Reflection on Satire

In class for the past few weeks were have been analyzing satire. Satire is a attack on or criticism of any stupidity in the form of scathing humor or a critique of what the authors sees as dangerous religious, political, moral, or social standards. It was believed that an artist could correct humanity by using folly as a mirror to reflect society. When satire is used correctly people can see how ridiculous their behavior is and then correct that tendency in them. When they view the satire they may see their faults magnified in a distorted reflection. After analyzing satirist videos and commercials, I understand how the artist uses different techniques to reveal the issues in society such as sarcasm, verbal irony, wit, folly, vice and scathing humor. My fellow students found brilliant examples of satire and I feel as a class we have developed a greater understanding of how, why, and when satire is used.

Many of the satirist pieces students presented to the class were great examples of correct satire. Some examples used humor to show the flaws in society and others were very disturbing but effective.  One of my favorite pieces that was shown was named Fotoshop. The commercial advertises a new revolutionary beauty product that hides all imperfections and makes women look like a flawless  version of themselves. This satire targets the morphed fashion/beauty industry but also insecure women that will take extreme measures just to look a certain way. The commercial is really exposing how women will go out and buy a product that makes them “beautiful” instead of actually trying to be healthy and not insecure. There were many other presentations in class that were of strong satire pieces that really made me reflect on society and humanity. The satire unit was very interesting and has been an eye opening experience.