This week the comedy mode discussed was satire. As noted last week, parody and satire are often mistaken for one another or the same, despite their differences. While parody focuses on conventions, satire focuses on commentary – “where parody, as we have seen, draws on – and highlights aesthetic conventions, satire draws on – and highlights social ones”. (Neale & Krutnik, 1990). Satire aims to make commentary on a social issue, theme or event. This was seen in the show we watched in class, The Brass Eye. The Brass Eye utilises satirical comedy to poke fun at fake, or exaggerated news. It highlights that news agencies can pass fearmongering as legit and accurate information – “such a system of textual authority, built around claims to define reality by defining what counts as true and important, is a clear target for satire—understood here as art on the attack, to include both its aesthetic and its critical dimensions.” (Meikle, 2012). While the show utilises conventions of a typical news program, the real comedy is in the commentary on social issues (such as drugs in the episode in class). “The most effective satire blurs irretrievably the line between fact and fiction.” (Caterson, 2005).
The sketch created this week by our group, ‘Causing Cancer’ follows a news report on microwave radiation – we were all greatly inspired by Brass Eye. Our sketch is satirical because, much like drugs in Brass Eye, microwave radiation is an issue. Despite this, news agencies love to point the finger at what product will be ‘causing you cancer’, and greatly exaggerate the claim. The social issue being the fearmongering created by news channels for views and engagement on their shows. ‘Causing Cancer’ closes off the episode by introducing next week’s subject, how elevators cause you cancer. The sketch aims to blur the “line between fact and fiction.” (Caterson, 2005).
In this sketch, I learned about comedy’s relationship with non-fiction/informational programming. Specifically, the way they are constructed. The sounds, graphics, interviews and locations are all vital conventions to informational programming like news reports. Finding a way to make these conventions a part of our sketch enhanced the audience’s understanding of the style of satirical comedy we were creating.
REFERENCES
Meikle, G. (2012), “‘Find Out Exactly What to Think—Next!’: Chris Morris, Brass Eye, and Journalistic AuthorityLinks to an external site.“, Popular Communication, 10(1–2), pp. 14–26.
Caterson, S. (2005), “A Preposterous LifeLinks to an external site.“, Griffith Review, 8 (June 2005), pp. 186–192.
Neale, S. & Krutnik, F. (1990), “Definitions, genres, and forms” in Popular Film and Television Comedy. London: Routledge, pp. 10–25.