This week, we explored satire as a mode of comedy and its relationship to parody. As a class, we found it difficult to define satire as a mode that functions on its own, and we realised this isn’t usually the case, as it often requires a form, which can be confused for, or coexist, with parody. For this reason, it’s “easiest to think of [parody and satire] as two sides of the same coin,” rather than two separate modes (Dixon, personal communication, 10 April 2024).
An example we used to unpack this distinction between the two modes is the UK series Brass Eye (1997), which takes the form of fictional News and parodies 90s news coverage style. This gave our group a template to make our own sketch, by thinking of a form, possible targets, and comic devices to group together. As “satire is a civilised form of loathing that… requires targets peculiar to a given society at a particular moment in its history” (Caterson on Frye 2005:188), we settled on a relevant social issue that many would agree grants a sense of loathing: price gouging and corrupt CEOs. By taking the form of a game show, Crazy Questions w/ Camila primarily targets major supermarkets, with our host (played by myself) digging at former CEO of Woolworths for his little compassion. We felt that ridicule was “the most effect satire” (Caterson 2005:188), and it paired well with the game show format as it allowed us to deliver a belittling line of questioning effectively.
While we parodied the game show format to a degree, with sound effects, graphics, and an overenthusiastic host, the comedy didn’t necessarily come from parodying the codes and conventions of the game show, as we aimed to look outwards on our chosen topic of price gouging. Thinking of satire in this way has made me realise that a lot of the comedy I consume is satirical, or is at least argued to be satire, with comment sections on TikTok videos reading “it’s fine, it’s satire,” which reverts back to satire being “a civilised form” (Caterson), as uncomfortable humour is often more digestible if it’s used for satirical purposes. It’s clear that satire has a lot of layers and it’s a mode I hope to work with more moving forward.
References
Caterson S (2005) ‘A Preposterous Life’, Griffith Review, 8 (June 2005), p. 186–192.