Satire

Let's take a look at this "satire" thing and see what it's all about. I am not going to write a history of satire, but it is important to note that it has been around for quite a while. There are debatable examples from Ancient Egypt dated in the 2 millennium BC, but the first true examples of satire come from Ancient Greece through the likes of Aristophanes around 400BC with his cynical political critiques. Satire is an intellectually enriching and informative comic technique, perhaps one of the smartest forms of comedy when well executed, and examples of it can be found in pretty much every form of artistic expression, such as political cartoons, TV shows, movies, novels, poetry, speeches, music, and more. Irony and deadpan humour are the most important ingredients of satire,along with exaggeration. Subtlety is also important in creating effective satire as if the critique is over the top and unbelievable,the impact will be lost. The best satire is delivered in such a manner that if you didn't know better you could read Jonathon Swift's ‘A Modest Proposal' and actually think for a minute that he was seriously suggesting that the poor feed their children to the rich. Despite some common interpretations, satire does not necessarily require humour, and should not be confused with parody. Parodies are humorous imitations of something, whereas satires need not imitate, nor be funny and their first and most important function is to raise questions about political, social, or moral ideas. It is a way to show the ridiculousness of the world around us. George Orwell's 1984' is one example of a satirical novel where the only humour comes from the absurdities of the world that Orwell created. The most authentic satirical humour comes about through hyperbole. Often a satirist will take a real topic that they feel deserves some critiquing and expand upon it exponentially, increasing the ridiculousness of the topic in an attempt to show the shortcomings of the subject of the satire. Cynicism and anger are the underlying tone of satire, but often these are only to be felt between the lines. The author will rely on the reader's awareness of the tone of the piece in order for the true meanings to be properly interpreted, and if they fail to pick up on the true understanding, the author's intention will be missed and the reader may find themselves angry or confused at the content.

Satire and irony are not intended to be taken literally, as often the writer is poking fun at or criticising something by pretending they agree with it. When delivered in a deadpan and straightforward manner, this form of satire can often be mistaken for the real deal and there have been times that satire has been confused with "actual" news or opinion, even when it is speaking about absurd situations. Most people know The Onion is not meant to be taken seriously, but some who are unfamiliar with the American parody newspaper have reprinted articles from it in other publications as serious news. Perhaps the funniest (and also the scariest) example is from 1998 when Fred Phelps, the leader of the ‘God Hates Fags' church (go to their website; it's simultaneously hilarious and sickening) who took the Onion article ‘Homosexual Recruitment Drive Nearing Goal' as proof that homosexual groups are actively trying to "sign up" new members to their sexual orientation.

We at debate have also had some encounters with people not happy of some of the opinions of a certain columnist, so this form of misunderstanding is not uncommon and something that satirists need to be aware of when writing, and is something that The New Yorker is currently experiencing.

Satire can be quite the effective weapon when used in the right circumstances. Most people who watch The Colbert Report are already in on the joke, but when Stephen Colbert (Google him if you're unfamiliar) performed at the White House Correspondent's Dinner in 2006 he was speaking to an audience that were the targets of his jokes, not supporters, including President Bush only a few meters away. His speech was a scathing attack on the President and the media, but worded in an ironic way to make it sound as if he actually supported them. The response from the audience was muted at best, but the video became an internet hit.

There are some other cases where satirists have wanted their outlandish ideas to be taken seriously in order to show that certain people can be persuaded to believe something if it is in their interests.

The Yes Men are a group of activists who set up websites with addresses that could be mistaken for real businesses such as Exxon-Mobil and groups like the World Trade Organisation. They then receive invitations from people who mistake the websites as real to speak at certain events around the world. They then go and give cynical and ironic speeches at business functions, universities, and sometimes even news programs as "representatives" for various companies and organisations.

The speeches they deliver are extremely effective as the audience actually believes they are real spokesmen for certain agencies. Often the speakers, always dressed in suits and looking the part, will promote a ludicrous new policy in an attempt to see how far the audience will follow them.

Last year, Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum, under the guise of National Petroleum Council (an oil advisory committee headed interestingly by the former CEO of Exxon) rep "Shepard Wolff" was asked to speak to 300 oilmen at GO-EXPO, Canada's largest oil conference. In his speech he said that the oil business should not worry about the global catastrophes they are causing as they can use the dead human bodies as sources for more oil, only more subtlety stated.

We need something like whales, but infinitely more abundant," said "Wolff" before describing the technology used to render human flesh into a new Exxon oil product called Vivoleum and then used a 3-D animation to explain the process.

Exxon(actually Mike Bonanno), continued, saying "Vivoleum works in perfect synergy with the continued expansion of fossil fuel production. With more fossil fuels comes a greater chance of disaster, but that means more feedstock for Vivoleum. Fuel will continue to flow for those of us left.

We're not talking about killing anyone," added Wolff. "We're talking about using them after nature has done the hard work. After all, 150,000 people already die from climate-change related effects every year. That's only going to go up - maybe way, way up. Will it all go to waste? That would be cruel."

Amazingly,it wasn't until the duo handed out candles allegedly made from an ex-Exxon janitor who died in a toxic accident that the audience awoke to the deception and they were forcibly removed from the stage.

Why satire is effective is because it employs a different tactic to make its argument. Instead of just "preaching" and using other more direct forms of expression to make your point of view heard. For example, would Jonathon Swift's ‘A Modest Proposal' be as well remembered today if he had just written a tirade about the set of theories and attitudes that had reduced his Ireland to such poor conditions? Instead he used sustained irony to lure the reader in with a serious introduction detailing the dreadful conditions the poor are forced to reside in, which garners the reader's attention and makes them think the article is sincere, only to then introduce the idea that poor children could be sold to the rich as a means of food. At this point, the reader is unsure as to whether Swift is serious or not, forcing them to think more closely about the issues raised.

The New Yorker was trying to do that same thing. In hundreds of newspapers and magazines have the slanderous rumors about Barack Obama been refuted, but yet they persist. So this publication tried something different. It appears not to have worked, but that's the risk that goes with such an endeavor.

Whether it is through comedies like Borat or South Park, or more dramatic media like Desperate Housewives, or comics like Doonsbury, or magazine covers, satire is thriving today because of our greater access to media, a savvy, and most importantly, cynical audience, and everyone is angry about something and wants to get their voices heard.