Alllllright, so recently in class we’ve been talking about satire and one of the examples that was brought up was how satire is commonly used in SNL skits. This year, the majority of their satire was focused on the election. As we all know, satire is used to make a point by using humor, but can it also change people’s points of view? I’ve watched nearly allllll of the election skits on SNL and in my opinion, most of the banter was pointed at McCain and his running mate Palin. Yeah it was REALLY funny and I am totally 100% an Obama girl, but I can’t help but think that these skits influenced people about who they chose for the election.
Palin was probably made fun of the most, she was an easy target because she’s a white house outcast from Alaska, she talks weird, (you betcha) and Tina Fey was a nearly EXACT look a like. They gave her a lot of crap about the VP debates, in one skit, they even said that “If Governor Palin does not throw up, faint, or runaway, this debate should be considered a tie.”
They also put a lot of emphasis on the whole “I can see Russia from my window” and who can forget the replay of her failed interview?
All in all, although I found these skits to be funny and I personally think that Palin is not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, I can’t help but think that SNL might have made fun of her to the point that it affected the outcome of the election. Look at it this way, there are people who really don’t pay that much attention to politics, but they vote anyways. They watch shows like SNL that are paying particular attention to the stupidies of Palin, and then come election day, they cast a vote for Obama because of what they have seen on satire media. I’m by no means saying that this kind of stuff shouldn’t be allowed, we have the right to say whatever the heck we want to say and publicize whatever we want, I’m merely pointing out the fact that although something is comical, it can sometimes be taken too seriously and have more of an affect on us then we know.
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3 comments:
I agree with you. I had political science first quarter so I was more educated on this election than I probably would have been otherwise. I watched the debates for my project and also saw some of the SNL skits. The skits did paint a picture in my mind of Palin that seemed to last through most of the election. I'm sure I wasn't the only person this happened to.
I agree with you also and kevin has a very good point when he said that it paints a picture in your mind of what she is like and it does last a long time
It's really just the great irony of democracy Lisa. We're so proud of our system but the majority isn't always right.
And let's face it, a majority of people are stupid. I'm sure you're right, there is probably a good portion of society that were swayed towards Obama because of bad journalism and satire. But that's our own fault.
The more we watch poorly regulated news channels and satirical shows (even though most of us know it's satire, some aren't so bright) the more survive.
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