real events that occurred in the Middle Ages.
ReplyDeleteThe importance of chivalry is shown throughout Arthurian literature. However, in the film, this chivalry is mocked using irony. Rather than being modest, brave, and loyal, the Knights of the Round Table are shown constantly running from even the smallest fights and easily being seduced by women. One scene that ridicules the Middle Ages is a witch trial. In this scene, a large group of peasants drags a women (dressed like a literal witch) to an executioner while chanting “burn her!” . The peasants argue in favor of her execution using ridiculous arguments such as “she looks like a witch” and “she turned me into a newt.” After conversing, the executioner and the mob come to the conclusion that both witches and wood burn, therefore witches are made out of wood. Wood, as well as ducks, can float on water, therefore witches must weigh the same as ducks. Using an erroneous scale the executioner compares the weight of the woman to that of a duck, which balance out to be the same. In the end, the woman is put to death. This scene ridicules the foolishness of the witch trials and makes it even funnier by exaggerating the characters’ lack of logic.
Though both parodies and satire convey humor to the audience, they affect society in completely different ways. Satire usually brings about political or social change, but parodies are simply made to poke fun at a certain topic as pure entertainment. One of the first examples of a parody to come into my mind is the movie Shrek. Shrek is a parody of the slightly cliché yet classic fairytales of Disney movies. One major difference is that Shrek is conveyed as a scary and ugly ogre rather than a handsome prince. Several other characters of the movie are portraying different versions of the characters played in the “classic” movies such as the Gingerbread Man, the Wolf (Little Red riding Hood), and even in Shrek 2, all of the Disney princesses were in it. The Shrek movies poke fun at how in Disney movies, the princesses are dainty, fragile, and need a prince to save them, but in Shrek, they toughen up by ripping up their dresses devising a plan to escape their prison, and decide to beat up the evil Prince Charming. Nothing like this scene would ever occur in Disney movies, which is what brings the clever twist of humor that brings all audiences to laugh. Obviously, Shrek is not a movie that would bring about social or political change, so that is another reason why it is classified as a parody. In my opinion, Shrek is a classic because it was a big movie of my childhood and it still continues to make me laugh today.
ReplyDeleteParody, which is a spin-off of an original idea, is meant to cause laughter, rather than significance. An example of a parody is the movie Spaceballs, which is a movie that was intended on mocking the well-known series, Star Wars. Spaceballs takes many aspects, and characters of Star Wars, and twists it around to make it a comedic movie (which we all know Star Wars was not). It took the whole idea of rebels who are escaping the “empire”, in the setting of space. It has also taken a spin-off of some of the characters names, and roles, which is what makes this movie enjoyable. For example, the rebels in Star Wars, Han Solo, and Chewbacca were made into Lone Starr, and Barf. Both Barf and Chewbacca are foreigners to the human race. Chewbacca is a wookie, which is a fictional character used for the purpose of Star Wars, and in Spaceballs, the creature they use is a hybrid of a human and a dog. Other character spin-offs include Yoda (in Star Wars), and yogurt (in Spaceballs), and Jabba the Hut, and Pizza the Hut. Finally, in each movie, there are antagonists who wear a black suit, and black helmets, Darth Vader, and Dark Helmet. These characters explain why this movie is a parody, and why its sole purpose was to make the audience laugh, whereas in a movie that is in satire form, would be humorous, though would have a meaning behind it.
ReplyDeleteThere are many TV shows or songs that parody a certain thing. One that I thought was funny was a particular parody on The Ellen Show. In this episode, Ellen Degeneres is showing a parody of “Hello” by Adele. In the real song, Adele is singing about her broken heart and how she wishes that she could go back in time to change things. The song sounds solemn, sad, and depressing. Playing this off with her usual comedic attitude, Ellen decides to give the song a little bit more pizzazz by answering the questions the Adele sings in her song. For example, at a point in the video, Adele sings “I was wondering if after all these years someday you would like to meet”, with which Ellen replies “I’m sorry the connection’s bad...did you say you’re eating beets?”. By replying to the lyrics in the song, Ellen is adding her own comedic tone to the whole song, and reversing what is a sad song to a funny one.
ReplyDeleteAnother funny spoof from The Ellen Show is an episode that aired on Halloween, where Ellen Degeneres dressed up as an imaginary Kardashian sister, Karla Kardashian. Playing off of the fact that recently many of the Kardashian sisters have been pregnant, Ellen’s costume is composed of a “baby bump”, very long nails, waist length hair extensions, and fake boobs. In this segment, Ellen is basically poking fun at how the sisters live their lives. Complete with a “Kardashian accent”, Ellen makes it well known that she has big breasts and a big baby bump as well, wearing a skin tight leopard print dress to prove it. This whole facade shows what most people think of the Kardashian sisters; saying that many people think that they are fake and dress absurdly. However, the thing that makes this video funny is that instead of being discrete like most people, Ellen just comes out and says what she thinks about one of the biggest names in Hollywood. Using the mask of Halloween, Ellen once again makes fun of a popular brand, the Kardashians.
One final incredibly funny parody is a medley of Disney princess songs sung by Youtuber PAINT. However, the twist is that the Youtuber remixes the words of what once were sweet innocent carefree tunes into lyrics much more dark and sometimes even morbid. The fact that PAINT is directly flipping the themes of the songs is what makes the video so hilariously funny and intriguing to watch. For example, in one segment of the video PAINT starts singing a parody of “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid. Instead, he changes the words to speak of pollution and the BP oil spill. Turning the song from something being about a young mermaid wanting to walk into a song about dying mermaids and fish, PAINT creates a different view of the ocean than what is watched on little kids’ TV’s. The fact that this is so different and horrifyingly funny is what makes watching the video so entertaining.
All About That Change
ReplyDeleteA funny and extremely relatable parody is Meghan Trainer: All About That Change, which is displayed on James Corden’s Late Late Show. This parody is based off Meghan Trainer’s pop hit, All About That Bass. However, the message this song depicts is quite different than the purpose of Meghan Trainer: All About That Change. All About That Bass is focused on portraying the idea that women should learn to be confident and love their image. On the other hand, All About That Change is an amusing representation of the reality of New Years resolutions. Throughout the first half of the parody, behaviors that resulted in making a resolution and the resolution itself is described. However, during the second half of the parody, James Corden and Meghan Trainer reveal how their New Years Resolution fell apart within a week, like their resolutions for the past three years. I find this amusing because I can relate to making New Year resolutions year after year, yet never actually reforming. In addition, I find this sketch funny due to the well-thought out lyrics. Throughout the duration of the parody, Trainer shares of her desire to give up drinking, while Corden describes his need to exercise. While these are very trite resolutions, the lyricist adds amusing ways to depict Trainer and Corden’s desires to resolve. An example of the clever lyrics described above is the line, “I’ll be the same disappointment I have been for the last three years” (All About That Change, Corden). I found this line especially amusing because it cryptically states the reality of resolutions
All About That Change is considered a parody for several reasons. First, All About That Change is written to only be funny. In other words, there are no hidden meanings or symbolism that can be deciphered from All About That Change. In addition, All About That Change is not intended to trigger a major social change. James Corden did not write this song to depict that people should never make resolutions since they are never going to adhere to them. All About That Change is solely written to make people laugh about how ridiculous it is to make resolutions every year, knowing that there are going to be broken within a month. If this parody were a satire, it would poke at all the problems of making a New Year resolution to try to entice people to give up the practice of making resolutions. However, unlike the scenario described above, All About That Change is merely a parody made for the purpose of amusement, rather than to provoke self-realization or social reform.
When thinking of examples of satire, all of Terry Pratchett’s books immediately sprang to mind. His hilarious and satirical series Discworld takes place on a fantasy world that after a second glance, is not too much unlike our own. I chose to discuss one of my favorite of his books; Small gods, which satires religion. This novel takes place in Omnia, a small, extremely religious country that worships the god Om. However, Om suddenly finds himself manifested into the body of a tortoise, stripped of his divine powers. The only person who can hear him speak is Brutha, a simple, religious boy with eidetic memory. However, it is later discovered that only Brutha can hear him because only Brutha believes in him. All of Omnia’s citizens may seem holy but are really terrified of the head of the Quisition, Vorbis, a man “touched by the gods (and maybe something else)”. Vorbis rules with an iron fist, making the religion of Om extremely strict, somewhat resembling that of Puritans. Vorbis satires the churches by showing corrupt leaders who care little for their religion and greatly for control. It also brings up a moral that fear can be the most powerful way to control someone. One funny thing I thought I should mention is that both believers and nonbelievers have praised the book for supporting their position, according to Terry Pratchett's fan mail.
ReplyDeleteThis series also makes a parody of philosophers and ancient Greece. One humorous example is when Brutha travels to Ephebe, a land where there are so many philosophers that people have jobs where they are paid to listen to them. There is one a philosopher with many similarities to Plato including his cave theory, but with a punchline; “Life in this world, he said, is, as it were, a sojourn in a cave. What can we know of reality? For all we see of the true nature of existence is, shall we say, no more than bewildering and amusing shadows cast upon the inner wall of the cave by the unseen blinding light of absolute truth, from which we may or may not deduce some glimmer of veracity, and we as troglodyte seekers of wisdom can only lift our voices to the unseen and say, humbly, ‘Go on, do Deformed Rabbit ... it’s my favorite.’” This is one of the few examples of famous philosophers strewn throughout the novel.
All of Pratchett's books are filled with witty satire and comical parodies, and I highly recommend them to those who enjoy humor with a bit more thought. From racial tension, Hollywood, Shakespeare, religion, fantasy tropes, and so much more, Terry Pratchett makes fun of and satires them all.
One of the most renowned and culturally embedded animated TV shows of our time is Family Guy. Family Guy frequently uses satire and parody as its method of comedic stature. Although hard to definitely say which form is being used in a situation, one of my personal favorites is season 16 episode 18, which I believe is mainly a parody. This episode called “httpete” goofs on everybody's least favorite demographic in America right now, the millennials. Peter himself starts embracing the culture himself as hilarity ensues. Its parody humorously mocks millennials with over exaggerated mainstream references to the culture. Things begin at Peter’s job as they are discussing ways to start appealing to the younger generation known as the millennials. They describe millennials as anyone born between 1982 and 2000 with an image of an extremely goth and punk baby, and thinks loving sarachas or Austin Texas counts as a personality. We can already see Family Guy is gearing up to tear down the worst parts of millennial culture. It further pokes fun at transgender SJW keyboard warriors who start hashtags to cancel TV shows, parakeet snapchat accounts with over nine million followers, the man bun, as well as Coachella and vaping. It is over exaggerated in a way that it compacts many of the ridiculousness portrayed by a shallow millennium hipster. The parody also hints at the inclination of millennials who solely focus and invest their time on pop culture bs. I love how the show deliberately addresses sensitive topics without directly offending the issue. We then follow the new millennial employee, Hammer who uses words such as “bruh” and says he expects good things to happen without putting in the hard work and tweets about anything he doesn’t like on Twitter. This really speaks to the entitlement of the generations and the power hungry censors seen online regularly. Family Guy’s parody definitely recognized that people are being hammered down by these millennials online and addresses it comedically. Although the topic is extremely relevant and suggests important social change we see in the US, it's safe to assume the episode had no intention of changing the social dilemma and configuration of millennials. Additionally since the parody itself was relatively light hearted, there was no undertone of seriousness to suggest satire. This was another classic and successful Family Guy delivery of an episode that never fails to appeal to the relative society with precise criticism and humor.
ReplyDelete(A satire seen in this episode is a new show called Marvel the Offenders, which is obviously a parody to the Avengers but with sexual offenders who have been called out in the news lately, which is a perfect example of a public slam to these offenders)
Alyssa Matsuzaki
The 1999 movie series Austin Powers staring Mike Myers is a parody of the James Bond series. The movies follow Austin Power international man of mystery on many adventures to the past and future. He fights his nemesis Dr. Evil and stops him from taking over the world many times. The movies contain many spin off names from the Bond movies like the ever famous number 2 who is doctor evil's second in command and his secret love affair. Many of the movie titles reflect those of seen in the bond series such as goldmember which is a spin off of Goldfinger. The series also contains a large amount of crude humor and jokes that parody off other aspects of life and media. I really like this series and have watched many of the movies multiple times. It always leaves my laughing and it is definitely at the top of my movies to watch list.
ReplyDeleteEwan Macfarlane
A parody is a humorous song, book, video, etc. that mocks a certain subject but does not teach a lesson or help improve the situation. Contrasting a parody, satire is humor intending to cause change and enforce a lesson to all who are interested. Saturday Night Live preforms many skits in the form of parody's almost mocking the concept or idea that they are acting out. One of my favorites is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft5XUalItuY.
ReplyDeleteIn this skit they have made a parody mocking Donald Trump and his wife. The actors are pretending to be them by overexaggerating there comments and stories by being funny and almost immature during a fake interview. Trump has been the victim of countless parody's since running for president. In this skit Trump is called out for being rude to women and multiple other concepts but since the skit is a parody they are not trying to cause a movement or change just cause a few laughs. Overall in the five minutes Saturday Night Live mocks Donald Trump while being humorous but the skit is so light that there is no lesson given to help the situation.
“Weird Al” Yankovic make many parodies to popular music videos. Yankovic makes parodies to anything like rap music to even pop. His popular parody to “Ridin” by popular rap artist Chamillionaire is titled “White & Nerdy”. In his parody he talks about being white and nerdy through ways like graduating M.I.T., playing traditionally “nerdy” games like “D&D”, and even collecting comics. He even tries to “bowl with the gangsters” yet they do not think he is cool enough to bowl with. The parody is entertaining as he mocks the stereotypical “white nerd” and the stereotypical gangster. In video the character he portrays tries to be cool and hip but his character can only be the stereotypical “white nerd”. Yankovic’s parodies overall are hilarious and are aimed solely at the purpose to entertain his audiences with no deeper meaning.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, my favorite parodies are from the show Saturday Night Live. SNL has a recurring skit dedicated to poking fun at President Donald J. Trump. Although the skits deal with political, and rather serious topics, they put a fun twist on them to make America laugh. My favorite skit of Alec Baldwin mocking Donald Trump is “Donald Trump Baltic States Cold Open.” The writers of the skits frequently make fun of the president’s rather immature way of using his words and inability to be politically correct. The skits that Saturday Night Live produces are considered parodies because they don’t strive to cause political change. Although they deal with intense, political topics, it’s all for fun and has no interest in having any sort of affect on the viewers.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite parody of a song is one of the many Donald Trump parodies on YouTube. From the many songs that exist the parody of the song do you want to build a snowman? From the movie, Frozen, has been made by voiceovers of Donald Trump, and is called do you want to build a wall. This is known as a parody, because the song does not have a purpose to improve society by ridicule. The parody of the original song is meant to just bring laughter, and is intended for humor. The parody is made from Donald Trump’s sayings from previous speeches, debates, and interviews, as well as what his family has said on the past. In contrast to a satire which uses humor to improve society, this parody doesn’t strive to bring improvement, just laughter.
ReplyDeleteThere is no specific purpose to the parody of the original song. The parody of the song is making fun of the original song by changing the words to, do you want to build a wall? Donald has said before that he wants to build a wall, which is where the phrase, do you want to build a wall? comes from. The parody of the song is intending to make fun of Donald Trump while providing people with laughs. The song in the parody and original is also the same along with the melody. The parody is making the original song more humorous by adding the voice of the unpredictable Donald Trump.
Kiana Rad
Another book that is written in satirical form is Animal Farm by George Orwell. In this book, all the animals on the farm are representing characters in history. For example, a pig named Napoleon represents Josef Stalin, who was the leader of the Soviet Union. Orwell pokes fun at Stalin by showing all the bad deeds and misbehavior of Napoleon. Another parallel in the book that is used to mock someone is another pig, who is named Snowball. Snowball is used in this novel to represent Leon Trotsky, who was the leader of the rebellion against Stalin. The way that the characters act in the book is Orwell's way of making fun of the historical figures. Also, if you have ever read Animal Farm, you would know that some of the rules that the pigs impose on the other farm animals can be extremely ridiculous. All the different farm animal's personalities also allow us to catch a glimpse of what the actual people were like. Orwell constantly makes fun of the communist society and the reactions of the people. Some of the rules that were created on the farm were even changed many times, and each time it was to give the pigs, who considered themselves as "superior", more rights. This clearly shows how Orwell was making fun of the communist government because he is trying to tell us that it was very corrupt. Orwell also poked fun at the citizens living under Stalin as well. Orwell describes them as sheep, who are really mindless. These "sheep" were influenced by anything that the media said. In all these ways, Animal Farm is a satirical novel poking fun at the communist government and the government officials of Russia.
ReplyDeleteToby Wakefield-Carl
ReplyDeleteParodies are humorous or mocking treatment of a subject. Parodies are not meant to shame individuals to change or improve society they are for the sole purpose of just making a joke and mustering up a laugh. Satire is humor intended to cause society to change. Through poking fun at something is cause the reader to realize it must be changed. A work of literature that contains satire would be Animal Farm. George Orwell uses animals and the barn “society” to poke fun at the Russian revolution and to make us realize that absolute power is corrupt not just in the hands of Stalin but our fellow animal friends too. Orwell makes us realize that it doesn’t have to be human society in which this is true but in most things, power corrupts.
My favorite parody of all times is Substitute Teacher by Key & Peele. In this parody a very intense substitute teacher mr. Garby with a heavy inner city accent tells the students he’s been substituting for twenty years and scares them by saying “so don’t even think about messing with me.” This substitute then proceeds to take roll pronouncing every name wrong but saying them like how they would in the inner city. For example Aaron as A-A-ron and Blake as Ba-lock-kay. The students all become confused and try to correct him, the sub views this as disrespectful, making them say their names the “right way” and even sends a kid to the office. This is a parody because it is making fun of substitutes and the inner city accent or talk. Subs are associated with mispronouncing students names a lot, Key &. Peele takes this and pairs it with making fun of inner city talk. This parody is not meant to shame the inner city or criticize the inner city, the video is just meant to make people laugh, which it does very effectively. My favorite part is when A-A-ron after herring the other students try to correct the teacher decides to stay out of trouble and say “here”. This gets him into more trouble because the sub asked him why he didn’t respond right away while saying his name wrong and A-Aron ultimately corrects the sub resulting in him going to the principals office. This is an effective parody because it succeeds in making people laugh while making fun of the inner city accents like ms Dibbles parody “The Californians”. Unlike ms Dibbles parody I respectively think this one is even more funny because we as students can relate to subs mispronouncing our names and either getting mad when we correct them or viewing it as disrespectful.
(just incase you want to see it!!) https://www.youtube.com/watchv=Dd7FixvoKBw
Annika Daniel
Weird Al Yankovic makes creative parodies of songs. He makes a hilarious Ebay parody song to the tune of “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. You can always find interesting pieces to buy on Ebay which is why I love this song. In this song he changes the lyrics to enhance the obscurity of objects Ebay has for sale. This song is clearly a parody of Ebay to showcase all of the junk Ebay has to sell. It will truly make you laugh, and if you don't believe me click here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKtlK7sn0JQ
ReplyDeleteWeird Al Yankovit is a Youtuber and song composer manly known for his extreme and strange performances. In addition to this, Weird Al creates comedic parodies from older well-known songs (composed by him) like “Party in the USA” from Miley Cyrus or “Ridin” by Chamillionaire. To add onto his song parodies, his composed funny songs and tunes has also increased his popularity as an entertainer. Because of his unusual styled videos, Yankovit is portrayed as “weird” and “different” from other artists and entertainers and stands out as a comedic and family-friendly performer.
ReplyDeleteYankovit is differentiated from other entertainers because of his use of common stereotypes of individuals to create humorous videos and a site of entertainment. Weird Al has no judgement and personal opinions and does not make it his priority to offend the many different individuals. To create a more fun and lively atmosphere, Weird Al uses bright colors, costumes, music, and actors, to create a visual to the watchers along with the joking and rhyming of his songs. In addition to this, many of the character he plays are usually not entirely realistic. In his Michael Jackson parody of “Bad” (“Fat”), his character in the beginning hides the fact that he was fat but then ends up revealing his abnormally large stomach which blew up in a short amount of time. He is then joined with the other backup dancers and singers, also as big as him. The viewers known that this is an exaggeration of the character and knows it is physically impossible to become that fat in a short amount of time. The use of extreme props proves to the viewers that these are obviously fake and unreal so the they naturally believe that his videos are meant as jokes and are not trying to spread any important message to any individuals. His large variety of song parodies proves that he is not focused mainly on one specific group of individuals but everyone. Weird Al Yankovit has also never addressed his own personal opinion about the topics he talks about, keeping him a neutral entertainer without the opinions from viewers, other than his interesting style of his videos.
One of the most relevant examples of a parody in our society is the popular television show The Office. More specifically, the CPR training segment in Season 5, Episode 14 “Stress Relief,” is a wonderful example of mockery of a real-life situation. This lampoon was intended to make people laugh; the intention was not to cause drastic social change or humiliation. In this segment, the writers and actors of The Office poke fun at typical CPR courses and people taking those courses, especially in light of the unrealistic nature of pretend compressions on an inanimate bust of a doll. Juxtaposing comedy over such a serious topic as lifesaving CPR makes the parody that much stronger.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of this segment, Michael is undergoing a first aid emergency simulation. While “assessing the situation,” Michael observes that the patient (the inanimate bust of a doll) has no arms or legs, and so may not be worth resuscitating. Michael’s delivery of these lines is essential. His earnest, but mocking facial expression indicates that this part of the scene is meant to be funny and not meant to question or critique the morals of society. The following interaction between Michael and Kevin then ridicules Kevin as equivalent to someone who is limbless and unable to “do anything.”
The apparent insensitivity in this portion of the scene further explicates the funny, lighthearted nature of this parody, as opposed to the condescending tone of a satirical piece. Once Michael begins to give the doll CPR, he is shown as the highly incapable, yet eager, student frequently found in such training classes. Because he does not understand the correct tempo with which to give compressions, his audience becomes involved to help him. The light banter between Michael and Jim displays and makes fun of Michael’s incompetence. At this point, Creed interjects to share with the instructor that he saw her in the parking lot before the class. This comment highlights and ridicules the slightly creepy, disturbing personality of Creed that causes discomfort in the room. The audience grows silent, and Michael makes slight eye contact with the camera to convey that Creed’s creepy comments were for comedic purposes only, and that society should not take offence towards his ignorance or Creed’s eerie persona.
The documentary filming style used throughout The Office and this scene in particular ties together the lighthearted mockery by giving the feeling of a scientific exposé crafted in comedy. Rather than feeling shame from the segment or the apparent ridicule aimed at Michael and Creed, viewers recognize their own perceptions of, and experience with, CPR training and relate all too well to Michael and Jim.
JJ Abele
Jimmy Fallon’s segment in Saturday Night Live, “Ew!” Is the most hilarious skit ever to grace SNL. In this short skit, Jimmy Fallon embodies the life of a stereotypical teenage girl name Sara. He then acts out, with a hilarious accent, typical teenage cliches, and jokes. For example, he emphatically gushes about a crush he likes in the cringiest manor. Because it is a topic that is relatable, it is funny. But it is in the exaggerations, that make it a parody, because it mocks and jokes about typical teenage banal conversations and personalities that you often see on TV. In these skits, the greater the exaggeration, the funnier it seems. The most entertaining skit he did on “Ew!,”was with Ariana Grande because in this skit, they had a singing competition. While Jimmy Fallon was questionably singing some questionable notes, Ariana was singing so amazingly. The coupling of the how good Ariana was compared to how terrible Jimmy was, makes it a memorable skit. I love the skit. Jimmy Fallon makes fun of himself to an artform and tries to bring out the most stereotypical girls he can muster.
ReplyDeleteTiffany Cha
Jimmy Fallon’s segment in Saturday Night Live, “Ew!” Is the most hilarious skit ever to grace SNL. In this short skit, Jimmy Fallon embodies the life of a stereotypical teenage girl name Sara. He then acts out, with a hilarious accent, typical teenage cliches, and jokes. For example, he emphatically gushes about a crush he likes in the cringiest manor. Because it is a topic that is relatable, it is funny. But it is in the exaggerations, that make it a parody, because it mocks and jokes about typical teenage banal conversations and personalities that you often see on TV. In these skits, the greater the exaggeration, the funnier it seems. The most entertaining skit he did on “Ew!,”was with Ariana Grande because in this skit, they had a singing competition. While Jimmy Fallon was questionably singing some questionable notes, Ariana was singing so amazingly. The coupling of the how good Ariana was compared to how terrible Jimmy was, makes it a memorable skit. I love the skit. Jimmy Fallon makes fun of himself to an artform and tries to bring out the most stereotypical girls he can muster.
ReplyDeleteTiffany Cha
Scary Movie is a very funny and entertaining movie that is a parody for multiple different movies. Scary Movie is a comedy horror film series that is based around parodies of other horror movies. The Scary Movie series contains five movies which are all parodies of many different horror movies. The script of the first Scary Movie is mainly based on Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. My favorite scene from the first Scary Movie is the opening scene because it is a very intriguing and amusing scene to watch, and it sets the tone for the whole movie.
ReplyDeleteThe scene begins with Drew Decker receiving a call from an unknown person who is later associated with Ghostface from Scream. Ghostface and Decker talk to each other on the phone and he starts to threaten Decker which frightens her. Ghostface breaks into her house and the camera pans over to a table with four weapons and a banana. Decker chooses the banana instead of the weapons and runs out of her house and into the sprinklers in her backyard. Ghostface catches up to her and kills her. This is a parody of Scream because the murder of Drew Decker is a reference to Drew Barrymore who played a similar character in Scream. This movie is funny because it uses clever and humorous jokes to poke fun at other horror movies.
Weird Al Yankovich’s song “Another One Rides the Bus” is an example of parody. In this song, he talks about how the bus is very packed, and there is no room, so he must stand. In this parody to the tune of “Another One Bites the Dust,” he talks about how another one rides the bus as more and more people get on. The bus is so packed that he describes how “There’s a suitcase poking me in the ribs,” and there is “an elbow in my ear. I think this is funny and relatable because I took the bus a few times in middle school and it was wild. He does a good job of describing the scene of the packed bus, while rhyming and staying to the tune of the song. When I listen to the song I can imagine myself in the bus, jostling for space with the person sitting next to me.
ReplyDeleteIt is a parody because he is just trying to get laughs out of his audience not really change public transportation. He knows he cannot change this problem, but he can write a funny parody about it. I also really relate to this parody when he says, “I think my wallet’s gone.” Most people tend to feel like they lose their wallet, credit card, and phone in many places, but especially on public transportation where if you take your eyes off it for a second, it might be swiped and be gone forever. Overall, I really like how Weird Al has taken a common problem and poked fun at it with humor, while also relating to his audience.
-Michael Callaghan
A Parody that is humorous to me is Substitute Teacher- Key and Peele by Comedy Central. The sketch revolves around a substitute teacher, Mr. Garvey, and his consistency of mispronouncing the students’ names. With the first name, Jacqueline, he butchers the name entirely and pronounces it as “J-quellen”. Jaqueline attempts to correct him only for Mr. Garvey to become choleric and attempt to discipline her for her behavior. He pronounces Blake as “Balocke”, Denise as “Denice”, and so on. With each name he becomes increasingly belligerent until he sends someone to the principal’s office. When he calls Timothy’s name, he responds with “present” instead of present. Mr. Garvey then relieves some of the tension when he agrees with the way Timothy pronounced it.
ReplyDeleteSubstitute Teacher is a parody due to the way that they’re making fun of substitutes. Substitutes are well known for mispronouncing names, even when they appear obvious to pronounce. I know from my personal experience and my peers’ that substitutes do this quite frequently. Though the parody is much exaggerated to emphasize the fact, there’s a level of accuracy in the parody. Some extreme cases include when the substitute argues with the student over how their own name is pronounced which is represented in the parody. There have been cases where they actually become angry over it, but no one knows as to whether or not they’re angry because they believe they’re correct or are angry out of embarrassment.
This parody is humorous due to how relatable it is and how over exaggerated the substitute’s actions are. It’s relatable to everyone in the sense that not only current students can find something to laugh at, but adults as well. Anyone and everyone that has gone to school can understand the humor behind the parody. The actor playing Mr. Garvey does an impeccable job of capturing the worst of substitute teachers while making the sketch still light-hearted and comical. His exaggerated voices he uses to attempt to humiliate and demean the students are both funny and intimidating as well as him breaking his clip board when he was angry. His temper is high while in contrast the students are remaining calm as they’re correcting him makes it even more entertaining to watch. Student based humor like this parody is among the best parodies because of how relatable it is to each and every one of the student body. Substitute Teacher is a comical parody and remains one of my favorites in terms of both parodies and classics alike.
Olivia Martino
One Tv show that I remember that is a parody is Saturday Night Live. The specific skit that I remember from SNL is when they are making fun of football players names and how NFL players commit crimes often. I find this skit to be so funny because it was one of the first SNL skits I ever saw and is probably one of the funniest I have seen to this day. I love the skit because of how goofy the creators of the skit created the names of the football players because it is making fun of players in the NFL with goofy names. The skit is parodying the NFL player intros during the beginning of the game when the offense and defense both enter the field to begin the game. After the players say their name in the NFL they say what college they played football for. In the skit the players first say their goofy names and the parody part is instead of what college they played for, they mention what crimes they have committed like DUI and tax fraud. I find this part hilarious because of how the parody isn’t over the top but just poke fun at small things like NFL player intros.
ReplyDelete“Heathers” is a movie as well as a musical that presents a story of a rather typical American high school and the harsh cruelty of teenage society. While both interpretations of the story follow the same plot, I will mostly be discussing the musical. “Heathers” is a well-known example of a satire due to its exaggerated character archetypes and dramatic plot. The characters have comedic timing as well as lewd innuendos that entertain the audience. However, this only makes the dark scenes more shocking to audiences as they realize the direction that the story is headed in. Oftentimes, high school movies or plays only deal with issues such as dating or popularity, and while “Heathers” also incorporates these conflicts, the true flaws of society that are revealed make dating and drama appear miniscule. The musical opens with a scene that would cause a viewer to predict a very trite storyline, however this forethought is quickly discarded after a murder takes place and is framed as a suicide.
ReplyDeleteAn obvious pattern throughout the musical is suicide. Protagonist, Veronica Sawyer, befriends the three most popular girls in the school, all named Heather, and falls in love with an outcast named JD. JD and Veronica commit their first murder together at Heather Chandler’s house when Heather threatens to harm Veronica’s reputation. A forged suicide note is left at the scene to fool the cops and this ultimately leads to a schoolwide movement to bring students together. This is clearly not an effective effort which is evident when Heather McNamara nearly overdoses due to the pressures of her surrounding clique and the loss of her friend. Later in the musical, Veronica’s best friend Martha, attempts to commit suicide by jumping off the top of a building. She feels alienated by the school for being different and in a sense suffers with the loss of her best friend who chose the popular crowd over her.
“Heathers” is not only a catchy musical but is also satirical and raises awareness about the high rates of teen suicide and the pressures of conforming in high school society. With memorable songs and humor that is relatable to teenagers, the musical appeals to audiences across the country. As teens are drawn to the musical for aspects other than satirical, they discover resemblances in themselves or in their high school to the characters on the stage. Teens are at an age where they are impressionable and sensitive to their environment. “Heathers” not only breaks the norms for high school storylines but also breaks the stigma surrounding the discussion of issues such as suicide and depression.
James Bond, also known as 007, is a beloved British intelligence agent from the series of books by Ian Fleming as well as about two dozen movies in which he in the protagonist. Bond is an agent who does not fear danger and is confident in his abilities. There is an abundance of James Bond parodies in a number of different books, movies, video games, and television shows, in fact, the third movie of one of my favorite movie trilogies, Austin Powers in Goldmember is a parody of Goldfinger. Goldfinger was released in 1964 and is the third oldest in The James Bond Series consisting of 25 movies. The Austin Powers trilogy is meant to make viewers laugh due to its comedic appeal whereas The Bond Series is meant to be more serious and focused towards viewers who want action and thrills. The titles of both of the movies are almost identical which is why the distributors of the James Bond franchise, MGM, wanted to file a lawsuit against the distributors of Austin Powers. For a short period of time this led to Austin Powers in Goldmember being removed from promotional material and trailers. During the time when the movie’s title was removed, it was unofficially being called Austin Powers: Never Say Member Again, a reference to the Bond film Never Say Never Again.
ReplyDeleteAt least once in our lives we have seen the iconic “I Am Your Father” scene spoken by Darth Vader to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back which was released on May 21, 1980. My favorite scene from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the second movie of three, consists of the most hilarious scene from this parody of James Bond, which is another parody of Star Wars. In the scene Dr. Evil, Austin’s nemesis randomly tells him that he is his father. At this point, the viewers are chuckling, knowing it’s a lie, but Austin actually believes Dr. Evil and is eventually let down when he finally realizes that it is a lie. This scene is entertaining because Austin Powers and Dr. Evil are relatively similar in age, but the are absolutely nothing alike, in both personality and appearance. Austin has brown hair while Dr. Evil has no hair at all. Dr. Evil is evil, of course, and Austin is the complete opposite because in the movie he is the good guy trying to save the world. Despite these small differences, in Goldmember, Nigel Powers, Austin’s real father, reveals that Dr. Evil is Austin Powers' twin brother and that his real name is Douglas Powers.
The Parody of Blank Space by Taylor Swift (mom version) by WhatsUpMoms is a good example of parody. The video starts out with a ken doll driving up in a black barbie car to a doll mansion, mimicking the opening of Taylor Swift’s “blank space video”, where a man drives up also in a black car to Taylor Swift’s mansion. They both then pan out similarly with WhatsUpMoms having a barbie dressed like Swift, but there the similarities seemingly end. The video then shows a mom get up holding the barbie and saying the first line “love to play with barbie and ken, but you kept me up until 4am” the video then goes on to the beat of the song about the hardships of being a mom. It all leads up to the chorus of the song which is “got to have my Starbucks latte or else I’ll go insane. You’ve got a blank space baby…..please write my name.” This song comparers Swift’s crazy love of her boyfriend to the mom’s love of their coffee in a humorous way. This comparison of Swift’s trials due to a lost love seemingly miniscule compared to what the mothers have to face and in order to get them through their seemingly, crazy day-to-day life. This parody is targeted towards mothers who have probably heard the very popular song “Blank Space” and uses it to compare and convey what it is like to get through their day and the role that coffee plays in it. The video is parody and not satire because there is no underlying message. They may be making fun of what mothers have to go through and by using a song like “blank space” which many people know and recognize make it more effective, but they are not doing it in a way to instigate change. Satire is using humor against different aspects of society in order to make people think or change their view on certain political or non political ideas. Examples of satire include Animal Farm, which satires the Russian Revolution by comparing Stalin to a Pig and different social classes in Russia to different animal species. The book does so in a way to show how barbaric communism is and how only the top benefits. Although WhatsUpMoms may communicate the message that Swift should not sing about ex-lovers unless she has experienced the true trials of being a mom and therefore may be trying to gain more respect for mothers as a whole. This statement will by no means change society as a whole, so the video can only be classified as a parody. I think what makes this video an effective parody is that even if one is not a mother we can all relate to this video because we have all seen how difficult kids may be. We have all seen a kid melt down in Walmart once or twice in our lives and therefore this video effectively can communicate to all audiences the harsh of child rearing. Another reason this video is effective in it’s humor is that there was a huge misunderstanding after “Blank Space” was released in that many people actually thought that swift was saying “Starbucks lovers” when really she was saying “long list of ex lovers”. By taking what spurred an increase in social media conversations about Swift’s line, the parody actually takes this miscommunication literally and uses as the central theme of the video. This adds extra humor to the video and allows it to capitalize on the mistakes of others. I love this video because I can relate to it as I babysit and have experienced what it is like to deal with difficult children. I also love Taylor Swift’s song “Blank Space” so for me this was the perfect parody.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FrBS2pPcak
When I think of a hilarious parody that I have watched hundreds of times and continue to love, anything created by the incredibly talented “Weird Al” Yankovic immediately comes to mind. Some of his classic works, such as “Eat It” and “Amish Paradise” were introduced to me by my mom around the time that I was in middle school, and I loved the way that Yankovic could twist the words of songs around to give them a completely different meaning. One of my favorite parody songs by Weird Al is “Like A Surgeon.” The song is a based off the song, “Like A Virgin,” by Madonna. He uses the original melody of the song, and sets it to new words to make a funny, lighthearted, and comedic rendition of it. In the music video, he plays an intern straight out of medical school who is going through his daily life. However, instead of actually giving patients realistic medical care, Weird Al uses chainsaws, drills, and uses an abundance of other “medical procedures” in the skit as treatment for patients. With all of these dangerous tools and deathly procedures being used to “take care of” the patients, what is the line between being funny, and making fun of?
ReplyDeleteThe main difference between a satire and a parody is that a satire is trying to shame individuals into changing their ways, while a parody is just purely making fun of something for comedic benefit. In this song, while Yankovic does tease about some aspects that come with being a doctor, but never mentions the need for a reformation of their practices. In the song, he takes the worst possible parts of the job such as being an intern, first surgery jitters, the guts and gore, and more, and makes it a hilarious skit for the viewers. By adding in unrealistic tools and crazy methods, Weird Al makes it obvious to the viewer that what is being shown in the skit is not an actual representation of what doctors do, while also adding in a comedic aspect to the song that is sure to make the audience chuckle. By choosing to make his song about surgeons, who actively save lives and better our society, it is even more clear that the song is a parody rather than a satire. I believe that the goals of his songs are never to ask anyone to change their ways or make his audience think too deeply about issues in society, but rather take the faults of our society and make them into art, so that we can laugh about our stereotypical issues without feeling as if we have to fix them. I personally love this song especially because my dad is a doctor, and it is amusing to see his profession be portrayed in such a joking way when it is actually a very necessary part of our lives in order to maintain human health. I recommend “Like A Surgeon” to anyone looking for a good laugh, and to those who enjoy fake hearts, chainsaws, and fake eyeballs.
Bart Baker completely humiliates Blank Space, one of Taylor Swift's most popular songs in his parody. Through his song, he mocks singers for charging people to listen to their songs. Moreover, he depicts Taylor Swift as Satan, displaying her as having temper-issues and thus further mocking and debasing her off her respect and He presents that his music video is more popular than Taylor's and seeks to display her as a crazy lunatic who behaves as he does in the video. Through first accusing Taylor of imitating his own behavior he gets her to respond by saying that she had always been crazy and a lunatic. Lastly, by emphasizing the fact that even at the time of an exorcism she was busy making her music videos, he seeks to enforce that she is money driven, and is disrespectful of religion.
ReplyDeleteWhat made this music video particularly amusing for me was primarily Bart trying to appear like Taylor. Unlike Taylor whose personality seems gentle and calm, Bart acts completely rebellious and without morals. His reckless behavior adds an intense amount of Humor to the video, especially when he throws to throw temper-tantrums. What makes this song a parody is the fact that it holds no moral lesson in it whatsoever, and is merely there to support the humiliation of Taylor Swift like that desired by her haters.