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?
The Onion News is a Parody of mainstream news programming and Time Magazine's list of the most influential people.
ReplyDeleteS&C note that parody follows a historical code or formula. The Onion text follows a very familiar code of news reporting with the anchor introducing the news story and then interviewing an expert, in this case the "editor" of Time. The tone that the anchor uses (and the "editor") is thoughtful and serious.
The editor follows Time Magazine's script of acknowledging the difficulty of comprising a list of the least influential (instead of most 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). The parody works well and is similar to the popular show on Comedy Central, "The Colbert Report".
The audience is expected to know the references made and to be able to distinguish humor from reality. But as S&C say the distinction between real and make believe can be blurry. How can anything be known to be real; subjectivity and simulation are factors that complicate the post modern world. New the less, the audience must try to distinguish between the two.
Audiences are very broad and I think it is debatable if the reference is always understood-but that is another topic. The Onion News, S&C proceed from the position of an educated, alert audience.
I see the irony in that the people who make the most influential list use the same code that the parody is using People that are well-known in the media, and thus influential in our culture, relay on the media and it's new technologies for their influence.
I also found some irony in how they picked 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 the morning because the the little dark skinned boy would be missed if he didn't bring the anchor a danish. Also that there was a controversy in who gets the 9,004 spot because after a second investigation it was discovered that Patricia Ketile (i think thats how you spell it...) has a labrador retriever that sometimes listen to her, while Stutts had nobody, thus he got the 9,004 spot on the list.
Brittany Curran
ReplyDelete40305 (Lab 806)
The Onion News Network clip uses satire as a way to address its viewers as sophisticated subjects who understand codes and conventions and know how to read the media. According to Sturken and Cartwright, “The dominant mode of address in these texts takes the viewer to be someone who will not be fooled by techniques of propaganda and illusionism, someone who will get the reference, who is media and image savvy…” (Sturken, Cartwright 316).
For example, the news story portrayed is obviously not a real-life story. The makers of the Onion News Network know that we live in a world where people can recognize whether or not something is factual—and uses postmodern style (according to Sturken and Cartwright) to address the viewer. As knowledgeable viewers and media receivers, we understand that this story about the “Least Influential People List” is not factual—we comprehend the Onion News Network’s use of irony and do not take the story seriously. The fact that the recipient’s wife seems so thrilled that her husband earned the title of “the least influential person” is ironic in itself—who would be happy to earn such a title or be married to someone who has earned such a title?
The entire program, Onion News Network, is a parody of traditional “real life” news programs. The Onion News Network uses all the conventions of regular news programs, so the program appears as though it should be totally believable. However, the use of totally outrageous and unbelievable news stories allows the viewer to become conscious that he or she is watching a parody, not a true-life news program.
Alex Maring
ReplyDeleteReffering to Stuken and Cartwright's "Postmodernism, Indie Media and Popculture,"postmodernism has been characterized by a kind of fatigue with the new and the sense that everything has been done before (S&C 328). In Sturken and Cartwright it is stated: "Posmodernism asks: Can there ever be new ideas and images, things that have not been thought of or done before? Does it matter? The world of images today consists of a huge varity of remakes, copies, parodies, replicas, reproductions, and remixes"(328). They are saying that art and cinema have changed into a form that uses satire, parody, and reamake because they are new techniques. These techniques are different from the genres of the "Western, the gangster film, the romantic comedy, or the action picture" (S&C 329)
Sturken and Cartwright use the classic example of the movie Scream in which a parody of it was made. Scream follows the same techniques as horror films such as, "characters are always killed after they have sex or are attacked after they say who's there?" (S&C 329). Scary Movie is parody that followed the same plot of Scream but had a different meaning. Although it had killing and suspense it was funny and rediculous at the same time.
The clip from the Onion is ironic because instead of talking about the TIMES most influential people they are doing the exact opposite. Although the two reporters act deliberate and serious they are being sarcastic. They say Jim Sutts is one of the least influential people because he is a claims adjuster who has no influence on anyone and he went two years without making an adjustment. His wife also acts happy for him because he has been recognized. The irony is obviously that Jim Sutts's wife would most likely not be proud if her husband was given this recognition.
One of the news reporters asks the other why would the dark colored boy who brings him coffee and doughnuts every morning be more influential than Jim Sutts. The other reporter says because the boy would be missed if he stopped bringing the other reporter coffee and doughnuts. The irony of this clip is that they are trying to make rediculous things seem important. This clip demonstrates a parody because of the use of serious dialouge in a form of sarcasm.
Emily Mello
ReplyDeleteThe Onion News network uses both satire and irony in their broadcast of the "Least Influential People." It is satirical in that it parodies real-world new shows that compile lists of well-known people and interview citizens with opinions on the matters, similar to how the Scary Movie series parodies the Scream movies. It is ironic because the report on the "Least Influential People" makes headlining news, which is in fact acknowledged, and therefore influential in itself. Viewers of serious new shows are often called "sophisticated" and as Sturken and Cartwright call them, people who "will not be fooled by illusionism." The news clip by the Onion, however, is an illusion.
In the clip from “The Onion” TV show it uses both parody and irony very well. The Onion is a very well know satire magazine and now online video organization. All they do is create fake news stories and use modern satire mixed in with parodies and irony to draw an audience. It also helps because of its related humor and topics that are thankful to the irony of the topics and interviews. The specific video that I saw in whole was parody. They are using the concept of interviews on actual news broadcasting shows as the format that they interview. From the start of the video and how he introduces the topic, it is identical to a 5pm local news channel. The format went from the reporter introducing the topic of “The Least Influential People” list, then to an actual interview of his wife, then back to the reporter, then to an associate that he works with, then to a close friend, and then to someone who wrote the article. That is a typical format of an interview on TV. By them following the same format and strategy used by real News Anchors, it makes it a parody. In addition, by them using irony and comedy it also helps it be a well-done parody. There are also many different uses of irony in this clip. One example is when they introduce Jim Stutts as a father and husband and then talk to his wife who then says, “He’s finally getting recognition for not having an effect on anyone”. This is ironic because the audience would normally think when someone is a husband and a father of 2 that he would influence them and have some affect on those people, but apparently he doesn’t. Another example is when they interview his associate at work and he is busy reading the paper and then comes in late and says, “Yea he works here”. By him not seeming interested or even excited about talking about Jim Stutts, which proves to the audience that he also doesn’t have an effect at anyone at work. It goes on to interview someone from his high school who says,”“he said I should move back, I don’t think I will though”. By having these 2 interviews is a form of irony because both of them show how they both don’t have respect for Jim Stutts and how un-influential he actually is. By the audience realizing that what the people say has another meaning is a form of irony. The reporter goes on to say, “He is a Claim Adjustor, and he went 2 years without making an adjustment.” This is not only funny, but it shows how little Jim Stutts actually makes a difference which further proves the case of why he is so high on the list of “Least Influential People”.
ReplyDeleteFrank Wachter
ReplyDeleteLab (806)
The Onion newspaper and there website is known for there Satire humor. The clip is about a parody of the regular news program CNN and the TIMES magazine. The Onion gets there material by “combining elements from other sources (S&C)” and makes a parody about the CNN network by making the show seem like normal tradition news broadcast, with the text running on the bottom, the serious news reporter, the TV displays in the background and the CNN icon but changing the text of the news report about a ridiculous story of the most least influential man. The Onions humor is “dependent on viewers engaging with the Differences between the show’s parody and the text its is pilfering. (S&C)” Another parody is the TIMES magazines rating of influential people. Instead of most influential people the Onion instead flips it about the least influential people. The Ironic part of the clip is when the wife is being interviewed saying that she is so proud of her husband being nominated for being least Influential. The ironies in that are most normal people would be offended that their spouse was awarded for being least influential. Another ironic part is why is the least influential man getting recognition for it.
The Onion News clip is a parody of modern televised news and how we, as a society, obtain our news. News stations such as CNN and FOX News have anchors who act overly sophisticated and seem to have dire information. The clip provided parodies this idea in the sense that everything these deemed, "important" news anchors have to say is unimportant. In fact what they are reporting on is one of the must unimportant topics, "The most un-influental people of the decade." This would never be covered by any news station or any type of news medium, especially Time magazine because it's pointless. In a sense, this is a parody that most of the news we obtain from television and magazines is pointless. Half of what is thrown at the viewer is unimportant and will not change their life in any way but is manipulated to seem as if the information is crucial to our survival. In a sense The Onion clip is pastiche because have seen the iconic image of the news anchor in front of computer screens in the background that it means nothing anymore.
ReplyDeleteThe irony of the clip is that this is the exact opposite of what an audience would expect from the news. We are getting news reports on a guy who has had absolutely no influence on anyone in his entire life. It's a pointless news report and that is what makes the clip so funny.
In terms of parody from the reading, the book makes a reference to the film Scream and Scary movie. As a viewer we have become emerged in the idea that someone will die after having sex or the ambiguity of death after an intimate moment. Scary Movie parodies this by making the obscurity of this idea obvious and comical. The scene where Anna Ferris' character has a steel chastity protector puts an emphasis on this.
Sam Szymborski
ReplyDeleteThe Onion News uses techniques of irony and parodies very well within their newspapers and as well as their internet shorts. The clip chosen was a parody of a news show, addressing “Time” magazine’s the “Least Influential People” as if it were an actual news broadcast. Parodies take certain aspects from a film or movie and tweak it to the point where the outcome is similar to the original, yet has some sort of humoristic approach. The Onions News Clip, had characteristics of a typical news broadcast, including interviews, top stories, and the sense of an actual new show. The irony behind the story is that, instead of The Most Influential People, the list was in fact the Least Influential People, along with the fact that the Parody was of a newscast. More often than not, people turn to the news to keep updated with current events, as well as cultural happenings throughout the world, so the fact that the Onion portrayed a news broadcast, as well as reporting a topic that could’ve been on the news, is both ironic and a parody. The humor behind the internet clip is that if the clip was shown, and the viewer wasn’t entirely paying attention, one could mistake the clip for an actual news broadcast. The Onion is a very funny newspaper and their use of satire addressing current events and pop culture, is very clever and original.
David Chromy
ReplyDeleteStucken and Cartwright would say that The Onion News Networkhas much "familiarity on the part of the viewer." (265) This is achieved bymaking their show as much like any other news show as possible. We see a news-like background, a man in a suit, and scrolling messages. Throughout the whole show, a logo similar to the CNN logo is displayed with a drawinf of an onion replacing the letter "c." There is even the use of a split-screen, a very common thing in a news show interview. The interview is about the topic of Time Magazine's 299,000,000 most uninfluential people, which is of course a parody of their infamous 1,000 most influential issue. Number 9,604 on the list is Jim Stutts, a claims adjuster who hasn't made an adjustment in two years. His wife, who is interviewd, is ecstatic that her husband is finally getting the recognition he deserves for being completely ignorable. This is found to be ironic because it only further asserts his unimportance. Going further into the show, we find there was some controversy over the spot of 9,604 spot. It is between Stutts and a single woman that no one talks to. Stutts has a family, but is ranked lower because the single woman has "a dog that sometimes listens to her." This is ironic because we would usually place a family man about a single dog-loving woman if ranked in importance. This ends the interview with the "expert," who furthers the parody by appearing as professional as possible while talking about a ridiculous subject. After the interview, we see another common sight, the teaser. It talks about how President Bush wants to handle peace talks with North Korea without translators. This evokes a parody within the word "talks" as it is impossible to talk if you can't understand one another.
The Onion uses what would be considered a normal delivery in modern news reporting to create a realistic tone though it is really satire. As noted in Sturken & Cartright, this news clip follows a historical code or formula. This news story to create a sort of mockery of Time Magazine's list of most influential people. The reporter's delivery is austere and overly sophisticated. He recognizes the time and patience it would take to narrow down such a large group of people to create this list.
ReplyDeleteThe realistic approach that is taken in the reporter's delivery directly relates to what Sturken & Cartright mention. They note that the line between what is humor and what is reality can be muddled. This realistic approach demands that viewers are versed in the allusions that are made in order to distinguish between reality and comedy. Thus, this type of satire targets audiences that are educated and have the ability to distinguish such lines between realism and humor.
The postmodern style of today’s media states that everything has been done before. “The world of images today consists of a huge variety of remakes, copies, parodies, replicas, reproductions, and remixes” (S&C p328). In the Onion News they use a specific format that viewers associate with a reliable news station. The news reporters treat the information they are presenting with complete seriousness adding to the overall effect of satire and sarcasm. Viewers of the Onion are expected to be able to connect the list of “Least Influential People” to Time Magazines real list of “Most Influential People”. Intertextuality means “the insertion of part of one text, with its meaning, into another” (S&C p321). Intertextuality like this is found all over media in the postmodern style. It is used to produce parody and irony in the text or media. However for intertextuality to work within media the viewer must be able to connect the references being made. As Sturken and Cartwright explain, “texts, rather than referring to real life, refer to other texts.” (Pg 321). It is very easy to identify the reference being made in the Onion News, and without the reference the viewer would completely miss the irony. The clip shown on the Onion News obviously is an extreme example of irony due to the list presented being exact opposite of the real Time Magazines list. It is the fundamental aspect of intertextaulity that the viewer understands the reference being made.
ReplyDeleteSam Erzberger
ReplyDeleteSection 806
This clip depicts America's "least influential people." It is a parody on Time Magazine's most influential people. According to Sturken and Cartwrignt, the definition of parody is "Cultural productions that make fun of more serious works through humor and satire while maintaining their elements such as a plot or character." In this clip, they not only made a parody on Time Magazine, but also CNN news. the logo of the onion in the lower right corner looked much like the logo for CNN. The clip contained interviews by phone in a documentary-like fashion that told the story of the least influential person. The Sturken and Cartwright definition of irony is "The deliberate contradiction between the literal meaning of something and its intended meaning." I think the thing that is ironic about this clip is that they were depicting the world's least influential person is that by representing him as such, he then becomes influential because people see how influential he is, and then strive to be better, or at the least think to themselves that they are glad they aren't like that guy.
The Onion is a popular satirical news source in America. This particular clip is a parody of Time Magazine’s “Most Influential People” list. In Sturken and Cartwright’s book, they state that postmodernism is characterized by the sense that everything has been done before. Things are constantly recreated for various reasons in various ways. This particular clip is remaking a stereotypical news station. Everything from the setup of the screen, the way the lines are delivered, to the material is very stereotypical. The only difference is this is parodying the original. Everything is dripping with irony. Clearly, the “Least Influential Person” could not be any less important, but they deliver this piece of “news” as though it is a very important bit of news that people really ought to know. This irony is used to satirize Time Magazine, CNN, and all other common newspapers, magazines, and news stations. The Onion clearly recognizes the viewer as sophisticated and educated enough to understand the reference.
ReplyDeleteSturken and Cartwright provide an example that is very similar to the way The Onion plays off of our general notions of a form of media. In Wes Craven’s movie, “Scream,” Craven takes advantage of viewer’s common assumptions regarding the horror genre. He does everything stereotypical of a horror movie, and makes several very ironic references to other movies and what is done in other movies. It is assumed that the viewers of the movie will be familiar enough with the horror genre to understand that it is a parody, much like The Onion assumes that their viewers/readers will understand that it is a parody.
The Onion predominatly uses satire to poke fun at media and postmodern society in general. Through their use of satire, they also insinuate that the viewers are up to date on their media and popular culture, cracking jokes at well-known articles and cliches ad news. As Sturken and Cartwright point out, a sardonic approach to popular culture assumes the viewer/consumer is a part of that knowledge in popular culture, saying the viewer is, "someone who will get the reference, who is media and image savvy." Their use of words to convey a meaning oposite or diametric of its normal meaning such as average-Joe Jim Stutts, who made number 9,004 on the list of Top 10,000 Least Influential People is clearly an example of irony. This is a reference to a recent Time Magazine's list of Top 1,000 Most Influential People, and the newscaster's play on it with a "serious" debate between who deserves what spot is very funny, poking fun at the menial and exclusve judgement of people within our postmodern culture. The mere fact that Jim Stutt's wife seems so grateful and excited that her husband FINALLY recieved his well-deserved title is ironic, seeing as most wives would feel this well-deserved title would be more a burden than an award. This whole newscast is a parody of real-life news, showing the men to be influential and all-knowing by their typical pensive tones and newly-updated concerns, albeit they are talking about ridiculous topics and mocking politics. It ends on a sarcastically serious note of "Comign up- President Bush insists he can conduct peace-talks with North Korea WITHOUT learning any of their language", pointing out the typically bull-headed and arrogant American approach on foreign diplomacy. This clip operates on satire, yet n its ridicule of popular and postmodern culture, it too (although more indie) is a popular comical media form, and could be viewed as part of fads and postmodern itself as well. Modern media proves to be a conundrum at times, but thnks to The Onion we all realize that.. or at least they assume we do.
ReplyDeleteThe Onion clip uses satire and parody that spans from the imitating of network television Mise en scene to the acting of the Onion News anchor. As Sturken and Cartwright note; "Postmodernism, then, as a politics that relies on style for its expression, runs the risk not only of reducing real social conditions to mere media effects but also of reducing political expression to image". If any morsel of postmodernist satire could achieve this feat, it would be The Onion, with it's wide spanning subscribers and followers. The part that sets it apart, is it's closely managed parody of CNN, and other network news channels by imitating it's mise en scene (as mentioned above) and by creating satire upon satire on current world and national events. In the clip above, the satire is relevant to the modern trend of Time Magazine to bring attention to the "most influential people" of the year, or decade.
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