Postmodern style often addresses its viewers as sophisticated media readers and consumers. Referring to Sturken and Cartwright's chapter "Postmodernism, Indie Media and Popular Culture," and the Onion News Network clip posted above, describe how the text operates on the level of satire. In particular, how does the clip make use of parody and irony?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Blog #3
Postmodern style often addresses its viewers as sophisticated media readers and consumers. Referring to Sturken and Cartwright's chapter "Postmodernism, Indie Media and Popular Culture," and the Onion News Network clip posted above, describe how the text operates on the level of satire. In particular, how does the clip make use of parody and irony?
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The Onion is an American news satire organization. It features satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news as well as an entertainment newspaper. The Onion News is a Parody of mainstream news programming and Time Magazine's list of the most influential people. According to S &C, the parody of truth follows formula or historical code. In the same fashion the above clip plays, the headlines in text, with an anchor introducing the news story and then interviewing an expert. The tone at which the anchor speaks is very serious and important. The editor follows Time Magazine's script of acknowledging the difficulty of comprising a list of the least influential and whittling it down to the top 10,000 people out of 299 million (or most likely, the entire population that didn't make the most influential list). This kind of code could also work on any other show like comedy shows or a T.V drama series. The audiences are forced to know what is real and what is unreal. According to S&C the distinction between real and humor is not clear and fogy to the reader or audience. The audiences are put in a situation to think or distinguish between reality and humor.
ReplyDeleteThe irony here is, and according to the news the audience would only know influential people who were in the media for all the wrong reasons or for the right reasons, well known, influential in our culture. For example, recently Forbs announced the richest people in America, it is obvious that people would know Bill Gates as the richest man but would anyone know Sam Wyly who is also the riches man in America but ranked 400 on the forbs list.
It is surprising to also know how the news picked up Jim Stutts to be the 9,004 on the list of least influential people. They factored in things such as, the fact that Stutts is less influential than the little dark skinned boy that brings the anchor coffee and a doughnut in the morning because the boy would be missed if he didn't bring the anchor a Danish
The Onion News Network clip presumes wonderfully what Stucken and Cartwright call "a significant amount of media literacy/familiarity on the part of the viewers."(265) This of course opens the way for the use of both parody and irony. The viewer recognizes at once the setting of the contemporary half hour news program format used by such TV personalities as Nancy Grace and Wolf Blitzer. The parody is further complemented by the use of split-screen imagery to interview an "expert" in the field, a staple of these shows. The subject matter they are parodying is Time magazine's annual list of the most influential people. Here we are introduced instead to one of the "least influential" people in America, a claims adjuster who, ironically, has in the last two years, according to the show's host, managed to make no adjustments. Thus the irony is also based on verbal paradox. His wife, who states that she is proud her husband is finally getting the recognition (of not being recognized) likewise exemplifies how irony can be centered around linguistic paradox, one of the many tools of postmodernism. The man's "recognition" is humorous, if pathetic, in that it only emphasizes his unimportance and alienation in the grand scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteThe postmodern aspect of pluralism is differentiated nicely in reversing Time's celebration of only the influential few and going instead for the 299,000,000 uninfluential populace out there.
A second, minor parody is added in the tag-on line about George W. Bush saying he would need no translator to communicate with the North Koreans. The implication not only makes fun of his egomania, but, in an unsettling way, his ironic tendency to "communicate" with other nations through the blunt use of force, which is, unfortunately, universally understood.
Cherie P.
it uses parody and irony to get a laugh. The Onion News TV and newspaper are never meant to be taken seriously. That's their "gimmick" in order to make money. they use actors to portray fictional events as if they were real to show how events can be taken seriously when they are not real. For intense, i saw a video for a new product the Mac book Wheel and thought it was real at first because the Onion actually made up a working interface for the fake product. All the Onion is trying to do is get a few laughs using one the comedy's oldest tricks.
ReplyDeleteThis little clip is a prime example of irony and parody. The clip stems from “The Onion Network.” For those who don’t know, The Onion is a satirical comedy newspaper which has morphed into web news as well.
ReplyDeleteIt’s easy to see what the writers were parodying. The target is all-news networks such as Fox news or CNN. Those news channels spew story after story, attempting to catch the interest of an individual who is continuously flipping the station. Normally those types of networks cover “breaking” and “interesting” news, by interesting it can usually be linked to blood, guts, violence, and fear. This clip on the other hand is quite the opposite; the man in the clip is frankly…nothing. He is 9,604th on the list of Time Magazine’s most uninteresting people. The writers parody the style that the news is broadcast, deadpan and serious. The writers are also playing on the fact that Time Magazine puts out an issue that rates human beings on a scale, this list just shows the rest of us uninteresting and non-influential American folk.
This piece is also full of irony as well. It seems ironic that one of the most uninteresting men in America is getting such heavy press coverage. Perhaps this is a statement of the hypocrisies of today’s journalism: making mountains out of mole-hills.
The clip is a parody of real news outlets like CNN or MSNBC because they have realistic anchors and interviews and all the characters in the clip are focused and serious. The Onion even provides their own mini headlines for the rolling news feed at the bottom of the screen.
ReplyDeleteThe clip is ironic because the Onion can be more captivating and entertaining to watch fake news about silly topics than it is to watch real news broadcasts about real topics. The Onion is commenting on the state of how Americans pay attention to News and also commenting on what the various news outlets are showing us. Most Americans, it seems, are too busy to pay attention to the news because they find the real, improtant topics boring and would rather be informed about topics that are more entertaining, but most of the time not really news worthy.
True parody is defined by mimicking something in a serious way, while at the same time audiences, who are wise to the presenter of the parody, know that it cannot be a true mimic of the original because it if it was it would be outlandish.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Baudrillard images become more real than the actual real, creating a hyperreality in which simulation replaces reproduction and representation. To take that a step further, audiences go into films expecting to escape to another reality, a fake reality, parodies and satires are only believable if the audience questions them saying, 'is what is being presented to me real? I thought I came here to escape the harsh reality but I am presented with a fake reality that claims to a reality'
Parodies revolve around the genre theory that Sturken and Cartwright describe as, “specific genres (in film, television, literature, etc.) establish certain conventions and formulas that are recognizable to viewers, whose pleasure derives in part from a combination of seeing familiar elements and seeing the variation in them from one film to the next” (329). That is exactly what the Onion News performs. It uses split-screens, rolling news headlines, and interviews in the field that are commonly viewed in the Television News genre conducted by major networks like Fox and CNN. It gives the audience the appearance of a “real” news channel, however, it reports on phony events to produce irony.
ReplyDeleteThe phony event in the clip is the assertion that Jim Stutts made number one in Time Magazine’s “Least Influential People” list, which makes for a humorous clip; but that’s not all the clip is going for. The absurdity of judging people on how well they can be least influential reflects how absurd it is for Time Magazine to pick the most influential man out of billions of people in the world. It takes the literal meaning of covering the phony story to create the intended meaning of how absurd it is to pick on influential man out of the entire world, which sums up Sturken and Cartwright’s definition of irony.
-Keil Mitchell-
The video clip of the CNN is a good example of irony and parody. As we know, the Onion is a news team whom uses reality news and turns them into comedies for people to get a good laugh at. The clip of the Onion, produces an irony and parody effect upon its audiences because it gives the audiences the feelings of a false reality but silly and humorous to listen and watch. You could say its like reading a fiction book, in which the book itself makes you feel like living in a different reality life but you know it is not real. It is kind of a like dream or an imagination along filled with the sense of reality in it making it feel like half real.
ReplyDeleteShee Lee (Lab 801)
This clip is a parody of big news stations like CNN or Fox. The clip is set up to look just like a real news station with the setting, the headlines on the screen, and the interviews in the field. However, the news report is on a ridiculous topic. This creates irony. By taking a serious situation and manipulating it into an absurd one that is still presented in a serious manner, a parody is created. The audience makes a connection between the real situation and the new absurd one and it creates a humorous scenario. This specific clip plays on the idea that news stories are often aired simply to capture people’s attention or to entertain even though the story may not be of true importance. The story presented in the clip is very bland and boring but is presented in a way of great importance, making it ironic.
ReplyDeleteIn the Onion News clip above, it parodies twenty-four hour news stations such as Fox News and MSNBC, as well as TIME magazine. It is also ironic in the process.
ReplyDeleteThis parodies the news channels in the fact that, regardless of what they cover, they always will try to make it interesting. Also, in the clip it shows a man atop the least influential people list. This directly parodies TIME's most influential list, and shows the man along with an interview.
The irony in the clip is the wife saying that she is "proud" of her husband making it on the list. Normally, one would not be proud of someone close to them if they weren't influential to those around them, thus making it ironic. Also, the fact that this is being covered on a major news channel is also ironic. The least influential people would not be covered normally, because it is uninteresting, and shouldn’t make it on a news network, getting major coverage. It is completely absurd, and is a direct definition of irony.
The Onion not only functions as a legitmate news station but they capture audiences by using sarcasm, irony and parody to poke fun at actual new stations such as CNN or ABC. Also added into the mix is a thing called, Satire. As defined Satire is "the use of irony, sarcasm and ridicule" It's ironic because The Onion uses topics that are not talked about on a regular basis, out them into news form and adding a serious face making the "news" everyone wants to watch. It's also ironic that The Onion a fake news recieves more reviews and compliments then actual news, it seems America uses The Onion as an outlet to let go of the things that are actually happening in everyday life. Onto Parody, the defintion of Parody is " a humorous or satricical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing" The Onion and several other Parody makers take this to an extreme. With the example given, the audience can tell the clip is making fun of US weekly's Most infulential. Not only has The Onion made Parodys a daily re-occurence but it has spilled into the music and film industry as well.
ReplyDeleteMitchell Stamm,
ReplyDeleteThe Onion News is produced to be a complete joke. It is often released to the public for laughs on the point that it is often making fun of recent news using sarcasm, and irony to get a laugh out of the public. They often make these clips and also newspapers that look very professional but the context is all a joke and very humorous. With this it makes the Onion news a satire. It is ironic that we can make what serious news often looks like, turn into a complete joke and often make fun or joke about related events that are going on in the world today.
This clip shows irony and is a parody of a real broadcast news teams. The anchor man, shows a serious expression and the story that he is covering shows a parody of what Time magazine's most influential people. Unlike Time magazine, ONN broadcasts the least influential person. They use actors to display the family and friends of the subject, as well as Time magazine's editor. This broadcast is meant to be humorous but looks very professional because the anchorman is wearing a nice suit and tie and is sitting in a newsroom that has the same interior qualities as real newsroom. Most news teams cover at the end of the year, Time's most important person. However, ONN also broadcasts it at the end of the year to make it sound like serious effort was put into making this program. This is a perfect example of satire and irony.
ReplyDeleteIn the Onion News video clip it shows parody and satire to be entertaining. The onion News station uses actors to take fictional events and make them seem real. The use of an “expert” to explain the ridiculous and humorous news story makes the situation even funnier. Throughout the newscast the actors use a serious to tone to make it seem as if Newscasters are really talking about the issue. From the S&C reading the distinction between real and humor are unclear to the audience. “Specific genres establish certain conventions and formulas that are recognizable to the viewers, whose pleasure derives in part from a combination of seeing familiar elements and seeing the variation in them from one film to the next.”(329) In this video clip it is funny and entertaining, which allows it to follow the formula of satire
ReplyDelete