Postmodern style often addresses its viewers as sophisticated media readers and consumers. Referring to Sturken and Cartwright's chapter "Postmodernism 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?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Blog #8
Postmodern style often addresses its viewers as sophisticated media readers and consumers. Referring to Sturken and Cartwright's chapter "Postmodernism 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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As stated in Sturken and Cartwright, postmodernism “is characterized by questioning...knowledges and the belief in progress” (S&C, 251). I believe this Onion video clip does just that. Is it truly the sign of a progressive society to live in an age when the media is saturated with images of political pundits and constant news updates? This is perhaps the most fertile ground for parody and irony the world has ever known. I feel Russel said it best when he said irony is “ the perfect way to deflate that kind of overblown political language and extreme conviction that’s usually designed to give the appearance of substance to what is mostly shit.” People like Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh need some kind of checks and balances in place to keep them from getting too self-important. By parodying these types of broadcasters, it allows people to see another side of the world; a side that appreciates the pure lunacy of daily life. What I find the best about this clip is the mock-news ticker at the bottom of the screen, featuring headlines like, “National anthem screamed, full coverage at 6 pm EST.” It is precisely this kind of inane humor that keeps our postmodern society from spiraling into a world of inflated egos and pompous know-it-all’s.
The Onion News Network clip is modeled after a typical newscast: the anchor, the background, the trademark logo, the text running at the bottom—it’s all there. All the characters resemble real people: the anchor delivers his report in a cool, detached manner; the wife burbles about her husband’s new status; the guy at the end answers all questions professionally. It’s no different from any other newscast... except, the report is “Time Magazine Releases Annual ‘Least Influential People’ List.” And this broadcast doesn’t focus on THE least influential person—it interviews the 9604th least influential person, a claims adjustor named Jim Stutts.
This clip parodies a lot of things—the newscast, Time Magazine, “ordinary” people—by successfully imitating them in a ridiculous context (i.e., the 9406th Least Influential Person report and interviews). Ironically, the report—naturally assumed to be of utmost importance—is about something trivial; the text below contributes to the general silliness of this piece (e.g., “Officials say the next 9/11 will replace 9/11 as the new 9/11”) and it is all treated with complete seriousness. If anything, this clip probably mocks the general “fluffiness” of much contemporary news.
Disclaimer: Since I have to rely on a cochlear implant to hear and understand speech, I had to guess at most of what this newscast was saying. So if I misunderstood something here and it transferred on my blog response, I apologize.
Hannah Mann
Sturken and Cartwrights theory of postmodernism is embodied in parodys seen in the various publications of the Onion. This video shows society's modern everyday "breaking news" broadcast and how it is just one of the many forms of media dominating our lives today, the most interesting characteristic of this parody, is it's need to seeming contradict everything. The story seems important to the viewer at first but suddenly the regular audience realizes the parody but noticing signs such as the 9406th Least Influential Person report clearly parodying publications such as time and people which drill into the nearest reader there interpretations of who and what is the latest great thing. Overall I thought the video clip showed the perception of the media today.
The text from Sturken and Cartwright’s chapter, “postmodernism and popular culture,” are very much reflected and involved in the Onion news clip. The clip although contradicting what a news story would consist of, makes an effort to “set the stage.” From the scrolling text at the bottom of the screen to the anchor, everything is exactly like a news clip would be. The clip makes use of irony and parody, because of the topic; “the most least influential people.” It displays irony because there have been shows with topics like the most influential people, so as it is directly opposite, and the way the people in the commercial remain so solemn throughout, it displays parody.
-Ryan Bender
The Onion video is an example of Sturken and Cartwright's explanation of satire in postmodernism because of its presentation and subject matter. Everything about how the video is presented correlates with the viewers understand of modern televised news. The layout of the screen is similar to that of CNN's with it's scrolling news feed, impressive background graphics, and network logo. The tempo of the video is even accurately mimicked. This presentation of parody can be called postmodern because it is self aware and relies on the viewer's knowledge of what is being parodied.
The subject matter is "Time Magazine's 299 Million Least Influential People" a spoof of their annual most influential people list. The subject is ironic because it is a meaningless story that becomes ridiculous when spiced up with over-the-top, televised journalism techniques. The same techniques we see on actual TV news stations all the time.
The Onion is known for its "news" which thrives on irony and parody, and this clip is no different. The news anchor appears to be someone who could be on CNN, and I believed this to be a factual clip before reading the synopsis. They use big names like Time magazine to further their "authenticity." This could be comparable to The Colbert Report, where news is given and supposed to be funny, but the people telling the stories keep a straight face in order to seem like the report they are giving is factual. They use an appropriate tone to the whole thing because even though it is over the top, most news reports buff up the story to boost the ratings.
Overall, the onion is a perfect example of postmodernism and satire because they are poking fun at real events and anchors. This provides a sense of relief that not everything needs to be taken so seriously.
The clip represents post-modernism because of its clear use of parody and irony. The clip is a parody because it very closely represents and mimics a real newscast. The anchorman, the setting, the screen effects, the interviews, the footage and the context are all very exact to what a real newscast might look like.
The clip is very ironic because the tone of the cast and all of the people talking in the cast sound as if they could just as easily be talking about the complete opposite: the year's most influential person. The way they went all out with the on-site interviews and footage make it very ironic because this type of effort and coverage would never exist in the real world on such a person.
The Onion News clip is a great example of what Postmodernism and Popular Culture is talking about in Sturken and Cartwright. They say that our culture is dominated by computers and television sets, and that our culture “has become the paradigm for global looking practices ruled by the simulacra of virtual media images.” The Onion News just makes fun of all this, because there just telling lies about people that know one has ever heard about, and just mimicking the actual news. The Onion News looks real legit, because they have information scrolling on the bottom of the screen, they have the background, a main reporter, they interview people, and it just looks real, but it’s all fake. I think its great how they use parody with this type of stuff, because it is making fun of stuff that some people take serious, but at the end, it should be taken as all humor!
This clip from the Onion News Network is a great example of postmodernism. Because most people are familiar with Time Magazine’s most influential figures issue, this clip allows people to relate to it. For people who are not familiar with this magazine may have trouble understanding the joke behind it. In the chapter from Sturken and Cartwright's book, they talk about how the use of this postmodernism technique is a fairly new concept because now flashing images so commonly surround us, whether it be on the television or on the computer. We are comfortable with seeing these different types of media so we find entertainment when the media pokes fun of itself. The irony behind this is shows will sometimes step out of the fantasy of the show are look at the actual reality of the show. This concept is shown in the episode of the Simpsons shown in class where Lisa talks about the usual process of the show and the show pokes fun of itself. Because people are so familiar with how the show usually is they find this joke to be especially funny.
-Logan Lovett
The basic definition of a parody is to take an original piece of work to poke fun or mock the piece. What the Onion News Network clip does is take the idea of a news broadcast program to present their own type of news. This is what S&C reference to in satire because they take a modern television program like the news and mock it. The program uses the idea to “set the stage” by having an anchor, the busy news room, and the interviewing. The Onion instead of presenting factual news mocks the idea of presenting news. How they do this is by mocking the idea of recognizing people for being influential and turning it around recognizing those who have done nothing with their lives. Like most satire this piece requires you to have previous knowledge of things that have happened in today’s society.
The irony behind the clip is often what is reported on our news broadcast programs is supposed to be of important value to society and keep them informed. The Onion plays off this idea to inform the public of important events by using the news broadcast system making it seem like they are about to announce an important event instead its the release of Time Magazine's least influential people.
Zachery Holder
In an era where our reality is defined by what is provided to us by the media, it is refreshing to see the media giant be taken down a peg by this satirical news take. The level of authenticity that the Onion provides in this clip is what really makes it a great piece. It does a great job recreating a news story to the exact detail with a scrolling text bar at the bottom relaying rediculous news, to an interview with the least most influential person in America. The clip is almost believable which suggests that we are quick too quick to believe whatever it is the news is telling us. In our postmodern society, this kind of humor is necessary to give us perspective on the information we so readily take in. It is also making a statement about the American public. We are the 299 million most uninfluential people as referred to in the clip. Which goes to support my earlier statement that we see what they want us to see, because we are unworthy of knowing the truth behind the face of the media.
In the fake news clip from The Onion, they use aspects of parody and irony in several different ways. The Onion is considered a parody of real news, and the replicate a real news channel in almost every way. There is a serious reporter who tells a news story. The background looks like a news station, and there is even a ticker at the bottom like they have on CNN. They try and mimic real news as closely as possible to make people think that it is real, but they will quickly realize that it is not. They make a satire of Time’s magazine by coming up with a fake story. Time magazine is known for doing such stories as the “100 Most Powerful People” and “The Most Influential People”. But The Onion parodies this by making a fake story about Time Magazine’s “Least influential people”.
The clip is ironic because of all the efforts the news station is doing to tell this story about Time Magazine’s “Lease influential people”. With all of the interviews, on-site filming, and reports, it is ironic because with this type of story, no one would really put in this much effort to tell it; especially because it is not real to begin with.
In the Onion News Network clip the reporter introduces a story of the least influential people in America. The surface paradox is most news stations or pop culture magazines companies create stories of the “best” of people in order to sell their product. The interview with Jim Stutts wife uses a close up shot of her face to connect the viewer more to her seemingly overwhelming feeling for her husbands award for being one of the least influential people of America. This type of award would not be celebrated as an achievement, although the interviewees imply pride for them. Further on the wife’s interview, her reply to the award to her husband is incongruous in the sense of the typical response the viewer is expecting her to say. The mise-en-scene of a news reporting background and the actors persona all contribute to the parody of the clip.
The onion clip does uses parody and irony in the fact it takes the classic newsroom look, monitors in the background, news desk, and the classic anchorman with a suit and tie. However, the ironic and parody part of the clip is the fact all the "news articles" are not used to inform the people of the nation. Instead these clips and texts are used to give people a good chuckle. It is meant to be humorous. It's making fun of not only the stories of the news covers, but the news itself. This factor is hidden slightly in the clip. They set the focus on the stories they are covering, but by covering the stories they do, they have a hidden meaning, making fun of our normal vision of news.
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