1. satire SATIRE aims to make us laugh AT THE SAME TIME
it wants to tell us that something is wrong
SATIRE IS THEREFORE
an unusual blend of humour and criticism
THE SATIRIST
wishes to entertain the reader
BUT ALSO
make the reader aware of the vices and shortcomings of the subject
IN OTHER WORDS……

2. The satirist
is a kind of self-appointed guardian of standards, ideals and truth
a person who takes it upon themselves to
correct
censure
and ridicule…..
….the follies and vices of society
thus satire is a kind of protest….a sublimation of anger and indignation !

3. DEFINING SATIRE
A humorous way of presenting stories, incidents, events and people that holds up folly and vice and those guilty of it to ridicule.
Satire achieves its aim through the use of ridicule…….or sarcasm……or irony.
Its purpose is to expose and discourage vice and folly and to expose false pretensions.
It may also involve a cynical observation of others.

4. SOME SATIRICAL TECHNIQUES
FARCE
Humour of the simplest and most basic kind : designed to engender roars of laughter rather than knowing smiles and wit.
Exaggeration of behaviour and situation, often beyond credibility.
“Low” Comedy or Horseplay
Most gross-out modern film comedies from
There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber
onwards
“Excruciating” Television Comedies such as
Fawlty Towers or Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em
Even Get Smart
We use the expression :
This year’s Cross Country was a real farce….

5. parody An imitation of somebody or something, in order to ridicule
Makes us laugh because of its ability to imitate or mimic something we all know well
Must be recognisable to its audience
Must be a balance between close resemblance to the original and a deliberate distortion of its principal characteristics
Consider the Austin Powers / Scarey Movie or other such franchises which have no humour unless you recognise the original material being parodied (lampooned)
Consider the song parodies of Weird Al Yankovich
Nursery rhymes make for easy Parody :
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world at night…
What the hell ? A satellite.

6. The Simpsons, South Park
BURLESQUE
Usually stronger and broader in tone than Parody.
A derisive imitation or exaggerated “sending up” of a literary or musical work.
For the most part associated with some form of stage entertainment
Clowning is a type of burlesque
Also associated with SLAPSTICK or physical humour
Consider films
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Enchanted, even Shrek
or T.V. shows
The Simpsons, South Park
where the cast breaks into a musical routine
in deliberate send-up of Movie or Stage Musicals
whose unnatural characteristics make them
easy targets for Satire

7. Irony
A particular use of language in which the words chosen convey a different meaning from their literal sense.
The perception or awareness of a discrepancy or incongruity between words and their meaning, between actions and their results, appearance and reality
A tool used to convey dramatic impact due to its subtlety or unexpectedness
The secondary meaning may not be so obvious to all listeners and readers
May make a powerful point in a gentle and subtle way
Consider the Bridge Scene from
The Truman Show
where the protagonist is unaware
of his being lied to by his “best friend”
and the audience who is aware is unaware
of the director’s voice in the “best friend’s” ear

8. SARCASM
An extreme use of irony used to belittle whoever or whatever is the target of sarcasm.
It may be smearing, bitter or cutting.
That’d be right…(Sarcasm by suggestion…)
Typical ! (Of what ? The sarcasm is in the silence…)
He exhibits as much humanity as a carton of cold custard.
You’ve got about as much charisma as a peanut butter sandwich….minus the nuts.
A plan so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a weasel…
(Black Adder)

9. HYPERBOLE Exaggeration is simply an overstatement of truth
Hyperbole is wild exaggeration
So wild that it is not meant to be taken literally
So wild that we have no doubt about the point being made, though the specific meaning might not even make sense.
Consider common cliches :
“I haven’t seen you for ages”
“he’s as old as the hills”
“he was driving at a million miles an hour”
“that’s the worst suggestion I’ve heard since Moses was a boy”
(From the film Kenny) “There’s a smell in here that will outlast religion”
“enough ice to sink the Titanic”

10. CARICATURE
An exaggeration of personality defects to a ludicrous extreme, often using stereotypes.
Cartoonists use caricature when choosing features to exaggerate in depicting a certain personality
Villains in movies are often two-dimensional caricatures
From the novel Forrest Gump…..
“I been a idiot since I was born. My IQ is near 70, which qualifies me, so they say. Probly, tho, I’m closer to bein a imbecile or maybe even a moron, but personally, I’d rather think of myself as like a halfwit, or somethin….I can think things pretty good, but when I got to try sayin or writin them, it kinda come out like jello or something. I’ll show you what I mean….”

11. AND FURTHERMORE…
As with any study of a particular topic, it is simply important to realise that there are specific techniques that can be identified in the exercise of the craft.
Begin to look for and identify these techniques in the samples of Satire you are about to study.
A more detailed breakdown of techniques is listed on the second page of your assignment task sheet.
You will need to address which of these techniques are utilised in the film that you study and in the print text chosen, and specifically illustrate their application.
(What did that mean ? It means find examples and quote your heart out !)

12. IN SUMMARY THEN, SATIRE IS...
.....a manner of writing that mixes a critical attitude with wit and humour in an effort to improve mankind and human institutions.

13. Ridicule, Irony, Exaggeration and a number of other techniques are almost always present....

14. The Satirist may insert serious statements of value and desired behaviour but most often he relies on an implicit moral code, understood by his audience and paid lip service by them.

15. The satirist’s goal is to point out the hypocrisy of his target in the hope that either the target or the audience will return to a real following of the code.

16. Many of the techniques of satire are devices of comparison, designed to show the similarity or contrast between two things. A list of incongruous items, an oxymoron, metaphor, antithesis, juxtaposition are obvious examples.