novella
Active Member
Satire: any work of literature or art whose objective is ridicule. It is more easily recognized than defined. From ancient times satirists have shared a common aim: to expose foolishness in all its guises—vanity, hypocrisy, pedantry, idolatry, bigotry, sentimentality—and to effect reform through such exposure. (from the online Columbia Encyclopedia)
Satire.
Can you stand it? Do you enjoy it? I find a surprising number of TBF members just don't receive satire on their radar.
Aristophanes, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Moliere, most of the Restoration dramatists, Dickens, Oscar Wilde . . . but in the twentieth century, satire became stand-up comedy, at least for most people.
Recent satires I love:
The Daily Show and Colbert Report, just in general.
The Onion, which actually is a little tired and repetitive now but had a good run.
The League of Gentleman (the gross-out UK tv series)
This is Spinal Tap
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
I find that written satire is misunderstood nowadays by most people, even in England, crucible of modern satire. Stephen King wrote a satirical piece for the UK Times about how hard it was to be a writer living in New England with a load of bestsellers. My MIL handed it to me and said, "There's an interesting piece by one of your writers. It sounds a very hard life." Two sentences in, about how he was forced to wear plaid flannel shirts, and I was guffawing.
Satire.
Can you stand it? Do you enjoy it? I find a surprising number of TBF members just don't receive satire on their radar.
Aristophanes, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Moliere, most of the Restoration dramatists, Dickens, Oscar Wilde . . . but in the twentieth century, satire became stand-up comedy, at least for most people.
Recent satires I love:
The Daily Show and Colbert Report, just in general.
The Onion, which actually is a little tired and repetitive now but had a good run.
The League of Gentleman (the gross-out UK tv series)
This is Spinal Tap
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
I find that written satire is misunderstood nowadays by most people, even in England, crucible of modern satire. Stephen King wrote a satirical piece for the UK Times about how hard it was to be a writer living in New England with a load of bestsellers. My MIL handed it to me and said, "There's an interesting piece by one of your writers. It sounds a very hard life." Two sentences in, about how he was forced to wear plaid flannel shirts, and I was guffawing.