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SatireSatire is an artistic form that employs various rhetorical strategies—including irony, hyperbole, and parody—to expose something (or someone) as ridiculous, corrupt, or unjust. Often, satirists adopt a fictional persona, creating a character that allows them to embody what they believe to be the absurdity of their intended target. Satire can be traced back to ancient Egyptian literature, although modern satire more closely resembles that of ancient Greek and Roman satirists. The 19th-century rise of the novel was accompanied by an evolution of the form, with writers such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens critiquing the hypocrisy of their respective societies. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, new technologies enabled satire to evolve further. Satire is generally protected by the US Constitution, which distinguishes it from defamatory speech. Still, some have raised concerns about the proliferation of satirical content on social media, where users sometimes mistake exaggerated, ironic stories for fact.Explore Satire

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AI is not good at understanding satireSocial media has become rife with misinformation. In response, some organizations have deployed AI-assisted programs trying to curb the spread of this inaccurate content. The problem is that misinformation and satire, rhetorically speaking, often use the same kind of language, something AI struggles to understand. Stanford University On social media, satire is often mistaken for newsA 2018 study found that satire was often mistaken for legitimate fact, with stories from outlets like The Onion being shared widely without any understanding of their satirical intent. Likewise, the study found that media outlets often mislabeled satire as "fake news," a label that implies disinformation rather than social commentary. Association for Computing Machinery After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, The Onion stuck with satireAlthough other comedians believed anything lighthearted in the wake of the attacks was inappropriate, The Onion, a satirical newspaper, decided to do what it always did. That issue’s top story was a headline that would go down in comedy history. MEL Magazine Cartoons’ near limitless bounds allow for rich satireFor decades, TV shows like “The Simpsons” and “South Park” have satirized American culture and politics. Satire thrives on hyperbole and exaggeration and cartoonists' ability to render the world in any way they choose allows for more elevated critiques. Will Schoder Salman Rushdie's 1988 satire led to a government-sponsored death threatRushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses" mocked religious dogma, including an extended sequence about the Prophet Muhammad. The book was accused of blasphemy and was banned in Pakistan and India. In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of Rushdie and his publisher. Aeon Kurt Vonnegut's satire embraced dark humorBooks like "Cat’s Cradle" and "Slaughterhouse Five" satirized the international appetite for war, which the 20th-century writer found both horrifying and hilarious. It’s a combination that some called “gallows humor,” a classification Vonnegut himself remembered Sigmund Freud describing. “One of the examples Freud gives is a man about to be hanged,” Vonnegut once recalled, “and the hangman says, ‘Do you have anything to say?’ The condemned man replies, ‘Not at this time.’” The London Magazine Jane Austen used satire to critique women's place in societyAlthough the novelist is sometimes dismissed as a romance writer, her stories feature pointed societal critiques, especially of women's limited options and challenged popular notions that women were subservient and passive. The Conversation Dickens' first novel was a satire informed by his reporting“The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club” was a series of illustrations and accompanying stories serialized in newspapers from 1836 to 1837. Dickens drew on his previous experiences as a Parliamentary reporter to flesh out the story of Samuel Slumkey, a politician running for office. He wins the election thanks to a well-timed bribe. VIctorian Web 'A Modest Proposal' is one of history's most notorious satiresJonathan Swift’s 1729 essay suggested that the starving Irish could stave off poverty by selling their children as food. Although it’s funny—albeit rather dark in form—it’s a classic example of Juvenalian satire, as it so pointedly criticizes the indifference of English elites. Gutenberg The US Constitution grants protection for satireThe First Amendment protects satire, though it does not protect defamation. The key distinction is that satire—evident by its hyperbolic language and comedic portraits—is not intended to be believed, even if it's being malicious. Middle Tennessee State University Aristophanes was put on trial for his satireThe ancient Greek’s 426 BCE play “The Babylonians” criticized Athens’ role in the Peloponnesian War. The politician Cleon accused the dramatist of being unpatriotic, but that didn’t thwart Aristophanes. Two years later, Aristophanes premiered “The Knights,” which mocked Cleon, leaving him working as a sausage seller outside the city. Utah State University One of the earliest known satires is an ancient Egyptian parody of life advice“The Satire of the Trades” mocks the then-popular “wisdom literature,” which imparted life advice. In the text, a father, a scribe, explains why his son should work the same job, detailing the miseries of several other lines of work. His ultimate argument is that it’s best to be a manager rather than a worker: “See, there is no office free from supervisors except the scribe's. He is the supervisor!” Worldhistory.org Many satires use parody, though not all parodies are satiresA parody is an impression of another artist's or work's style that intentionally exaggerates its aesthetics. Many satires employ parody to convey their message, although some parodies are simply humorous embodiments of a style without offering any deeper, satirical point. That's often the case with music parodies. Sound Field Satire often employs ironySatirists often make their point indirectly through ironic statements, indirectly highlighting the foolishness of the thing they’re mocking. An example is Mark Twain's satirical 1882 essay, “Advice to Youth.” “Build your character thoughtfully and painstakingly upon these precepts,” he wrote, “and by and by, when you have got it built, you will be surprised and gratified to see how nicely and sharply it resembles everybody else’s.” Masterclass There are three main types of satire: Horatian, Juvenalian, and MenippeanThese classifications are based on the Roman poets who popularized them. Horatian is good-natured and lighthearted, Juvenalian is bitter and more caustic, and Menippean contains many layers. Oregon State University Satire is an artistic form that aims to make someone or something look ridiculousIn practice, satire is often used to criticize vices, social norms, or political decisions, and is typically intended to be humorous. Although it can take many forms, its common characteristic is that its ultimate purpose is to discredit its target. StudioBinder Charlie Chaplin's 'Modern Times' blended slapstick and satireThe 1936 film thrust Chaplin's iconic Little Tramp character into the Industrial Revolution, satirizing how mass production was dehumanizing individuals. The movie was not only a hit, but it was also the product of a burgeoning Hollywood: Chaplin had founded his own company (United Artists) in 1919. Crystal Bridges Watch 'The Atomic Café'—Cold War satire that exposed nuclear propaganda and proliferation risksThis 1982 collage-documentary uncovers a surreal Cold War era: US civil defense films downplayed nuclear horror, arguing the films fueled public complacency, while the arms race and civilian nuclear hype fueled global proliferation fears before NPT safeguards emerged. Tubi Dystopian satire became more prominent in the 20th centuryAlthough "anti-utopian" stories have always existed, the international conflicts of World War I and World War II inspired some of dystopian literature’s most influential novels, like Yevgeny Zamyatin’s "We," Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World," and George Orwell’s "1984." In the decades to follow, more writers would follow the example of those early novels, using the dystopian model to critique artificial intelligence, climate change, and more. Electric Literature How one trial tested the limits of satirical musicThe rapper Afroman, who earned jokey hits in the '90s with songs like "Because I Got High," was taken into court by police officers by police officers in Adams County, Ohio, who alleged that he'd defamed them in his songs. The music in question was recorded after those officers raided his house and satirized the situation, often in graphic terms. The rapper beat the case, but not before his satirical songs were analyzed in court. NPR All the ways colonists protested the absurd breadth of the Stamp ActPhiladelphia publisher William Bradford replaced his paper's required revenue stamp with a skull and crossbones. It read: "O! the fatal Stamp," and staged elaborate mock funerals for liberty, a comic protest trend that spread across the colonies until the act's repeal in 1766. Mental Floss 'Pastafarians' have used their pasta-strainer-wearing faith to test the legal limits of what counts as religionFounded in 2005 to mock the teaching of creationism in public schools, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has led to real First Amendment cases—over driver's license photos, courthouse statues, and prison rights. Courts have generally ruled it as satire rather than religion. The Conversation In 1922, Zelda Fitzgerald was commissioned to write a satirical review of her husband's latest novelThe review of "The Beautiful and the Damned" might have been comedic, but it was also illuminating, allowing Zelda to acknowledge her husband's tendency to use material from her diaries in his fiction and interrogate the way female characters were often portrayed in novels written by men. JSTOR Daily Voltaire's writing sent him into exileIn 1717, the writer's satirical poem "La Henriade" landed him in prison for a year. By 1726, the French government's distaste for his work caused him to leave the country for England, though he returned a few years later. That would be short-lived: In 1734, his "Lettres Philosophiques" sent him packing again, moving to Champagne, then Berlin, then Switzerland, before finally returning to Paris in 1778. HISTORY Read a 19th-century guide to writing a Valentine's Day cardThomas Richardson's "London Fashionable Gentleman's Valentine Writer" offers readers romantic messages they can send to the objects of their eyes—along with some chippy kiss-offs for unwanted suitors. It might be sincere, or it might be satire. Either way, it's an entertaining read. (Some readers may experience a paywall.) Slate Plenty of groundbreaking films never won an OscarThe Academy Awards may look to celebrate the best films in a given year, but they sometimes miss the mark. This list breaks down 15 important movies that didn't win a single Oscar, including early classics like "Frankenstein" and "Double Indemnity," New Hollywood landmarks like "Easy Rider" and "Taxi Driver," and pop culture phenoms like "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Reservoir Dogs." Mental Floss Stephen King, Octavia Butler, and Anthony Burgess all grew to regret books they'd publishedSome, like Butler, regretted writing predictable, trope-heavy books. Others, like King and Burgess, regretted that what they'd intended as satire had been misunderstood as endorsements. Literary Hub Benjamin Franklin once wrote a satirical essay about passing gasThe Founding Father was asked to judge a contest for the Royal Academy of Brussels, but was incensed by one of the contest's questions, which he believed was highly impractical. In response, he wrote a piece suggesting that the most essential problem for scientists to solve was the "fetid Smell" that came with passing gas. The greatest satirical films of all timeThis list of satires from the silver screen runs the gamut: There’s a send-up of the music industry (“This is Spinal Tap”), a zombie-filled treatise on consumerism (“Dawn of the Dead”), and an oft-misunderstood analysis of masculinity (“Fight Club”), among several other classic critiques. Collider 'Dr. Strangelove' is widely considered the best satirical filmStanley Kubrick’s satire about nuclear war came just two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis and spoke to Americans still coming to terms with the possibility of nuclear annihilation. In 1989, the Library of Congress included it among the first 25 films preserved in the National Film Registry, a repository for the greatest achievements in cinema. The Guardian Interred Japanese Americans wrote satirical poetrySenryu is a Japanese poetic form that is similar to the haiku, though its aim is often satirical and its composition is often collaborative. At California’s Tule Lake Segregation Center, interred citizens met to write senryu together, often composing verse that criticized their surroundings. National Parks Service Candide's 'Voltaire' satirized blind optimismThe French philosopher’s most famous work, published in 1759, cataloged the journey of its titular hero, who was guided by a crackpot philosopher and the belief that optimism was the solution to life’s problems, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Writ Large Satirists sometimes use ironic personasSatirists often embody a character to mock the kind of person who would believe what they argue are ridiculous ideas. One famous example was Stephen Colbert on “The Colbert Report,” who satirized right-wing pundits like Bill O’Reilly through a bombastic persona. When O’Reilly asked whether that meant he was owed money, Colbert responded with more satire: “There’s a difference between imitation and emulation … If you imitate someone, you owe them a royalty check. If you emulate them, you don’t.” Antiwylinout Dada artists satirized the horrors of World War IThe movement’s early performances were absurd cabarets featuring experimental poetry, avant-garde music, and maskwork. Much of it was reckoning with the growing deathcounts of World War I, with work that often lampooned Western imperialism and supposed rationality. Smarthistory A smooth, scrollable timeline of every 'SNL' cast memberStarting from season 1 in 1975, scroll through the years of the show's comic actors in this well-designed visual record and get a sense of their relative endurance on the show. Stop to click and read more on that season's highlights or the specific career arc of the actor. Kayla Plunkett ‘The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby’ was a letter to an editorWolfe pitched a story about custom-made cars to Esquire with a satirical angle. While struggling to actually put the piece together, he explained to the editor what he wanted it to be. The editor published the letter as is, removing the greeting. The seminal article became a book of essays. Al Jazeera English Twain's ‘To the Person Sitting in the Darkness’ satirized American imperialismThe 1901 essay was a response to the Philippine-American War as well as Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “The White Man’s Burden,” which argued that Western nations had a moral duty to rescue non-Western nations from ignorance. Twain’s essay ironically encouraged lecturing citizens of the countries being invaded: “for the sake of the Business we must persuade him to look at the Philippine matter in another and healthier way. We must arrange his opinions for him.” The Cogitating Ceviche Mark Twain coined the phrase 'The Gilded Age'The writer's 1873 book "The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today" (cowritten with newspaper editor Charles Dudley Warner) satirized the speculative investing and greed that took place following the Civil War. That era is now known as the Gilded Age, a term derived from the novel. (Some readers may experience a paywall.) The New York Times Some believe 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' is a political allegoryAlthough Baum claimed his book was intended as a simple children's story, scholars challenged that notion. One high school history teacher, Henry Littlefield, began teaching the book as a satire of the Gilded Age and published an essay inspiring other scholars to consider the text as a politically charged allegory. TED-Ed Jackie "Moms" Mabley was the first woman to headline solo at the Apollo TheaterThe comic's act was based on a classic archetype: the fed-up mother who was going to tell it to you straight. She perfected her craft on the Chitlin Circuit, where she became a cultural icon in the Black community, and then had significant mainstream success starting in the 1960s. National Museum of African American History and Culture Day of the Dead poems skewer everyone, living or deadThe tradition of calaveras literarias, or satirical poems about death, dates back to the 20th century. They take aim at everyone, including deceased loved ones, politicians, family and friends. PBS La Catrina is Day of the Dead’s unofficial symbolThe image of the skeleton in a feather hat, satirizing women who chased European fashion trends, first appeared in 1912 on broadsides printed by José Guadalupe Posada, a Mexican artist. Today, she is the holiday’s most recognizable symbol. PBS British censors turned 1981’s ‘The Evil Dead’ into a notorious cult classicSam Raimi’s debut feature film is considered a classic horror movie—one that was as ridiculous as it was scary. Despite protests from politicians and parent groups, the film became a surprise hit abroad with audiences who understood it as campy satire—something that was lost on its would-be censors. Book of the Dead Jonathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' was a satirical call for the poor to eat babiesWritten in 1729, the critique shed light on the land policies implemented by the British and supported by the Irish elite that were aggravating Irish poverty. Specifically, public lands used for grazing were being made private via "enclosure." Swift's famous proposal for the poor to eat their own young is one of the most famous examples of satire. JSTOR Daily George Carlin's ‘Seven Words’ satirized obscenity laws Carlin’s famous bit lampooned FCC regulations on obscenity. Ironically, he performed it on TV during his HBO special, “Again!” in 1978. Official George Carlin Punch Magazine pioneered the political cartoonThe 19th-century magazine, which published writers like Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, was known for its biting satire and support for working-class issues. University of Utah HBO’s biggest flopsAlthough HBO is known for its high-quality programming, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t missed the mark from time to time. Shows like “The Mind of the Married Man” and “John From Cincinnati” missed the mark in numerous ways, with both critics and audiences. SlashFilm Classifying the 'first novel' is trickyThe question of what counts as the "first novel" doesn't have a simple answer. This explainer looks at early contenders—from ancient Roman satire to Japan's "Tale of Genji"—and how different cultures shaped the rise of long-form fiction. 1440 Why this artist staged a satirical romance with Mark ZuckerbergInternet performance artist Harriet Richardson is using AI and Meta's social media tools to make it appear as though she's in a serious romantic relationship with Mark Zuckerberg. While the images generate laughs, Richardson also says they're part of a larger satirical project aiming to highlight the larger societal impact of Meta's decision to discontinue fact-checking content across its platforms. Artnet Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro' satirizes aristocratic privilege“The Marriage of Figaro” tells a tale about young lovers, deception, and dynamics between the aristocracy and their servants. Critiquing French society just years before the French Revolution began, this rebellious work of art experienced wild success while also being the subject of censorship and bans in the late 1700s. English National Opera

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