Many of the authors that we have read thus far in the semester such as Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope and Voltaire have used fiction to make commentaries on contemporary issues. Voltaire's Candide is one of the best examples of comedic satire in the tradition of Western literature. It is well known that Voltaire's work is a direct commentary on Gottfried Wihelm Leibniz's philosophy of optimism in which he insists that "all is for the best, in the best of all possible worlds." Voltaire uses an illustration in Candide of the 1755 earthquake in Lisbon to criticize Leibniz's position, which incidentally launched a discourse on optimist philosophy and the role of religion in governance.
In consideration of the satires that we have been reading by Pope, Swift and Voltaire, what I would like you to do is select a modern satire that you feel is interesting and compare it to a satire that we have read in class. The satire that you wish to discuss does not necessarily have to be in the written form: you can choose a movie, TV show (think political satires on SNL), or any other visual media that might be circulated online (please share a link with us if you do). The point is to think about the ways in which we use satire today to comment on society and determine whether it has changed significantly or remains essentially the same.
When comparing the two pieces of satire you might like to think about a couple of the following questions (you don't have to answer all of these, it's just to help you brainstorm):
Are these two satires poking fun at the same thing? That is, are they both commenting on politics, current events, societal standards, gender roles, etc, or do the topics seem quite different?
Why do you think that the satire that you are looking at is so effective for you personally? How does it compare to the satire(s) that we read in class?
In general, does satire have an effect on politics and society today as much as it did in the time period that you are looking at? (For example, Voltaire became the hero of the French Revolution)
I'm curious to see what examples you bring to the discussion, and please, share a link to YouTube or other sites if you find something that we might all be interested in seeing :)
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The Simpsons is a popular TV show that satirizes the American lifestyle. It addresses a variety of topics, like the environment, education, television, politics and religion in a lighthearted fashion. It is similarly to Gulliver’s Travels in the sense that the both criticize the government, religion and the human condition while using unrealistic events to portray these ideas. However, the Simpsons cover many more topics than Gulliver’s Travels do, such as education and the decline of the environment. I believe Gulliver’s Travels had much more of an impact when it was published to society considering the Simpsons is viewed as pure entertainment for the most part. No one really thinks much of what the TV show is trying to show the audience about American culture. Viewers mainly think that The Simpsons is something to laugh at rather than analyzing it to see the true intentions it has to satirize our society. The show is effective because it allows us to step back and laugh at ourselves since it is an exaggerated cartoon. Although Gulliver’s Travels is also mythical as well, it has a much more serious undertone to it than The Simpsons.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that came to my mind as a modern satire, was of course in the form of television. There have been a number of satires demonstrated through movies, like the epic rockumentarty, "this is spinal tap" or "best in show." And satires have inevitably infused television shows, especially during the Bush era.
ReplyDeleteOne modern satirist who has become quite popular in the recent years is none other than Stephen Colbert. Mr. Colbert has mastered the art of mockery by playing an uninformed, egotistical, misogynist, racist, ultra-conservative, money-hungry, narcissistic talk-show host, who regularly interrupts his guests and ends up answering his own questions intended for the guest. This laughable front man has made headlines of sorts when he tried running for president and wrote a book titled, "I am America (and so can you!)" making a joke out of everything he possibly can. Colbert's approach is exaggerated when compared to satirists like Swift and Pope, although Voltaire's "Candide" did seem to exaggerate his characters misfortunes.
For the intelligent viewer, Colbert is extremely humorous, and challenges the "mainstream" beliefs, or at least the medias main headlines, and in doing so, is an extremely effective satirist.
Link to Colbert's "Greetings NASA":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tnq4TJYN7A
A satire is essentially a method in which sarcasm is used to expose human vices and follies. When thinking of modern day political satires Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteFrom a very broad perspective, The Daily Show is a ridicule of the news and media in general and their biased and often failed attempt to report the current events of the world. Stewart shows how when things are taken out of context, much like in the daily news, they can be altered to mean something completely different. For example: In the clip attached, Stewart focuses on the year in perspective in which Bush was not in office, rather than in which Obama was in office. This insinuates that nothing important is being done in the current administration, so much so that it is more important to report something as trivial as what Bush has been doing with his time. But let's take a step even deeper.
Stewart begins to assess what world leaders do after their time in office has ended. This shows just how far our political leaders, or presidents, the men who are held with such great stature, fall after their time in office. How can one go from giving speeches to the American Nation, making political, military, and foreign policies to giving speeches in hunting and grocery stores? It's almost embarrassing, as an American, to see a) where we get our political leaders from and b) what they return to doing when their time in office is done.
Stewart further develops his story by making fun of the British and their investigation on the war on Iraq. Much like how he ridicules the American defense against their decision to go to war, Stewart brings British Prime Minister Tonny Blaire to the table. In this section of the video Stewart makes fun of how politicians try to re-word their statements in order to make their (mistakes) "decisions" sound better. Stewart states, " Ah, I now realize the difference between Blaire and Bush... the accent!" This statement goes to show that there is no good politician and that they are all equally corrupt and in a sense idiotic.
Jon Stewart's The Daily Show: "Faulty Powers"
http://www.hulu.com/watch/125323/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-faulty-powers#s-p5-st-i1
Above dmian0 mentioned the rockumentary "This is Spinal Tap" this movie is one of my personal favorite satires. It is like the satires that we read in class as they both have a certain degree of humor incorporated within them, more in "Spinal Tap" than in the stories. Also they both poke fun at important topics in their respective time periods. Today, and in the time that spinal tap was made, some of the most recognizable people are the musicians. This is because the people that are all over the media are primarily entertainers with their over indulgent sometimes stupid ways. Spinal Tap especially exaggerates some of the more moronic things that entertainers said and did. Back in the day, such as when Swift wrote, things were different and people were more concerned about the things that were happening, such as the Brittish colonization. Great strides in many different aspects of life, including government and technologies, have allowed us to care more about trivial things such as entertainment. Both of these media greatly ridicule the things that they are satirizing. In "A modest proposal" Swift say things that are utterly ridiculous: slaughtering babies and selling and eating them. In Spinal Tap things are similarly ridiculous, such as the amplifier that "goes to eleven" instead of ten. As well as my personal favorite scene with the mini stonehenge.
ReplyDeleteTiny Stonehenge:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlf5ucFanpY
One of my favorite shows on television is SNL. SNL has been known for years for its very funny satires on many different aspects on American pop culture. Last year it took on a whole new meaning when they satirized much of the American presidential election of 2008. In the clip I posted below, is one of the famous of the satires, Sarah Palin (Tina Fey) being interview by Katie Couric (Amy Poheler), a satire on the infamous interview between the two.
ReplyDeleteLike SNL, Jonathan Swift also uses political satire in his piece "A Modest Proposal." He is criticizing the English's rule of the Irish but doing it in a way that is so outlandish that it can be seen as humorous, much like the SNL satire. He even tells the Irish people who are suffering from famine to eat babies if it has to come down to it. I feel that the satire today does play a role like it did years ago. The SNL political satires were very popular and became Internet sensation overnight, influencing alot of the American public, much like Swift, Pope and Voltaire did many years before.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/couric-palin-open/704042/
Saturday Night Live is very well known for its political satires. They comment on all aspects of the political arena and don’t hold back how they feel in their show. They have created skits about policies created, elections, and other political debates. In the clip posted here, SNL is commenting on the financial crisis that is facing America and placing the blame on the then current administration in place. I know that many Americans are not adequately informed about the politics in our country or current news. Upon seeing SNL skits poking fun at current policies some people may not be able to realize what the facts are and where the satire begins. Satires like Saturday Night Live can be a dangerous tool because parts of the skits can be believable and cause people to become misinformed and take on the bias of the skit as their own. However, A Modest Proposal is an obvious satire that people are not going to take seriously. Nevertheless, there is always a danger of publishing false information unto an uniformed audience. In Swift’s A Modest Proposal, he is blaming the British government in place in Ireland for the poverty and hardships facing the Irish people. In today’s society and in Swift’s time the government was blamed for all of the financial problems that were facing their people. Not much has changed. Satires are still being used today to put the blame of society’s problems on someone and not hang in the balance unresolved.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/c-span-bailout/727521/
After learning about this assignment, I started to look up different modern satire’s from Saturday Night Live. I came across one in particular about Scott Brown, the newly elected Senator from Massachusetts. I decided to use this skit since ironically he lives in my hometown. At a young age I can remember Scott Brown being the independent political figure whose views were constantly overshadowed by his good-looking persona. In this modern satire, the actors on SNL are constantly referencing his good looks and who he was at a younger age rather than the political platform he believes in. Through out the skit, they show Scott Brown winking and even mention his magazine spread in Cosmo, which was taken over 25 years ago and to this day it is still being brought up. It goes to show that his looks are overshadowing his political standing, which is sad because his looks do not define who he is. When I watched this skit, it reminded me of the satire that we read about in Alexander Pope’s, The Rape of the Lock. The author is commenting on the societal standards of women in the time period. We are exposed to Belinda, a character who values her chastity, but is known for her looks. Like Scott Brown, her looks do not define her, but that is what society believes does. This goes to show you that our societal standards were and always will be based on looks, which is sad to think about because it characterizes us inaccurately.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/new-senator/1197994/
The 2006 movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is an example of a modern satire. The fictional character Borat is a journalist who travels to America , which he calls the “Greatest Country in the World”. Although perhaps difficult to see through the heavy comedy, the satire is trying to show the problems with societal standards in America. I think that his outrageous Anti-Semitism attitude was to comment on how Americans create stereotypes about types of people without being justified. Borat also displayed sexism when he laughed at the idea that females and males have the same size brains. However, Borat is not the only individual discussing his negative views of others. Borat had numerous discussions with other Americans, illustrating that possibly his ideas are not that far-fetched. This movie reminded me of Voltaire’s Candide. Both satires are essentially adventures, where the protagonists are traveling and meeting many people. Candide and Borat do not invent the evils they write about in their satires; they merely report them with comedy. Borat disillusioned the idea of America being the perfect country and Voltaire disenchanted Europe. When I first saw the movie Borat, it personally disturbed me. All of the nudity and misogyny offended me. But then I thought about what he was trying to make Americans realize, and I appreciated the satire more. I think this satire in particular has not had the impact of other modern satires due to its extreme comedy and rated “R” moments. The multitude of satirical media such as the Simpsons and Family Guy that is present in our culture makes their impact diminutive.
ReplyDeleteClip from the movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbTS7320n64
Swift's A Modest Proposal is a satire where he is explaining the economic and financial crisis that was going on in Britain at that time. He was also blaming it on the current Government at that time. He blamed these problems on the Government and was not confident that they could fix the financial problems and the poor living conditions of that time.
ReplyDeleteI did some searching on the internet for satires that come in common with this one and I found a satire from a SNL skit. In this video there are a group of politicians that a planning to say "you lie" when President Obama speaks about fixing the health care problem and bringing America out of the recession. These politicians and Swift are exactly the same just in different time periods. The politicians in the video are blaming President Obama for the problems now and are not confident at all that he will be able to fix the problem. Swift was also blaming the Government in his satire and they both show doubt in whether or not the Government can fix the problem or not.
I believe that these political satires will be a part of TV and the news for years to come.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpnDownxE
ReplyDeleteNot everyone realizes it, but some video games are satires as well as being a form of entertainment. Fallout 3, for example, satirizes modern politics and human nature. The game is set in a post-war world full of radiation, super mutants, and towns completely destroyed by the weapons of war. This world is a product of the careless actions caused by what one could refer to as the third world war. With the whole world at war and no clear victor in sight, each country (or at least those that had the technology developed) launched their own nuclear bomb to wipe out their opponents, succeeding in not only ending the war, but in ending the world as we knew it. Innocent people afflicted with radiation poisoning underwent irreversible physical changes, some of which deteriorated the mind to the point of unchecked violence insanity. The sort of makeshift United States government, known as the Enclave, had a plan to wipe out all mutants, benign and evil, by poisoning the water supplies with a mutant killing virus. The virus not only destroys mutants, but renders the water undrinkable which, in effect, would kill all humans in the area as well. This satirizes the commonly held belief in “the greater good”. The Enclave doesn’t care that it’s going to wipe out innocent people as long as it can destroy its enemies in the process. In my opinion, the idea behind this game is similar to those of Jonathan Swift. It satirizes modern politics and the governments’ lack of regard for its citizens and the mindless destruction of war. However, Fallout 3 had nowhere near as much impact as Jonathan Swift’s writing did. Fallout 3 merely offers a warning: continue as we’ve done and this is the kind of world we’re headed for.
ReplyDeleteWhile it is certainly true that in this modern age, television, through actual airings and the internet, controls the majority of progamming and content viewed by the public, it is not the only outlet. For generations before television was even a dream, theater and the stage ran the output of entertainment and satire. In keeping with this long-held tradition the play "The Complete History of America (abridged)" uses comedy and satire to not only amuse audiences, but to also make a statement about not only America's past, but also its present. Using cutting, intelligent humor as well as hilarious one-liners, the cast paints a picture onstage of a flawed society, but one we can all laugh at.
ReplyDeleteWhile the examples we read in class were more of a direct, current condemnation of the society in which they were written, this play works more in the past. But while this true, and they concentrate on history, the production truly shows how the past is simailar to the present and the reality behind history repeating itself. Through scenes mocking the American Revolution or the colonization process, the audience views attitudes and aspects of society still present today. I believe this work is probably most similar to Voltaire's Candide, in how they both take naive, optimistic views or ideas and, through humor and satire, show the problems with these beliefs. However, "History of America" does not have a trace of the overwhelming pessimism and resignment that Voltaire's work is full of.
Whether it be from past centuries or last week, satire's purpose is to force the audience to reflect and delve deeper into the truth of their society, and both the works we have read and this new play do just that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub3lNDwpDg0
The greatest modern satire to compare with the works of Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and Voltaire is Comedy Central’s hit late night television program The Colbert Report. Similar to these historical works The Colbert Report mocks and pokes fun at social issues, politics, and especially current events. The show’s star Stephen Colbert is very intelligent and witty; he describes his character on the show as a “well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot.”
ReplyDeleteJust like Swift’s Gulliver's Travels, Colbert uses his television show to highlight flaws in society while entertaining them at the same time. The program can be compared with Voltaire’s Candide because of its racy segments.
I believe this satire is so effective because it mocks the truth rather than lying about it. It also questions subjects that people might be uncomfortable talking about such as religion or politics.
The Colbert Report and other satires have great amounts of influence on society. During the last Presidential Campaign many people looked to The Colbert Report for information and humor about the candidates.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/264085/february-10-2010/we-re-off-to-see-the-blizzard
When I was thinking about satire, I thought about a newspaper that is big at home, The Onion. The Onion is a newspaper that satirizes everything from politics to sports. The Onion uses satire in a very funny way. For instance one headline of an article is "Congress Beginning to Suspect Senator Mark Warner might be Homeless." These types of headlines do not always satirize the subjects themselves, but rather satirize newspaper industry for what kind of story they pick.
ReplyDeleteCandide however, does not use humor to satirize philosophy. Candide uses earthquakes and other unfortunate events to emphasize his satire. Both the Onion and Candide exaggerate events. For instance the story of how Pangloss survives is outlandish. Likewise, the story about a senator being homeless is also a little outlandish.
In our current society, it is increasingly difficult to find the serious satire that people like Voltaire wrote. A lot of the satire now is more comedy than anything. While there are serious undertones to the satire, you have to really think about what the people are trying to get at.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/supreme_court_allows
ReplyDeleteI chose to compare Candide to an article published by The Onion, a newspaper famous for its satire of everything from politics to societal standards to current events. Both pieces are extremely affective in their satire but are both poking fun at completely different things.
In Candide, Voltaire is attacked Gottfried Leibniz’s philosophical view that everything is for the best, and everything is in God’s hands. Despite the earthquakes destructiveness and fatalities involved, the character Pangloss is still devoted to his belief that everything happens as it should. Pangloss is in a way, representing Leibnez.
In contrast, the article, “Supreme Court Allows Corporations To Run For Political Office” is taking more of a political stab. It addresses the idea that corporations are running America, and running it to the ground. They have become so powerful that they almost hold their own political positions, as the article is stating.
I believe The Onion article is so effective for me personally because of everything I have learned about the corporations in America. From their outsourcing to their exploitation of labor, they are destructive and taking away from family business and the American economy. CEO’s are benefiting and the middle and lower classes are suffering. All one has to do is watch Michael Moore’s “Roger & Me” in which he addresses the situation in Flint, Michigan. General Motors closed down its factory in Flint and moved to another country where they could hire cheaper workers. As a result of this, the Flint infrastructure collapsed and thousands of people fell into poverty.
I think that the article compares in the sense that both Voltaire’s Candide and The Onion article have the power to raise awareness and change people’s minds about both philosophy and the economy. In the blog question itself, it’s mentioned that Voltaire’s satire “incidentally launched a discourse on optimist philosophy and the role of religion in governance.” I believe satire today is just as powerful as it once was, because as long as there is something to criticize and poke fun at, satire can be made.
A modern day satire that I chose to compare to the writings of Pope, Swift, and Voltaire, is the show “Gossip Girl”. To most people, the show probably does not seem relevant to this matter at all, yet in many ways the plot behind the episodes of this show attack society just as these authors did. The show is based around a group of upper class teenagers, who live the “high-life” in society with a different issue in each episode. Mainly though, we see that money can not only give you nice things but get you to succeed in all levels of society. Just as Pope used his work to bash on the non-important issues that run the lives of the upper class, with a tragedy consisting of a hair clipping, this producer does the same thing. With tragedies including, the main character Blaire Waldorf’s boyfriend ignoring her, and the young freshman stealing from a department store to try and fit in. By watching a show such as this, we allow ourselves to enter into a world, which most of us don’t have the luxury to be a part of, and realize the pettiness of such unimportant issues that the middle class of society does not usually deal with. While I do not feel that satires such as this have as strong of an impact on politics and society today, as the authors we have read may have had. I do feel that when popular movies, television shows and even new books are looked at from a different perspective, they are very comparable to the works of these authors from long ago.
ReplyDeleteColleen, I completely agree with what you said about Gossip Girl, and comparing the show to Pope, Swift, and even Voltaire. The show is using satire to make fun of the "Upper East Siders" and the extravagant lifestyle they live. Similar to Pope in the Rape of the Lock, satire is used to mock the lifestyle of the rich. In Gossip Girl, girls place too much emphasis on beauty and fashion, similar to Belinda. But like the endings of many episodes, it is shown that there is more to life than money and physical beauty.
ReplyDeleteOverall, the use of satire is evident in many aspects of the media today, in fact sometimes it is hard to distinguish between something that is real and something that is a satire. But I personally find satire to be refreshing, because it makes myself take a step back and really examine something for what it is.