Satire’s funny, right? Well, it can be. Cool, let’s talk about that then. Satire provides commentary through irony — sarcasm, in most cases. And, as I’ve spouted at least twice, irony or “subversion of expectation” is the root of all comedy. Saying one thing and meaning another. Presenting one perception and juxtaposing it with the truth. How much more pretentiously can I describe it? There will always be bigger words in the dictionary; you may as well aim low in that regard.
What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you think of satire? Probably The Onion, the online satirical news outlet. Or, you thought of The Really Independent Florida Crocodile, a different satirical news outlet. If you thought of the Crocodile first, though, you probably work at the Crocodile, in which case: Your news outlet has an odd sense of professionalism.
For the folks who don’t remember, I’m still the really attractive and really single guy who writes “Lifeless Joey,” the comic that’s most likely over there on the other page. I’m pretty proud of that “high-strung” pun, if you’ve read Tuesday’s paper. Regardless, the Crocodile and I had a little run-in once, but it’s water under the bridge. If I were to describe the encounter any further, I’d be beating a dead horse… not unlike what the Crocodile does in its articles. Zing!
I’m incredibly professional, I promise.
So, what does The Onion satirize? What does it provide commentary on? Well, it’s a satire on media and sensationalist journalism. It takes mundane activities and makes them headlines. It takes predictable actions and relays them as breaking news. The Onion also provides plenty of commentary on politics, which tends to dominate the media as well. So, The Onion satirizes the media and its bad habits. What about the Crocodile? What does it satire?
Here’s the funny thing: You think they’d be satirizing the Alligator, right? They’ve taken the name “Crocodile,” adopted an eerily similar masthead to the Alligator’s and constantly berate the Alligator in more ways than one (almost two, actually). But, in reality, the Crocodile doesn’t really satirize the Alligator. The content never addresses the Alligator’s journalistic style, nor does it refer to any of the Alligator’s stories directly. Rather, the Crocodile is simply UF’s The Onion, and the elements it takes from the Alligator just make the Crocodile a parody rather than a satire. A satire comments; a parody acknowledges and borrows.
To be a pretentious prick and quote a pretentious prick, some guy once said, “Satire is a lesson; parody is a game.” You know who said that? Vladimir Nabokov. You know how to pronounce that? I sure don’t. I don’t believe in the Russian language. It’s a myth.
When we start to drift off into copyright law stuff, you start to see the idea that a derivative work should comment on the original work, or it’s probably plagiarism. And that makes sense, right? If you’re going to borrow components of a work, you better use those components to prove a point. Does the Crocodile do that? Not really. It just kind of takes the masthead and the name and does a quick tease at the Alligator every now and again. Sounds legit.
I can’t quite say I like the Crocodile. It’s pretty run-of-the-mill as far as satirical news goes, and the comedy tends to halt after the headlines. But, the magazine’s doing well for itself, so I’ve got nothing to say. Four stars. Two thumbs up.
I do have to give an opinion at some point, right? Hmm. Well, here’s one: Hummus winds more coherently than an altercation despite the amassed coagulation of despotism present and persistent in contemporary Carnot engines. Debate that among yourselves, how about it?
Michael Smith is a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Inanimate objects cannot write columns, much less have them usually appear on Tuesdays.
