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?
As described by Sturken and Cartwright, postmodernism designates a particular way of seeing the world. Having said that, postmodernism can often be seen as inaccurate and contain multiple meanings.
ReplyDeleteThe Onion clip is a parody of a newscast, making fun of something that would normally be serious. Sturken and Cartwright point out that parody, as opposed to creating a new and original work, is one of the key strategies of postmodern style.
The news story is about the most un-influential people in America. A lot of the topics that are served up as “news” on television today are pretty laughable, and this satire pokes fun at what makes news in today’s market.
The Onion clip really pumps up Time’s fictitious ‘Least Influential People’ list, like it is something of importance that we should not only be aware of, but care about. This is ironic because the story as well as Time’s bestowed “honor” of topping their list is essentially of no importance whatsoever.
Mike Albrecht
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Part of the text that operates on the level of satire is the news ticker that rapidly spews out information such as “hundreds of drivers slow down to watch two turtles fucking.” This clip makes use of parody because it places emphases on making it seem real that one does not notice the details in the beginnning. For example the ONN logo appears very similar to the CNN logo, The “O” in ONN is unrecognizable because our attention is focused on the moving and changing text, the news anchor and the images. The clip makes use of irony because it “questions traditional metanarratives to rethink former paradigms." In general we are acclimated to certain structures when viewing the news, such as the news anchor that wears business attire, has a professional demeanor and is eloquent in speech. The Onion camouflages these symbolic metanarratives to their comedic advantage, to parody CNN and TIME magazine. According to Sturken and Cartwright, “Postmodernism complicates the division between the elite and mass communication.”
ReplyDeleteSevern Anderson
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Postmodernism has an effect on various types of media. This concept of Postmodernism has a strong emphasis on cultural ideas and in a sense of making fun of the media and culture. Parody and irony, in the U.S., are demonstrated through the eyes of postmodernists. The Onion News clip is exactly what Sturken and Cartwright talked about in the reading. They describe it as "shape shifting” or re-sculpting into new shapes and forms. The heavy use of cultural irony brings forth parody. The Onion is known for poking fun or making fun of people, this is how they have become so successful. In this particular clip, Onion is making fun of the annual list that Time magazine issues. The list deals with the most influential people in society and culture in that particular year. This is an example of a parody. They are reshaping what is normally put in the news or covered in the news. This is a parody of a type of news broadcast, like CNN or FOX news. It’s funny that as a thriving culture we need to be told who has the most influence on us. In these broadcasts we are told what is happening to us by other people. This is the opposite end of what Postmodernists thought. This gives them an opportunity to ransack the use irony in the clip. A man that could be recognized as the least influential man is intended to flip the perspective and make you think that this person is worth thinking about or looking into. The irony is supposed to challenge you into thinking it’s important. In the clip we see this man getting attention and recognition for a completely unimportant issue. This is intended to poke fun at the idea that we need to be told who is influencing our culture. Another point that Sturken and Cartwright talk about in the chapter about Postmodernism is that writing in this sarcastic way that hints at irony is being displayed all the time now. In today’s culture people joke or poke fun and there is no penalty. Irony and parody are apart of our culture and they play a significant role in the media today.
ReplyDeleteAs stated by Sturken and Cartwright “The Postmodernism movement has been characterized as a critique of modernist concepts…” (454). Generally this Critique has a satirical air about it. The clip above is no exception and the postmodernism style is clear. The clip itself is a parody of news report that might be seen on a network such and CNN of some other national news network. Shown is a man acting, very convincingly, as though he is a news anchor. The postmodernist elements are most apparent in the audio of the clip. Visually everything about the false news cast appears serious and normal. It is the outlandish things the anchor is saying that gives the clip its satire. Not only is the news cast itself a parody of a real news cast but the topic that is being discussed is a parody as well. The news segment is about Time Magazines 299,000,000 least influential people (a spin on Time Magazines 100 most influential people). What makes both these elements of the clip considered parody is they are imitations of already existing media.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to parody is irony. An example of irony in this clip is the act of reporting so extensively on a person that is said to be number 9,604 on a list on the top 299,000,000 least influential people in the world. Simply by reporting on this person makes him more influential then most people who do not have a news story are about their life and effect on people. It is this collision of opposites that make this situation ironic.
Scott Holewinski
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Postmodern theory involves the scrutinizing of social institutions (S&C 313). In particular, the Onion News Network clip closely examines the media through the use of satire. Through contemporary intertextuality, the ONN brings the absurd notion of Time Magazine’s list of most influential people to its savvy postmodern viewers of media. The parodied text itself—in which Time has just released its list of least influential people—ridicules and makes reference to the real-life text of Time Magazine’s list of most influential people.
The clip makes use of parody by, as S&C states, reworking past elements of the original text (329). The ONN clip turns the tables on Time’s most influential list by creating a least influential list of 299 million Americans. This new list pokes fun at the original text by not only relying on viewers’ knowledge of the original, but by using the familiar elements of Time’s list and a faux broadcast on ONN that play off of the codes of mainstream media. For example, the clip’s announcement of Time Magazine’s list of America’s 299 million least influential people leaves one to surmise that Time has deemed the Americans that weren’t on the most influential list as unimportant. The meaning, humor, and even feelings evoked in this parody depend on the viewers’ engagement between the texts of the ONN’s parody and Time’s real-life list of the most influential people (S&C 330).
The ONN clip makes use of irony by humorously presenting the opposite meaning of the original text, or as S&C states, the dominant meaning (323). Instead of the magazine’s list of most influential people, the viewers are treated to its list of least influential people. The ONN’s text is a humorous slant to Time’s list, and is presented in a straightforward manner that only the viewers can discern as a twist to the original. It is ironic that what is important for the least influential people to be at the top of the list is that they exert no influence, while those selected for Time Magazine’s list of the most influential may or may not exert actual influence, depending on the source. In the clip, Stutts is the 9,604th least influential person because he doesn’t make an impression on anyone. That’s the irony: here is a person recognized—according to the clip—for not having an effect on people. In yet another twist, the scrolling text refers to turtles (associated with slowness) delaying traffic on a North Carolina highway due to drivers slowing to watch them do their thing.
I really liked this clip. It does a great job of making fun of Time magazine and the most influential people in our society. In this clip, we see that the list switches to the least influential people in our society. This parody is clever in mocking the actual lists of people that are influential, because we do not need to be told who is influential. The piece is funny because it is being broadcasted like an actual news report, but giving pointless information, which most news that is reported is anyway. The viewer can tell that this clip is giving off this feeling of how pointless some lists and some news reports actually are. The Onion does a great job of showing postmodernism today and how it’s viewed in our society. This clip is extremely ironic and does a good job of having a serious tone throughout.
ReplyDeleteMike Anderson
TA Heather
Well the Onion clip is clearly a satire on the foolishness of news today. News, a medium of importance, it taken out of context and is used to show a matter of unimportance. S&C talk about postmodernism and the fact that it is a style in which things are taken out of context and used with other elements to create something "new". An example would be their explanation of postmodern architecture. An archway may be placed atop a building, but not for structual support as originaly intended, but rather, to be purely ornimental. So, reverting back to the Onion clip; just because the news is taken out of it's context, does not mean that it's purpose is deminished. Although the topic being covered is unimportant and down right laughable, the message is still clear; "Enough with the coverage of stupid shit already". Therein lies the irony.
ReplyDeleteDavid Busse
ReplyDeleteIn popular culture and the arts Postmodernism is characterized by the idea that everything has been done and there is nothing left to do. It assumes that the audience is familiar with certain concepts and usually builds off of or completely steals them. Treating the viewers as knowledgeable and jaded individuals. The result of this is often times a parody, collage, or reflexive irony (Sturken and Cartwright).
The Onion in general is a great example of Postmodernism. It is a satire of a real news outlet. They have newspapers, websites, and obviously video clips. They present all of their media with a voice that seems concerned and genuine like the real news, but with enough sarcasm to let the viewer know something is not quite right.
In particular this clip is a parody of major news outlets such as CNN, FOX, or MSNBC in its visual style. There are mini news stories scrolling at the bottom, sharp graphics, a news anchor with a distinct voice, names with titles, flashy transitions, and special guest. Beyond this the whole thing is presented as a genuine news story even though it is very menial.
The irony of this is largely in the news story itself. They present the 'Least Influential People' list as something of actual importance when by its very definition it is not. Just the fact that they would report such a list is completely ridiculous and the casual newscaster style used to report it is only adding to the irony. This could be seen as a way of cutting down news stations that constantly report on non-issues.
Marisela Rodriguez Gutierrez
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Sturken and Cartwright state that "postmodernism's central goal is to put all assumptions under scrutiny in order to reveal the values that underlie all systems of thought and thus to question the ideologies within them that are seen as natural." The Onion News Network clip posted above, clearly makes use of this notion in order to poke fun at what most news stations would report on any given day. It makes fun of the way that news like this would be taken seriously by some people while at the same time addressing the viewers the Onion News Network clip, as educated enough to understand the joke. The clip is a parody of how the list compiled by Time Magazine (the most influential people) is given prestige by some and how this is "news". S&C state that postmodernism makes use of parody and irony in order to create something "new", since, within postmodernism "everything has been said and done before" and "older models of how to address audiences don't work anymore". This clip then, uses irony, in order to bring attention to the way the newscast system on current television is perhaps outdated or shows irrelevant news to viewers possibly wanting more.
The Onion has always been a staple source of satirical comedy since it arrived on the UW Madison college scene in 1988. Over the years the small newspaper has evolved into a full blown icon of sarcastic coolness, complete with a wildly popular website, uncannily realistic television news clips, and now nationwide distribution of the still-loved paper. This particular clip largely makes use of parody and irony, by using humor to mock it's two, more serious, influences.
ReplyDeleteAs a whole, this clip is a parody of the familiar way in which large media corporations (FOX, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, etc...) present the news to their viewers. It expertly imitates every element of a conventional news broadcast: the tone and composure of the anchorman, the "newsroom" background and other aesthetic elements (the Onion logo in the bottom right corner looks suspiciously similar to the CNN logo), the scrolling headline ticker at the bottom of the screen, the use of on-location interviews and personal photos, the side-by-side juxtoposition of the anchorman with the interviewee who is present "via satellite," etc. This particular clip also parodies TIME Magazine's annual list of "100 Most Influential People," a popular annual publication featuring the world's best and brightest. In signature satirical fashion, The Onion pokes fun at TIME while also creating a hilariously ludicrous scenario by featuring the "299,000,000 Least Influential People."
The script is rife with irony, which is a key tool of postmodern parody. The wife interviewed states that it's "so wonderful that [her husband] is finally being recognized for not influencing anyone." This is, of course, the opposite of what we would expect, and that is exactly what makes it humorous to the viewer. Irony is also inherent in the idea of fake news itself. When viewers see what looks like a legitimate news organization on television, they expect to get accurate facts. The Onion deliberately presents ridiculous, erroneous stories to evoke a chuckle from their audience, thus creating an incongruity between what is expected and what is actually presented.
In true postmodern style, The Onion assumes that it's viewers are educated and in tune with media culture. It presents them with a format and story that would only be funny to someone who's familiar with the joke and can see why it's so ironic. These sorts of parody pieces speak to a jaded viewer who's lost faith in the major news networks and is willing to question their authoritative position as presenters of "truth." They successfully use satirical humor to "[scrutinize] social institutions, such as the media... ...in order to analyze the assumptions under which they operate (S & C, p. 313)," and encourage their viewer the stand up and scrutinize along with them, as well as have a good laugh.
~Rachel
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Allison Corn
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The whole clip of the Onion News Network, is the definition of parody and irony. The leading story being a parody of TIME’s list of most influential people and doing the typical thing of the media where the story is talked about by someone involved and those who are around those involved. The histories of those in the popular story are brought up and every little minute detail is highlighted and stressed for a dramatic effect. Now while all this is happening, the truth is that the story is unnecessary information and not even news-worthy. This is a blatant example of what are society is “so” concerned with.
As for the Sturken and Cartwright chapter, it explains how our society has relied on the “huge variety of remakes, copies, parodies, replicas, reproductions, and remixes” (S&C 328). I thought a great example that they brought up was the first where the well known artist Weston who takes pictures of the female’s body is remade or parody (but not in a funny way as the Onion), by Levine. She takes a picture of a male’s body in the same fashion as Weston’s work and names the piece After Edward Weston #2. Now I think the most important part of the entire chapter is: does society really care for authenticity anymore?